Alec Baldwin, Sugar, and the Constitution

Former Massapequa resident, Alec Baldwin blogged about Mayor Bloomberg’s attempt to ban sugary drinks. Alec has the HuffPost; I have the Massapequa Patch. I write this as one Massapequan to another and while I have great respect for Alec Baldwin as an actor, it saddens me when someone so obviously smart makes such ridiculous arguments.

 In his piece , he makes the claim that Libertarians don’t mind government involvement when it comes to gay marriage, issues regarding Church and State, and then follows up with the assertion Libertarians

“look the other way at wars fought in our name in places they can't find on a map.”

I’m not a Libertarian but I’d like to respond. First, Alec, get off your snarky smug little soapbox and have a conversation that isn’t condescending. Aren’t you cute diminishing a group of people as too stupid to know where Iran or Kuwait are on a map. Wait. Isn’t that where we are at war?

 Maybe Alec Baldwin should make himself familiar with a little thing called the Constitution in which the separation of Church and State is written about. Alec’s father was my Social Studies teacher and I’m sure that the Constitution as well as the First Amendment were discussed at home. I could be wrong but I’m sure Alec started out as a political science major so he should know that the Bill of Rights applies to all Americans, not just Libertarians.

Hhhmmm, next….gay marriage…..He didn’t state whether he was for or against, just that it is an issue some Libertarians would like the government involved in. Ok, again, not a Libertarian, but I’m going to take a stab here and say that equal rights for tax paying citizens is something most people would like the government to get behind. Leave the religion out of it. Constitution?

I applaud his decision to get healthy after gaining weight despite exercising regularly. I’m sorry to hear he was in a pre-diabetic state just as I’m happy to hear he corrected it by cutting out his refined sugars along with bread, pasta, and rice. Wonderful! Really! As someone who has fought that battle, won it, lost it, won it, lost it, etc, I know what a wonderful feeling it is to beat the bulge and to stand tall and lean and proud. Of course you want everyone to know how you did it but please, don’t stand in the way of the soda fountain for those of us not as evolved as you.

I’m happy that Alec Baldwin watched a documentary on HBO and now can explain why it is ok for the government to tell us that we can still drink soda, just not too much of it. I’d also like to ask Alec what he thought of Mayor Bloomberg’s support of Donut Day. Follow me for a minute, but aren’t donuts fried dough and sugary. Isn’t sugar what the Mayor is preaching against?

Of course, the poor get thrown in again as if this is some magical protection for poor people. It isn’t. It is in the simplest form an erosion of our rights. It is the government stepping in to tell us that we are not allowed to do something that is bad for us. It is the government even acknowledging that it may not work. As Mayor Bloomberg said in the NY Daily News, “Even if it doesn’t make a big difference, it’s not hurting anybody.” That is one of the more genius reasons I have ever heard for introducing any kind of legislation. Essentially he is saying hey? Why not?

I’ll tell him why not and I hope that Alec Baldwin in a fit of nostalgia logs onto the Massapequa Patch and reads this. People are not stupid. People don’t drink soda because they are dumb. It may not be healthy but neither are cigarettes, excessive alcohol, and those Oxycontin prescriptions that seemed to get filled like candy.

Skateboarding can be dangerous and so can riding a bike through Manhattan. You could get mugged walking Central Park or hit by a bus crossing a street in Brooklyn. None of those things are banned, at least not yet.

Our freedoms are at stake here. It may sound silly calling how much soda you’re allowed to purchase a freedom, but it is a freedom. It isn’t protecting the poor, who by the way, are not too stoopid to know what’s healthy and what isn’t.

 I love Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock. He is a great comedic actor and he certainly is entitled to his opinion, but please spare the rest of us, who have not just lost 30 pounds and watched a documentary.

Again, not a Libertarian here, and still a little confused as to why his blog seemed to call out Libertarians, but this is an issue that is about all of us, not just Libertarians. Do Libertarians even drink soda?