Althouse: "It is my belief — my BELIEF in big letters — when people don’t make good choices..."

June 9, 2013

"It is my belief — my BELIEF in big letters — when people don’t make good choices..."

"... you can yell as loud as you want to at me about this is my body and I do what I want to do with my body, so OK yes you can. But now you are spreading it along generationally so that your daughter and grandchildren have it and everybody’s doing it. It becomes a term of apathy because people say my father had it, my aunt had it. People then ask you, 'What your mother die of?' 'Diabetes.' 'Grandmother?' 'Diabetes.' These things don’t have to happen if you make the correct choice."

Bill Cosby, defending Mayor Bloomberg's soda law.

54 comments:

Anonymous said...: Same goes for unwed pregnancy.

Which is far more harmful to certain communities than soda.

But Bloomberg is too blind or too confused or too apathetic and unable himself to make a good choice about for what to advocate and put into law.; 6/9/13, 8:47 AM
Darrell said...: Well then. You can't argue with Bill Cosby.; 6/9/13, 8:48 AM
Anonymous said...: Oh, wait!

On further reflection, I realize that Bloomberg is attacking the issue of unwed pregnancy

He's a big proponent of abortion.

Ban large sodas and assure free and easy abortion.

Now there's a coherent social philosophy on which to build a great society and a legacy as a great leader of society.

(Except apparently he's as big of failure getting people to adopt his abortion policies as he is his soda policies.); 6/9/13, 8:52 AM
Unknown said...: I wish he had ginished that first thought

"It is my belief....(...)...when people don't make good choices...

What exactly is his belief, and what are the criteria for it. Presumably he's saying that with regard to certain things, food, beverage, cigarettes, and negative health effects, the government should step in. But when does that apply and when does it not? How far should this rule apply? All junk food (and who decides?) Sexual behaviors? Managing one's budget? Exercise? All of those have societal and generational effects, so does that mean that laws should govern the behaviors?; 6/9/13, 8:54 AM
Paddy O said...: Maybe someone should make a Thin Albert show.; 6/9/13, 9:01 AM
Unknown said...: LOL Paddy O; 6/9/13, 9:03 AM
n.n said...: Dysfunctional behavior does not begin and end with soda.

This idiocy calls into question the "education" people are receiving in our schools. It calls into question why parents are either rejecting or ignoring their responsibility for raising their children. They should plan their parenthood before having sex. Not during or after.

Liberty is only suitable for individuals capable of self-moderating, responsible behavior.

I never though that Cosby would stoop to treating symptoms. That only provides short-term relief, typical through progressive compromises, and often for profit.; 6/9/13, 9:04 AM
Pastafarian said...: If only that person's grandmother had avoided diabetes, she could have died from congestive heart failure or pneumonia instead. Let's do away with all liberty to allow us to wring every last possible second from our now-miserable existence.

You know what else contributes to diabetes? Jello pudding, that's what.; 6/9/13, 9:06 AM
Oso Negro said...: One thing nice about Bill Cosby is that he doesn't seem to give a shit if his views piss people off.; 6/9/13, 9:07 AM
Sorun said...: The soda law is the only thing new in that article. The rest of it was said and written 30 years ago. Nothing has changed.; 6/9/13, 9:09 AM
gspencer said...: Hey, make all the poor life choices you wish. But only when I don't have to suffer or pay for YOUR decisions.

You wanna smoke? Go ahead; just don't get in the same room with me, and don't you ever think I'm gonna pay for your predicable illnesses.

Take the FULL responsibility for your ill-advised decisions, not the rest of us. And a double pox on all the politicians over all the years who enacted laws (you know, force on the rest of us) mandating that we pick up the pieces.; 6/9/13, 9:11 AM
Dante said...: Maybe it's fructose that's to blame for all this obesity. Ironically, fructose is safe for diabetics, but, according to the above abstract, may cause diabetes.; 6/9/13, 9:13 AM
ricpic said...: ...it becomes a term of apathy...

Go back to school, Dr. Huxtable, to, ya know, learn the language. Then comes lecturing from on high.; 6/9/13, 9:22 AM
Robert J. said...: I'm hearing an echo of Holmes' famous line, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough."

