Our Obesity Crisis
Let Them Eat Cake

The closing decades of the eighteenth century were crowded with history. America had its revolution. The 'shot heard round the world' received close attention on the streets of Paris, but was barred, evidently, from the royal palace. Here, Prince Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette ruled. The French court lived in its own world of pomp and show, existing in complete contrast to the miserable lifestyles of the French commoners.

When Marie Antoinette was informed that the people of France were suffering -- that they had no bread to eat, she is said to have replied impatiently, "Why not just let them eat cake?". Whether or not she actually uttered these words, they have become a metaphor for the arrogance of power -- an almost pathetic disconnect with reality. The French Revolution was not long in coming.

Now consider these examples, all taken from recent news stories, each reflecting the attitude of important people in the current power structure. Together, they provide a picture of a dispensation which (to paraphrase Pat Buchanan) makes a mockery of the 19th century American boast, "Here, sir, the people rule".

The sentiments of the Bush Administration were given voice by its Chief Economic Adviser (Gregory Mankiw), who said that the outsourcing of jobs was good in the long run for the economy -- Americans who lose (or are likely to lose) their jobs -- jobs they may have worked at for years if not decades -- and into which they had grown and specialized -- should simply be helped to retrain themselves (never mind that there is no 87 billion dollar budget for such retraining). A friend of mine, a veteran software engineer (who fortunately still has a job, but has seen the massive devastation of his industry), had this answer for Mankiw, "How much training do you need to ask, 'Do you want fries with that?'".

Then came the observations of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, he of the face (faces?) that would launch a thousand tax cuts. Appearing before a Congressional committee last week, Greenspan expressed his deep disquiet over the huge Federal deficits (deficits that were caused, you might recall, in no small measure by the very tax cuts that would never have passed without his own benediction). Greenspan was quick to affirm, however, that not a hair of the beloved tax cuts was to be harmed. Instead he mused, without any trace of embarrassment, that perhaps a cutting back on Social Security and Medicare benefits to Americans was well worth considering.

Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court was found holidaying (duck-hunting, for the curious) with Vice-President Dick Cheney. Cheney might not be your or my choice for a holiday companion, but we live in a free country. However, this case of a sitting judge shooting sitting ducks trampled upon a standing principle -- namely, that a judge should take every precaution to avoid the appearance of impropriety. And since the vacation took place in the wake of the Supreme Court agreeing to take up the vice president's appeal (in lawsuits over his handling of the administration's energy task force), eyebrows were raised. When it was asked if he might wish to recuse himself from the case, Scalia flicked away the questioner, "I do not think my impartiality could reasonably be questioned." Chief Justice, William Rehnquist went further. Answering the written concerns expressed by two senators about Scalia's participation in the Cheney case, he replied, "I think that any suggestion by [Senator Leahy] or Senator Lieberman as to why a justice should recuse himself in a pending case is ill-considered (emphasis added).

Those wondering why President Bush, who can make time to address any number of 2000-dollar-a-plate fundraisers, was unable to attend the funeral of even one single dead soldier from Iraq, got their answer. Because, his spokesman explained with a straight face, if he attends one funeral, he would have to attend them all!

Speaker Dennis Hastert and the Bush Administration refused to grant the 9-11 Commission permission to continue for two more months (until they backed down in the face of the indignation this had caused). Seeing the tearful faces of those who had lost family members in the twin towers, who felt betrayed by their government's attitude, was sad enough. It took an inordinate amount of time for the administration and Congress to even set up the Commission. Then there were persistent reports of the White House dragging its feet in cooperating with the Commission. And now, Hastert, with the White House behind him, had trouble acceding to a unanimous request from the Commission to extend its time. What about the reports that the only civilian plane that took to the skies over America the week following 9-11 was the one carrying members of the Bin Laden family back to Saudi Arabia. Don't we deserve to know the full truth?

Thus do the Antonins echo Antoinette. Or as President Bush might put it -- Let them eat yellowcake. With such rich food offerings daily from the (James) Bakery*, is it any wonder that study after study shows our nation growing more obese by the day?

*James Baker - Bush's man in Florida during the post-election wrangling

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