The Wonk Room reports that Glenn Beck is willing to let at least some of his most devoted watchers die. Speaking of Michelle Obama's anti-obesity initiative, specifically her suggestion that restaurants be encouraged to offer healthier versions of favorite dishes, he stated:
When I heard this I thought, get your damn hands off my fries, lady. If I want to be a fat fat fatty and shovel French Fries all day long, that is my choice. But oh oh, not so fast anymore. Because now we have the new fact, whether you like it or not, we have government health care now ... You know those fat people sitting on their couches? And I mean really fat. I don’t mean like me. I mean the people who’s skin grows into the couch ... I say let them die. I say punish the person who’s been brining them the milk shakes that allowed them to eat and not get up off the couch. Am I too harsh?
Igor Volsky at the Wonk Room suggests that this remark is meant facetiously. One can only hope so - otherwise Beck might halve his viewership.
And here I want to make it clear that when I make statements such as the one above, I am not making fun of Glenn Beck's viewers by suggesting that they are fat - or, indeed, that obesity is risible in any way. I am simply noting that it's probably a sure bet that Beck's viewers are among the most conservative and, according to recent surveys, perhaps also some of the fattest people in America.
The Gallup poll of political ideology lists the following states as the most conservative: Wyoming, Mississippi, Utah, South Dakota, Alabama, North Dakota, Idaho, South Carolina, Okalahoma, Nebraska, Louisiana. According to the Trust for America's Health, five of those states, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina are among the eleven states with the highest percentage of obese adults, ranging from 29.9% to 33.8% of their populations. For the remaining states among the conservative elect, with the exception of Utah, over a quarter of their respective populations are obese (25%-28.5%).
Of course, there's little to cheer about when in the state with the lowest obesity rate, Colorado, 19.1% of the adults are obese. Those in less ideologically conservative states do not get off scot-free when it comes to the health risks associated with obesity. In fact, the prevalence of relative high rates of obesity suggests that there is indeed a systemic problem and that it merits our collective attention - not the opprobrium of radio clowns with aspirations to influence politics and an overwhelming need to ridicule the Obamas.
Even if we revert to a pure, every man for himself, market-driven health system, the social costs of those risks are ultimately, one way or another, borne by society as a whole. There is a difference between the mythical "nanny state," that strikes such fear in right-wing hearts (unless it's a right wing nanny), and responsible government action to educate citizens about our options and their consequences.
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