Double-Sized Double Standards

So it seems that the GOP Mean Girls are dissing First Lady Michelle Obama--Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann and now Rush Limbaugh.  Apparently, Mrs. Obama's campaign to encourage folks to eat right and to exercise is evidence of a nanny state gone amok.

Because Americans have a constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of fatness.  If people want their children to live on McDonald's, then that is their right.  The fact that more children are developing diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, and arthritis notwithstanding, it is not the business of the federal government to encourage healthier living.

Because there is a slippery slope from the mere suggestion that you could plant veggies to the edict that you must plant veggies. 

Lately, this whole narrative of government overreach has annoyed me.  It is hypocrisy of the worst kind when elected officials are trying to pass laws that restrict the rights of women to seeking out reproductive health services but then those same officials criticize a program that encourages fitness and healthy eating as intrusive.  Really?  Because forcing women into motherhood is exactly what the government ought to be doing...

Of course, this is an exaggeration, but I am honest enough to admit when my rhetoric goes over the top.  At the same time, it is not hyperbole to suggest that the rhetoric used to proscribe certain types of behavior is selectively applied.  For example, we are supposedly the most democratic nation in the world except when it comes to the residents of the District of Columbia who are subjected to the partisan whims of Congress.

Yes, I am all over the place, but everywhere I turn I see hypocrisy.  I see it when we support authoritarian regimes in other countries until the people take to the streets to revolt against tyranny.  I see it when white actors get fawning media coverage for their bad acts while actors of color are subjected to perp walks and jail time.  I see it when black basketball players decide to make controversial power moves that get them lambasted in the media for selfishness while Wall Street banks play chess with people's life-savings and get defended by politicians who offer them tax breaks.

Is anyone willing to call a spade a spade?