cheerios, circuses and fools

Somebody once said, "There's a sucker born every minute." It wasn't P.T. Barnum, the circus guy who this quote is usually credited to and here's the story of that.

But I thought of that quote this morning when I read the Fox News story of the FDA and Cheerios. The FDA is calling Cheerios a drug because "the product is intended for use in the prevention, mitigation and treatment of disease."

First, would it be so bad, in all honesty, if more overweight, under-exercised, fleshy Americans loaded up on Cheerios and milk. Well, say, opposed to loading up on cheese puffs or soda or TV dinners with their claiming corn as a vegetable and oversalted gravy. Certainly even with the effects of marshmallows and peanut butter, Cheerios have to have more nutrition than a bag of tooty frooties with food coloring and mass amounts of sugar.

Next I would like to address people's intelligence. I appreciate that the government is trying to look out for us making bad choices such as eating too many Cheerios and thinking they will fix our health problems. But maybe, as an individual, I would like to choose what I think makes me healthy. If I want to harvest ditch flowers, dry them and crunch them up in my cereal and drink them steeped in hot water, isn't that my prerogative? And what works for one person's cholesterol, maybe doesn't work for the next guys high readings. Does it nullify the positive results for some if not all get the same dramatic results? On average, the FDA must think the average person is so lame-brained stupid, they now need the government choosing their breakfast cereal for them.

I will repeat my observations, which are by not means scientific: perhaps the government and more specifically our current reigning regime could well head their own advice and cut back on their own petty projects and bloated payrolls. If they have time to skip the really important issues and instead go after silly stuff, perhaps those employees could better serve the general public elsewhere.

And while I'm grocery shopping next, I'll be sure to stock up on Cheerios. For the same reason, we recently bought an SUV. They may soon be a collectors item.