The most embarrassingly hilarious display of wrong-headedness on all sides

[fpb]

If human folly and prejudice make you laugh, read this thread: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100004386/obamas-fat-surgeon-general-has-some-tough-questions-to-answer/ . It is the first discussion I have read in quite a while where it is difficult to find a good word to say for literally anyone involved in the debate. But a skilled comedian could turn into a Monty Pythonesque skit.

Comments

[dustthouart.livejournal.com]

I could use that page as a weight loss aid, as it makes me want to hurl.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Laughing is better for you, actually.

[dustthouart.livejournal.com]

I find it difficult to laugh at something that hurts so many people.

Anyway, the cynic in me is asking why they find a fat woman intolerable for Surgeon General, when "do as I say, not as I do" is the ubiquitous law of politics.

In my own opinion, I think someone who struggles with his or her weight has MORE moral authority, not less, to tell me that it's important to try to exercise and eat well. This person KNOWS that it's not easy.

There's nothing more irritating than someone who dislikes the taste of alcohol preaching about the repugnance of drunks, or someone who has always had the metabolism of a hummingbird to belittle the obese.

As you know, I lost a lot of weight quickly because of illness. This kind of scenario was typical:
Person I Haven't Seen for Some Time: Wow, you look fabulous!
Me: Actually, I've been very sick. *wondering why no one seems to notice my waxy complexion or bags under my eyes*
Person: Oh. Well, you look GREAT!

Skinny uber alles!

[elise-the-great.livejournal.com]

It's like a train wreck, really, you can't not watch the horror as it happens.

Maybe if we could get some distance between health and aesthetics in this whole mess, something could be done. Saying that a subgroup (racial or not) has a genetic predisposition toward certain diseases and imbalances, while thoroughly debatable, at least won't get anyone hung; saying that a subgroup tends to be 'less pretty' stirs up the pot in the least-effective way possible.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Thne truth is that overweight is a universal Western problem. Sure, there are plenty of fat Americans, but I would like to ask all the spiteful British posters who have relieved themselves on that thread whether they have ever walked in an ordinary British street in the last few decades? And incidentally, as a fat slob myself, I have every right to say so.

[mentalguy.livejournal.com]

*headdesk*