Meddling into local schools at a macro level (or Slick Willie campaigns for Sec-Gen)

There is a fine line between doing good and meddling. William Jefferson Clinton - and the foundation that bears his name - does not understand that this line exists.

We refer to the much-ballyhooed announcement today that the WJC Foundation has brokered an agreement among the nation's major soft drink companies to quit marketing soda pop and whole milk to public, and perhaps even private, schools.

From the self-congratulatory comment, you'd think Slick Willie's boys had resolved all crises of the Middle East.

"This is a bold step forward in the struggle to help 35 million young people lead healthier lives," former President Clinton said at a news conference. "This one policy can add years and years and years to the lives of a very large number of young people."

Change the word "help" to "force" and you have a better understanding of what is going on. Furthermore, we question whether there is proof that "this one policy" will add "years and years and years" to the lives of young people, whatever the number. Typical Clinton bullshit.

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a collaboration between Clinton's foundation and the American Heart Association, helped broker the deal.

"The soft drink industry has decided that it won't wait to be pushed," said Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the co-chair of the alliance. "It jumped in. ... It may be the soft drink industry, but they made a very hard decision."

The move follows a mounting wave of regulation by school boards and legislators alarmed by reports of rising childhood obesity. Soda has been a particular target of those fighting obesity because of its caloric content and popularity among children.

If you really believe in the principles of federalism and subsidiarity, which we do, then this entire episode is enough to make you want to find a remote cave, stock up on canned goods, have a good supply of ammo, a portable generator, and retire within to wait out the coming collapse of the old Republic.

Of course soda pop isn't good for you. That isn't the issue. The issue is that the decision whether or not to allow Pepsi or Coke to put machines down at the end of the hall, and in the cafeteria, should be made by local elected school boards, the unit of government closest to the people most directly affected.

These decisions should not be made by unelected corporate bureaucrats, social do-gooders and "I want to be the next secretary-general of the U.N." pimping foundations.

But the mantra is that the little people do not know enough to make good decisions, so we will take that right away from them. Even in a good cause, this is a bad thing. Because if enough of the little people, after awhile, come to expect that it doesn't matter what they think anyway and, after all, William Jefferson "Slick" is on the case, then local government isn't representative.

The evil expressed in Gov. Huckabee's statement that the soft drink industry didn't wait "to be pushed" is enough to condemn the entire proceedings. There's Big Brother, standing by with his lap dogs of trial lawyers and threats of legislation, warning us to cower before the assembled majesty of "those who know better." Just thinking about this makes us want to go out and grab a non-diet Coke in protest.

The banning of whole milk in elementary and middle schools, in particular, is asinine. Yeah, the American Heart Association has been bleating about the dangers of whole milk for a few decades, but more recent research has shown that the fat content of one's diet isn't nearly as critical, if at all, than the overall balance of what we eat, and exercise.

Most children, with the exception of the most severely obese, would be better served with whole milk. At least parents ought to have a say in what kind of milk their children drink. With Clinton's food Nazis continuing their work, how long is it before whole milk is taken out of the coolers in the grocery stores?

The Oklahomilist is not above experimenting in his own lab. For years our children drank low-fat milk as we ritually obeyed the political correct rules of modern health "authorities." Not only were his kids not fat, they were under-developed. But one day, with a demented cackle born of curiosity and inspiration, he brought home a gallon of regular Vitamin D-rich, homogenized whole milk.

Of course the children gagged on the unexpectedly rich, flavorful liquid. But since they didn't have any choice nor knew enough to call the child welfare authorities, they drank deep and ate it with their Cocoa Puffs. In a short time, they raved about whole milk. When Mrs. Oklahomilist tried to backslide with the purchase of a gallon of 2%, the next generation arose in protest over the "pitiful" and "foul tasting" abomination that it is.

But the story doesn't end there. An interesting thing took place. In the next six months, our children, of varying ages, experienced growth spurts. There were fewer instances of colds and allergies. Instead of becoming fat and sassy, they become muscular and active.

It was enough to convince even the backsliding better half that the "experts" were wrong. End of personal story; back to the issue at hand.

Finally, in a journalistic technique known as burying inconvenient information, the WaPo concluded its story with this tidbit:

Most elementary schools are already soda-free.

Oh, gee. Then all of this syrupy self-congratulation is so much propaganda designed to get certain big names in the news.

Disgusting.