Why are conservatives so defensive about junk food?
If you have ever peeked at that gathering of fundamentalist Christian conservative authoritarian patriots called Free Republi
c, you will be glad you are not a conservative in this age. It's a whole alternative reality still clinching to The Bible and the Religion of Laissez-faire "Let the Market Decide Always" economics for answers.
Case in point: the Disney company revising its advertising policy to ban junk food ads on children's programming. I speculated that the Crazy Right would trash Michelle Obama over this.
I was right. The first comment to the FR story: "The road to fascism. Tell me again Michelle Obama's anti-obesity is just education and not using the jack boot of gov't."
Prompted a reply: "I, for one, would welcome a bit less of the targeted ads directed at my kids for products that are unhealthy for them."
Another dumber reply to comment 1 followed: "Most people think low fat foods are good for you. They are not. They’re heavily processed and have loads of additives for flavor." 
Post 6: "Political correctness is the silent killer. It’s the justification for many things these days, and most of them are pure evil." (well, I just watched a PBS NewsHour segment about childhood diabetes. So how is that undeterred capitalism working out for us? And which is the WORSE killer?)
Post 8: "The Democrats can’t stand on their true goals, so they stoop to projects like this to take the focus off their actual agenda." (Meanwhile, YOUR party actively holds hands and rubs shoulders with those corporations for campaign contributions in exchange for not voting for any common sense legislation that might offend the corporations!)
"While you’re trying to figure out what’s wrong with this, try remembering that those kids wouldn’t even exist if the Democrats had their way. They would have been aborted prior to birth." (And if the CONS had their way, only the children of the Lucky Sperm Club would actually get to live a decent life. Remember Newt Gingrich talking openly about child labor?)
Post 16 responds to OP "road to fascism" remark: "Disney can advertise whatever it wants. If you want to advertise twinkies and super frosted sugar balls then start your own media company and solicit advertisers of same."
Post 18: "So, on the one hand, Disney embraces homosexuality. On the other hand, Disney is oh so concerned about families and children that they are going to refuse ads for “junk food”." (Because eating HFCS-filled food and being gay are EXACTLY the same, har har.)
Another kook at post 21: "I question how much of this decision was Disney’s alone or realizing it will be punished for not following the White Hosue. That is fascism. You can keep your business but when Il Duceess wants something done you better follow."
Post 23 concurs: "Elite liberals have an obsession issue with 'the body' over 'the soul' and Disney exemplifies it. I'd rather see a child drink a soda a day -and play with stupid bright colored plastic toys than to learn that all 'lifestyles' are morally the same." (Yeah, a lifestyle of junk food and materialism IS more moral than being a bleeding heart lib??)
At least post 30 tries to inject some reason: "Conservatives have been calling for years (and have had some limited sucess) for the advertising industry / “junk food” merchants (McDonald’s) to show some constraint in targeting ads at kids...As to the actual shows that air on Disney and what they teach our children -I can find very little there with which I agree and generally keep my kids from viewing such shows."
I don't get why conservatives are so overtly defensive even with the mildest regulation of junk food. Remember the RW hysteria last summer over Mcdonald's simply offering healthy food options? Or San Francisco only banning Happy Meal toys (just the TOYS, not like treating the food like tobacco?) as ALL OUT TOTALITARIANISM? Is it a mindless devotion to FREEDOM AT ALL COSTS, or the misguided notion that corporations and the Free Market(TM) know best?
= new reply since forum marked as read
buy the moon.
Ten times over.
