Ronald McDonald: Enemy of the State
I was reading Mollie Hemmingway's post below, on children who are being raised “genderless,” by parents who appear to be clueless when I remembered another example that caught my attention today. There appears to be an epidemic of nonsense making the rounds, as Dr. Susan Berry observes in an article about an effort to make Ronald McDonald an “Enemy of the State.” The clown, who has brought smiles and “Happy Meals” to kids for decades is now in the sights of something called Corporate Accountability International.
This all follows close on the heels of a lawsuit from a mother who is tired of Ronald, “…getting into my kids’ heads without my permission and actually changing what my kids want to eat.” Writes Dr. Berry:
The mother claimed that Happy Meals with toys inside them were too inviting for her kids. This suggests that she could not manage to actually say, “NO,” to them, or take the car keys away from them, when they told her they wanted to eat at McDonald’s.
Unable to manage her own children, she now inveighs on the state to manage everybody's. Thus does the idea of individual responsibility give way to collective nagging. McDonald's may not be allowed in her kid's heads, but the state will take up residence with nary a peep of protest. Little Johnny, or “Storm” as the case may be, can't have a plastic super hero with his chicken nuggets, but he sure as hell can get an early education about homosexuality in school. Little Suzy, or Drizzle, or whatever, will avoid a Barbie like a hazmat spill, but she'll have instruction in the proper placement of a condom. And when all that new education goes awry and Suzy needs help, she can be spirited off to the abortionist without her parents' knowledge or consent. No worries, as long as the restraining order against Ronald McDonald is enforced.
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Oct '10
Re: Ronald McDonald: Enemy of the State
Remember how fifteen years ago, when we conservatives said that if Joe Camel and the tobacco industry were effectively destroyed, "Big Fry" would be next? Liberals, moderates, and "responsible" conservatives dismissed us as nuts. Well who's crazy now?
May '10
Re: Ronald McDonald: Enemy of the State
Perhaps McD's will compromise and agree to make Obama toys.
May '11
Re: Ronald McDonald: Enemy of the State
Boy this is amazing, if you don't want your kids eating happy meals, DON'T BUY them!
In this last year I've gotten myself back into some kind of decent shape, I've lost 58 pounds, and still have more to lose, but now I'm in some decent shape. People are stunned at how I did it, what diet did I follow etc, well what I did was eat less and move more, simple, yet it is working fine for me, no need for any government agency, no food police, I just eat better food and move more, a lot more. This is such a personal responsibility issue it is amazing!
If these parents can't say "No" to their kids about a happy meal, how are they going to say "No" to them about bad life choices when they become teenagers?
I'd say to the Food Police.....
"I'll give you my Happy Meal when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!" :)
Re: Ronald McDonald: Enemy of the State
There are times I think these people will not be happy until everyone is raising gender-neutral children sucking a tofu slurry from a sustainable ceramic mug in a small apartment along a light-rail line, with the kids tended by undocumented workers during the day while the parents - and I apologize for implying that two is a preferred social model - go to work writing grant proposals for a multimedia artwork that will challenge Edison-normality assumptions by photoshopping CFL bulbs into every cartoon that ever associated an idea with the appearance of an incandescent bulb over a character’s head.
Jun '10
Re: Ronald McDonald: Enemy of the State
James: You failed to work ethanol into this brilliant riff.
Feb '11
Re: Ronald McDonald: Enemy of the State
Can I press "Like" a dozen times?
Apr '11
Re: Ronald McDonald: Enemy of the State
These are the sort of parents that if they could would leave their kids to a state facility between Mon-Fri. while they're lecturing class on the 'unbearable whiteness of Barbie' (real course), then pick up the kids on weekends for Yoga and unicycle lessons.