Fred Thompson wants the government to keep its hands off your dinner plate.
That's what he told a questioner Tuesday in South Carolina, anyway.
Standing about 15 feet away from a mouth-watering steam tray buffet loaded with fried chicken, creamed corn and macaroni and cheese at Wade's Southern Cooking in Spartanburg, Thompson dismissed the idea that preventative care and wellness education should be central features of a government's health care system.
"I'm telling you, I don’t think that it’s the primary responsibility of the federal government to tell you what to eat," Thompson said to applause when asked if his health care plan included any details on preventative care, a priority for Democratic candidates.
"The fact of the matter is we got an awful lot of knowledge,” said the former Tennessee senator. “Sometimes we don’t have a whole lot of will power, and I don’t know of any government program that's going to instill that."
He is right, we do not need a nanny state and I addressed this once before when the issue of trans fats was brought to the publics attention in reports.
I said:
Still, no matter the benefit to me, back to my original point of the Demolition Man, the movie and this battle against trans fats.
The movie is based on a future America that has undergone some massive changes where anything "bad" for you is deemed illegal:
* Non-educational toys
* Alcohol
* Meat and unhealthy food
* Tobacco
* Table salt
* Obscenity
* Abortion, as well as pregnancy unless one has a license
* Anything spicy
Silly movie that I found amusing and enjoyed for no other fact than it made me laugh.
So, where do we stop deeming what is bad and what is not for the public at large and letting them make their own mistakes? Do we stop at trans fats or do we start banning things like salt, because it is "bad" for you? How far does the government go to protect us against ourselves?
Is life imitating art or did the makers of this movie simply have a good read on our future?
Is it the Governments job to become a nanny state?
Tells us what we can eat, what we can say, what we can own, how to live our lives?
No, it isn't.
Stay away from my food, stay out of my home and start doing your job instead of trying to do mine, which is to care for myself and my family.
Back the hell off.
[Update] Please see Ron's thoughts on this issue at The Cluttered Eclectic Mind.
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