But surely he didn't mean that.

Did he?; 6/9/13, 9:28 AM
edutcher said...: I always liked him, from the first time I saw him 50 years ago.

Unlike Eric Holder, he gives a damn about "his people", but he doesn't hate anybody else's people.

Cos should be the Leader of Black America, not Rev Jessuh or Rev Al, and certainly not the Messiah.; 6/9/13, 9:32 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: He's got a lot of nerve getting all preachy after what he did to Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman.; 6/9/13, 9:35 AM
Anonymous said...: Fructose most certainly is not safe for diabetics, it's worse than sucrose.; 6/9/13, 9:37 AM
Tim said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/9/13, 9:42 AM
Tim said...: Experience rating in underwriting health care coverage would address this problem.

But, with Democrats in control, we get exactly the opposite.

They socialize the cost of bad choices in health care premiums, and then turn around and expand the power, scope and cost of government by imposing regulations and taxes either limiting choices or increasing their costs.

Subsidized health care for the losers who vote Democrat, bigger, more powerful, richer government for the Democrats who run government, and fewer choices and higher costs for the people who can responsibly handle a sugared soda.

America, in case one hadn't noticed, really isn't America anymore.

For that, you can thank anyone who ever voted Democrat.; 6/9/13, 9:43 AM
Marty said...: Cosby has been a leader in demanding self-responsibility in the black community; I give him space to go off the rails occasionally.; 6/9/13, 9:43 AM
madAsHell said...: They should plan their parenthood before having sex.

But they do!! Let's see.....I could trap him with a baby!!; 6/9/13, 9:50 AM
Erich said...: The State is a lousy substitute for parents.; 6/9/13, 9:53 AM
MaxedOutMama said...: Anyone who thinks a person with diabetes is going to be saved by only buying a 16 ounce sugar soda is incredibly stupid. And anyone who thinks that a person genetically disposed to Type II is going to be saved from it by only buying 16 ounce sugar sodas is also incredibly stupid.

This falls into the category of "things we do to pretend we are doing something about problems we have no intention of dealing with".

The problem with Cosby's statement is that it ignores just how severe and ongoing the lifestyle intervention must be to make a difference. So Cosby is lying (probably without knowing it), and those who believe him are being misled.

The type of lifestyle which will make a difference for people with these genes (and I have them) is far more stringent and requires real work and education. Also what the government puts out about nutrition is counter-productive for most of these people.

So maybe if the government would stop trying to help us so much we could actually start working on our problems, but a government which comes up with a food pyramid which will move up the onset of Type II diabetes for at least 10% of the population and popularizes the use of a pretty useless stat like BMI should not be viewed as an agent of meaningful change.; 6/9/13, 9:54 AM
Cedarford said...: Will Cosby head to New York and apologize to Bloomberg for his role in pushing white death laced Jello on the masses.

"I am sorry, so sorry! I hooked kids on sugar. I'm just another black pusher lurking to nab the kids into using, hoping to make millions for myself. Jello is wrong!
We need laws to get kids on carrot sticks and broccoli florets, and limit Jello. No more food stamp funds for Jello..Please forgive me, you wise little jewish fascist! You know best. I helped kill thousands, create more Fat Alberts."; 6/9/13, 9:54 AM
Dante said...: "Fructose most certainly is not safe for diabetics, it's worse than sucrose."

Now who am I going to believe, Inga, or the American Journal for Clinical Nutrition?

Fructose does not acutely raise blood glucose. As such, fructose has a lower glycemic index than do starch-based foods, and it has been used as an energy source in diabetes patients because it may aid glycemic control.; 6/9/13, 10:09 AM
Dante said...: The problem with Cosby's statement is that it ignores just how severe and ongoing the lifestyle intervention must be to make a difference.

It seems in conflict with many of the positive messages Cosby has made. From the article:

Now 75, Cosby continues to be a father figure, speaking out about the importance of personal responsibility.

