Good bottom line news on BaucusCare, which is going to finally be voted on next Tuesday.
But let’s not kid ourselves. If we’re going to be serious about health, not just health care reform, obesity has to be in the spotlight.
Enter the Corzine campaign, which has gone from politically dead to having a chance to win. Gov. Jon Corzine is being accused of hitting below the belt.
Mr. Corzine’s television commercials and Web videos feature unattractive images of Mr. Christie, sometimes shot from the side or backside, highlighting his heft, jowls and double chin.
Meanwhile, Mr. Corzine, 62, is conspicuously running in 5- and 10-kilometer races almost every weekend, as he did last Saturday and Sunday, underscoring his athleticism and readiness for the physical demands of another term — and raising doubts about Mr. Christie’s.
Jeffrey Goldberg having the most hilarious post of all on the issue, talking to an “obesity guru” about the Corzine tactics. The “obesity guru” quoted as saying: This ad reflects a total lack of understanding, empathy and tolerance. No one should be criticized for being overweight…
That’s part of our problem today. “Tolerance” for obesity has gotten us in the situation we’re in today. The “obesity guru” citing Ted Kennedy, who struggled with his weight. But did you notice once he was in a good marriage he started losing? That as he got older the weight started falling off?
Yglesias joins Goldberg: On the other, it does often seem that prejudice against the overweight is one of the last socially acceptable forms of prejudice. But this really looks to me like a (deserved) backlash waiting to happen…
That “prejudice” just might save someone’s life. Besides, ask anyone who was fat or overweight about how they feel once they start losing weight. Every answer will be the same. It’s a great feeling to be slimmer, even if you’ll never be slim.
It’s not healthy to be obese any more than it’s healthy to be anorexic. So, if this country is going to get serious about health care reform we need to understand that our own habits and lifestyles contribute to how much we’re going to need to call on our health care plans to save us from ourselves.
Now if we could just get Regina Benjamin, Obama’s choice for surgeon general, to launch a public campaign of health weight loss and how to eat, which would help her as well, maybe all this noise about health care reform would have a real foundation. That our personal responsibility to manifest healthy lifestyles is part of the package.
As for Corzine’s campaign, the issues are also on his side. Just look at the video above. All’s fair against a candidate who doesn’t support women’s health.
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