Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson has just made the jump from politically irrelevant, to politically ‘handicapped’ in my opinion. The Democratic party has always been known for its skill at pandering to the crowd, whatever special interest it is they happen to be speaking to that day, but this guy has just taken it to a whole new level. While adressing the Obesity Society (am I the only one who never heard of these people?), Richardson declared obese Americans should be brought under the protection of the Americans for Disabilities Act.

“This is an issue of basic civil rights,” said Richardson. “There are no federal laws that protect obese Americans from discrimination in the workplace, school, or anywhere else. This must change.”

First of all Mr. Richardson, obesity is not a disability, and should never be classified as such. By adding obesity to the Americans with Disabilities Act you are in effect condoning the behavior of those individuals who are overweight by pretending it is through no fault of their own. No longer will they have a self inflicted problem, which can in most cases be corrected through self reliance, determination, and will power. They now will look in the mirror every morning and see themselves as someone with a disabilty, possibly leading to depression which would also lead to more eating.

Neal Boortz had this to say:

Pushing for obese people to be protected by the A.D.A. would mean that oversight on such matters as hiring and firing would belong to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. So much for businesses offering incentives for your weight loss … that would discriminate!

Let’s not forget that employers may also be required to expand the doorways in their offices for the exceptionally ‘girthy’, city buses would be required to have larger seats to accomodate the newly handicapped, and people in wheelchairs could be relegated to the back of the parking lot as the 50% of Americans who are ‘obese’ will now be parking in handicapped spaces.

Bill Richardson is exemplifying political correctness at its worst. Richardson is someone who is proud of the weight that he himself has lost, and I find it insulting to the inteligence of the American people that he would tell them obesity is a disability.

Oddly enough, it is the Democrats own principles which could solve this ‘epidemic’ as Richardson calls it. The same way Democrats want to increase the gasoline tax to deter people from driving, or increase the cigarette tax to stop people from smoking, why not have a fat tax?

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Election 2008, Politics, Taxes