Bash A Fattie For Freedom

by Liberty and Power

The Militarization of American continues apace: now Michelle Obama, wife to America’s president, claims an “epidemic” of obesity imperils – you guessed it – our all-important National Security. At a recent White House ceremony Mrs. Obama intoned, “This epidemic also impacts the nation’s security, as obesity is now one of the most common disqualifiers for military service.” I was unaware that sitting in some dimly lit room down in Florida, punching buttons to fly Predator drones on the other side of the globe, required a ripped set of abs.

Granted, every American president’s wife is expected to make the rounds of whatever Do-Gooder project rings her bell, and Mrs. Obama has simply latched onto bashing fat people. Her words are telling, though, as more than anything they point to the complete acceptance among our political elite of the idea that our children are raw material for their war machine. Years ago Charles Mackey wrote of Europe’s political masters “war was the business and the delight of their existence”. How little progress we’ve made.

Politics has always attracted a specific type of mind and for me personally I’d rather have as president a fat slob of a pacifist than a body builder full of health and blood lust. There are more important things in life than a trim waistline.

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Maarja Krusten - 2/12/2010

No busybody that I can see here. We obviously look at things through entirely different prisms, have differing views of how politics affects families, and whatnot. It is fascinating to learn, however, that someone might look at a suggestion that parents try to prevent obesity in their children which might affect their health now and later and view it as intrusion. It’s not as if there is a mandate involved. Sounds more like urging people to take more control of individual lives (including their appetites) rather than passively letting their health deteriorate. Presidents have been doing that for decades (Ike established the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports). We live in a “do what feels good to me right now” couch potato age. For many kids, doing what feels good involves sedentary activities and eating junk food. Preventative action early has the potential to save people lots of money down the road. Sounds good to me. How you can conclude from that that the Obamas think citizens exist to government mystifies me but hey, you go your way, I’ll go mine.

Rick Croley - 2/12/2010

But you see Maarja, we didn't elect Mrs. Obama, nor did we grant her or any of the other First Ladies any authority whatsoever over us. When the Obamas, and other presidential couples, chose to seek the presidency, they also made the decision for the spouses' professional careers to be put on hold. These were their decisions to make. If they weren't willing to make the sacrifice, then they should have chosen differently.

I do not need, nor desire yet another busybody inserting themselves into my life. I have enough problems dealing with the effects of bad policies enacted upon me by our "elected representatives".

Also, you must have missed the part about the assumption, clearly held by Mrs. Obama, her husband and others like them, that citizens exist solely for the benefit of government. That position quite simply inverts the notion of the proper role of government and its relationship with its citizens.

Maarja Krusten - 2/11/2010

I recommend the November 5, 2009 article in the Washington Post, “Girding for an uphill battle for recruits: Obesity, poor education make many younger people unfit for military.” The article examines the reactions of a group of retired military officers to revelations that “About 75 percent of the country's 17- to 24-year-olds are ineligible for military service, largely because they are poorly educated, overweight and have physical ailments that make them unfit for the armed forces, according to a report to be issued Thursday.” A surprisingly high number of rejections are due to poor education but “a third of all potential recruits can't join is because they're too fat and out of shape.”

As to the broader implications, you may be interested in the report, “A Challenge to the American People,” by the Center for the Study of the Presidency and the Congress. It looks at a number of fiscal, economic, and national security challneges. The report notes that “As a percentage of GDP, health care spending has grown steadily—from 8.1 percent in 1975 to 16.0 percent in 2005 to a projected 19.2 percent in 2015.” Childhood obesity leads to greater health challenges in adulthood and greater costs to deal with them. Reducing health care burdens on future generations is enough of a motivation to advocate for a reduction in childhood obesity, in my view.

As for the First Lady, I find jarring the notion that “Granted, every American president’s wife is expected to make the rounds of whatever Do-Gooder project rings her bell.” I look at this quite differently. Mrs. Obama is a lawyer who once worked high paying jobs. I don’t know how many historians are married to or have as partners fellow academics. I don’t know how many such spouses or partners would accept with the good grace we find in most First Ladies (including Mrs. Obama) the idea that they no longer can work within their profession because a spouse/partner wins a high profile job.

It’s one of the more immature characteristics of our system that First Ladies still largely are expected to speak on “soft,” family-related issues, if at all, and to focus on ceremonial duties (pouring tea and serving cookies). To this day, Hillary Clinton is the subject of considerable bashing from critics for her attempt to act otherwise during Bill Clinton’s first term. If you’re interested in how that played out and how difficult it was for her, I recommend Carl Bernstein’s biography, A Woman in Charge. For an earlier time period, I recommend Julie Nixon Eisenhower's book about Pat Nixon for insights into the toll politics takes on presidential spouses. Again, I think most of our highly educated and very able spouses and partners would find the sudden halt to their ability to use their skills and knowledge to be a very difficult transition.

As a woman who has worked in her field successfully and happily for 37 years, I applaud Mrs. Obama for her grit, her seeming lack of selfishness and what seems to me like love of her family and her country.