This is the Cosby that I like, the Cosby who is saying "Clean up your OWN act." Maybe they got to him in his old age. I don't know.; 6/9/13, 10:13 AM
tim maguire said...: I have free will, but my children and grandchildren do not. Thanks or clearing that up Coz.; 6/9/13, 10:13 AM
Anonymous said...: no one wants a fatty liver, especially not a diabetic; 6/9/13, 10:19 AM
Dante said...: Inga, you are making an argument about the dangers of Fructose, not the dangers of Fructose for diabetics.

I don't know the specifics, but I've read from 50 - 90g/day is OK for fructose (what's that, about 300-540 calories per day?)

Yes, yes, we all know that apples, blackberries, grapefruit, oranges, and other fruits are deadly.; 6/9/13, 10:24 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: When it comes to food (since sodas seem to be the topic) people are not educated as to what constitutes "good choices". Most of the people over which Cosby is having his angst attack, are completely uneducated in almost every way (thank you public schools) and have a cultural lifestyle where they don't even KNOW HOW to cook or what to eat.

When you are raised on a cultural diet of fast food, snacks, sodas and no one you know cooks home made meals or has the discipline to insist on sitting down together as a family to eat....you will make the choices that you know. All of the rule making and big nanny state monitoring isn't going to change the "bad choices" until you change the underlying cause of those choices. Poor education, dysfunctional families, free access through food stamps to be able to purchase JUNK food.

You cannot blame the "poor choices" on poverty either since if a person knows how to purchase and cook food, you can buy groceries at reasonable prices and serve good and nutritious meals.

We went to the store a few days ago and for less than $60 were able to purchase more than a week's worth of basic groceries for two people. We will later have to purchase some more milk and a few fresh vegetables for other meals that are planned. With one exception (a box of cheezits) nothing in our basket was prepackaged or junk food.; 6/9/13, 10:35 AM
Anonymous said...: Dante, fructose and diabetics should not be on friendly terms. Fruit, although a natural sugar, fructose, is still fructose, watch what happens to a diabetics blood sugar when th eat fruit. Glycemic load of the fruit is what is important.; 6/9/13, 10:36 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Glycemic load of the fruit is what is important

This is how we are controlling my husband's type 2 diabetes. Glycemic index foods. We watch what carbs we eat, and we do eat carbs, but they are less quickly absorbed. For instance a baked Yam instead of an Idaho potato. Pearl barley pilaf instead of Arborio rice. The South Beach Diet or a version of that has been more or less our guide. I works.....and the food is good too :-)

Do we cheat and fall off of the diet wagon. Yup. But only once in a while and then back on again.; 6/9/13, 10:42 AM
Dante said...: Dante, fructose and diabetics should not be on friendly terms. Fruit, although a natural sugar, fructose, is still fructose, watch what happens to a diabetics blood sugar when th eat fruit. Glycemic load of the fruit is what is important.

Right, and fructose has a very low glycemic index.

Read the abstract I posted, or even the excerpt from the Abstract I posted.

Outside of the dangers of too much fructose, you will see the article notes that fructose has the problem that it does not require insulin to be metabolized.

The interesting idea in the abstract is fructose doesn't trigger a release of insulin. Which in turn stops your brain from releasing leptin, and feeling full. The view of the article is that perhaps all this HFC is the cause of obesity in Americans.; 6/9/13, 10:44 AM
Anonymous said...: DBQ did you know that Basmati rice has half the glycemic load as Jasmine rice? I love Basmati rice.; 6/9/13, 10:45 AM
Dante said...: Inga:

glycemic index of fructose:

Fructose 12-25, average 19.

Sucrose: 68.

glucose, of course, is 100.

Now Inga, why don't you simply say "Yes, there are dangers of too much fructose, but it doesn't increase blood sugar in diabetics," just like the American Journal for Clinical Nutrition says.

And it's a LOT of fructose before you get to the kinds of problems you are talking about.; 6/9/13, 10:52 AM
Anonymous said...: Dante, I did not say fructose raised a diabetics blood sugar more than sugar. I said it was worse for a diabetic. I linked from Harvard Medical School and now this link.

Diabetics should limit fructose as well as sugar. Fructose has OTHER negative effects that can harm a person who is already metabolically challenged, such as a diabetic.

Dante, I'm not in a pissing contest with you, relax.; 6/9/13, 11:01 AM
Dante said...: Inga: this is what you said

"Fructose most certainly is not safe for diabetics, it's worse than sucrose."

