Over the TLT winter break, the Wall Street Journal editorial page did a nice job of skewering Sarah Palin for her recent, well-publicized attacks on Michelle Obama’s anti-childhood obesity efforts, all in the name of “personal freedom.”
As I wrote here a few weeks ago, coming down on the First Lady for her concern over what is arguably our nation’s number one health crisis seemed
about as rational to me as attacking former First Lady Laura Bush for ‘meddling in my child’s education’ or Lady Bird Johnson for ‘thinking she can tell us what flowers to plant on our highways.’
Apparently the editorial board of the WSJ agrees, writing:
No one hates the nanny state more than we do, but Mrs. Obama isn’t exactly ordering up Lenin’s Young Pioneers. Adults do have an obligation to teach children how to live, and that includes adults who are role models by dint of their national prominence. JFK asked kids to do chinups for the Presidential Fitness Award, and Nancy Reagan asked them to ‘just say no’ to drugs.
The WSJ then played a nice little game of gotcha, unearthing this passage from none other than then-Alaska-governor Palin’s 2009 State of the State address:
Health-care reform on an individual basis is often just this simple: We could save a lot of money and a lot of grief by making smarter choices. It starts by ending destructive habits and beginning healthy habits in eating and exercise.
I don’t know about you, but just reading that deeply offensive passage makes me fear for my personal freedoms. To quote Ms. Palin (in response to similar, pro-health statements by Ms. Obama): “Just leave us alone, get off our back, and allow us as individuals to exercise our own God-given rights to make our own decisions.”
Geez.
[You can read more at the Time magazine’s Swampland blog. Thanks to San Francisco school food reformer Dana Woldow for the tip.]
Jenny Staff Johnson says
Love it. Also love getting reintroduced to Swampland. I liked that one a lot during the 2008 election but haven’t read it in ages. (Speaking of which, are we about to enter presidential election season again? My how time flies.)
bettina elias siegel says
Jenny: This was actually my introduction to Swampland. Now I have yet another blog to add to my RSS feed!
Waverly says
Thank you for the link to Swampland and for giving us the perspective of The Wall Street Journal on Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity. You DON’T have to be pro-Obama or even a democrat to applaud these efforts. I only hope that the reality is close to the ideal.
bettina elias siegel says
Waverly – agreed. If there’s one issue that ought to be completely bipartisan . . .
Lisa R Suriano says
That’s awesome!
Ha, Palin! Thats what you get for being a ludicrous hypocrite.
AGeorgsson says
Hah! Nicely done.