WASHINGTON -- Another civil-rights movement is stirring in America. A "fat liberation" movement. Complains Marilyn Wann of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, "We're living in the middle of a witch hunt."
There is a growing crusade, if not witch hunt, against fat. Ironically, one of the leaders in the burgeoning campaign against fat is, well, on the heavy side. Writes Jacob Sullum of Reason magazine, Kelly Brownell, "a Twinkie tax advocate who never tires of comparing Ronald McDonald to Joe Camel," actually sports "an extra chin and an ample gut." Apparently Brownell has seen the enemy and it is him. But, he would presumably add, it's not his fault. People are helpless victims of evil profit-minded fast-food restaurants and soft-drink manufacturers.
Even U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has joined the ranks of the victim-mongers. He recently announced that Medicare will treat obesity as a disease, fully covered by the government's health "insurance" program for the elderly.