Anyway, read the article you posted. They are merely arguing with the line ought to be 50g/day or 90g/day. They speculate 50g/day may be safer.

They are arguing against the 90g/day limit for diabetics because they feel, but don't know, there may be other consequences other than the ones measured in the study.; 6/9/13, 11:12 AM
Anonymous said...: They also said sugar was safer than fructose.; 6/9/13, 11:38 AM
cubanbob said...: Is Cosby in favor of repealing welfare? It certainly leads to making bad choices.; 6/9/13, 11:41 AM
Strelnikov said...: Good thing to remember: Cosby was the spokesman for New Coke.; 6/9/13, 11:42 AM
cubanbob said...: A boiled, peeled potato has the highest glycemic index of any food. Avoid them like the plague.; 6/9/13, 11:44 AM
William said...: I think the ban on large sodas is ineffectual, but there's a paradox involved. By getting people to talk about how ineffectual such a ban is, one is also getting people to talk about how wrong their choices are. Consciousness raising. Look around. There's a lot of fat people in this country, and they're making bad choices.; 6/9/13, 12:30 PM
Tim said...: cubanbob said...

"Is Cosby in favor of repealing welfare? It certainly leads to making bad choices."

Yes.

But worse than that, it subsidizes bad choices, and ingrains bad choices across generations.

Of all of America's "wars," none has failed as badly, cost as much, ruined as many lives, as the Democrats' "war on poverty."

At least they bought a perpetual, growing voting bloc with all those tax dollars.

They got that going for them.; 6/9/13, 12:30 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/9/13, 12:53 PM
Anonymous said...: Cubanbob, however when those boiled potatoes are cold, they become resistant starch, is digested more slowly. Add some vinegar and they become even better for you. Butyric acid, good for your gut. Resistant starch is a good choice for diabetics, for everyone watching their starch/ carb intake. Eat up, enjoy, no guilt.

Also enjoy your Sushi, cold rice is also resistant starch. So is cold pasta.; 6/9/13, 12:54 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Cubanbob, however when those boiled potatoes are cold, they become resistant starch, is digested more slowly. Add some vinegar and they become even better for you. Butyric acid, good for your gut. Resistant starch is a good choice for diabetics, for everyone watching their starch/ carb intake. Eat up, enjoy, no guilt.

Also enjoy your Sushi, cold rice is also resistant starch. So is cold pasta.

Potato salad, pasta salad, woooooooot!

(Inga this is genuine enthusiasm not snark : ); 6/9/13, 1:03 PM
Anonymous said...: Cosby was the spokesman for New Coke.

And now, unless I'm misunderstanding, he's the spokesman for Lamarckism.; 6/9/13, 1:22 PM
MayBee said...: How about this: if you are obviously overweight, you can't buy a large soda. If you aren't, you can.
The clerks can just eyeball the customer and give a yea or a nay. That will separate the good decision makers from those who need protection from themselves.; 6/9/13, 1:39 PM
Lydia said...: cubanbob said...
A boiled, peeled potato has the highest glycemic index of any food.

Harvard Medical School says the glycemic index for a baked russet potato is 111 and for a boiled white potato 82.; 6/9/13, 3:47 PM
Dante said...: They also said sugar was safer than fructose.

Bullshit.; 6/9/13, 8:09 PM
Anonymous said...: Obviously you didn't read it Dante, you care more about being "right" than accuracy.; 6/9/13, 9:18 PM
n.n said...: William:

If you are right, then this campaign is an implicit condemnation of the education system in this country, or perhaps just New York. It calls into question the extraordinary expenditures in our public schools. Not only its effectiveness, but also the content and delivery it purchases.; 6/9/13, 10:36 PM
Largo said...: Marty said...

"""Cosby has been a leader in demanding self-responsibility in the black community; I give him space to go off the rails occasionally."""

Me too. But it is valuable to be alert when he -does- go off the rails.; 6/11/13, 7:40 AM
Dante said...: Inga:

Fructose is sugar.

Sugar is more dangerous than sugar.

Now, who didn't read it?; 6/12/13, 4:38 PM