Bill Clinton Feels Our Pangs

I’m starting to wonder if maybe Bill Clinton is as depraved as his detractors say he is. I mean, what the hell is he thinking? Here is a man who has devoted enormous sums of time and energy, while recovering from triple bypass heart surgery (and don’t forget the followup surgery to relieve post operative fluid buildup) globetrotted the world, championing various causes. He has been a proponent of business development in India, a tireless advocate for AIDS research in Africa and China, he has travelled alongside the former President Gorge H. W. Bush in order to amass funds for relief efforts ranging from the Indonesian tsunami disaster to the US Gulf Huricane Katrina and Rita tragedies.

Then, just when you think he must have finally decided to relax somehwere with a nice cigar and blow job, up he pops with an announcement that he has brokered a deal whereby American schools will no longer carry soft drinks. That is to say, no carbonated beverages, though the schools in the affected areas will still carry diet soft drinks, but only the high schools. There is still yet some question about the safety of artifical sweteners, enough so to exclude even this option from elementary and middle schools.

Instead, the schools will offer bottled water and fruit juices, which, incidentally, carry as many or more calories typically than your average carbonated cola beverage. I point this out because the main point of this so-called breakthrough in childrens health is that it is meant to combat the scourge of childhood obesity.

Okay, I don’t really mean to undermine it, childhood obesity and all it’s attendant illnesses is indeed a serious problem, and seems to be getting worse every year. The increase of juvenile diabetes is especially troubling, but the long range effects are consdierable as well, not the least of which is the potential for heart disease. So yes, it’s a problem, and yes, it is worthy of the efforts of a former President.

But shit now, talk about treating a bullet wound with a band aid, but this is some really piddling shit here. To be fair, there is also an emphass on recommendations for exercise, but why this even greater emphasis on carbonated cola drinks? I mean, is this leading up to something?

It would seem to me that, in addition to the need for exercise, the main emphasis over and above everything else would be, or should be, insuring healthy, well balanced meals. One that would include water and fruit juices as a required cafeteria serving with a healthy but not overfilling portion of lean meat (preferably baked or broiled) or fish, along with a serving of two vegetables (preferably steamed or served fresh) and one of fresh fruit, and a slice or two of good whole wheat bread. Hell, add a slice of pie and cake for dessert, at least once a week, what the fuck. Remember, balance and exercise, that’s the key.

But this? No, something just isn’t right here. I see a lead up to yet another series of class action lawsuits, to be frank, and I don’t like the smell of it.