By Scott Tibbs, February 5, 2013
If there is one thing that nanny state ninnies have in common, it is that they do not trust you. They think you are too stupid, uneducated and/or corrupt to manage your own affairs. That is why your life must me micromanaged by the elites. Nowhere is this more obvious than with America's most obnoxious nanny state ninny, Michael Bloomberg.
Last summer, I ranted about the laughable proposal by Mayor Bloomberg to ban large sodas, which has recently been opposed by the NAACP - leading Bloomberg to immediately personally attack the organization's leadership. In an editorial about the dustup between Bloomberg and the NAACP, Katherine Connell makes an interesting point:
| And not all types of sugary drinks are equal in Bloomberg’s eyes, either. Alcoholic beverages, fruit juice, and dairy-based products are exempt. So Starbucks can go on serving 610-calorie venti iced white chocolate mochas with whip cream on top, but a Coke with fewer than half the calories is verboten. |
Do I really need to comment on how absurd this is?
But Bloomberg's arrogance does not end there. Last month, he decided that New York City's public hospitals need to be strictly regulated in distributing prescription painkillers, because some people abuse the drugs. Bloomberg's proclamation is part of a wider war on prescription painkillers, but it is useful to examine the arrogant mentality behind these proposals in addition to the arguments about why the policy itself is bad for sick people.
Bloomberg (who has no medical training, much less a doctorate in any kind of medicine) actually believes he knows better than the trained professionals who staff hospitals in New York. He actually believes his judgment from his chair in the mayor's office is wiser and more informed than the people who are directly dealing with patients dealing with pain, especially those in chronic pain. When he looks at this problem, he sees a medical profession that is at best incompetent and at worst corrupt drug dealers selling a legal "high."
This is the mentality of the authoritarian: They do not trust anyone but themselves and other approved members of the ruling elite. People cannot run their own lives because they are incompetent or corrupt, and even people with specialized professional training (like doctors) are a step below the ruling elite. It is a mentality that causes Bloomberg and his ilk to look down on the peasants under his care.
This kind of totalitarianism is deadly. It should not be surprising that some of the worst butchers of the twentieth century - Hitler, Stalin and Mao - were totalitarians who were obsessed with controlling every aspect of the lives of the people they ruled. It should not be a surprise, then, that Bloomberg endorses abortion and has even used his authority to harass crisis pregnancy centers in his city. In fact, 41% of all pregnancies in New York City are terminated through the brutality of abortion, and 60% of all black babies in Bloomberg's city are aborted. The Ku Klux Klan could not find a more reliable ally than the "tolerant liberal" Mayor Bloomberg.
As Americans, we need to stand up against this kind of bloodthirsty totalitarianism. We need to tell people like Michael Bloomberg that he and his extreme views are not welcome in the arena of shaping public policy. Thankfully, Bloomberg will not be mayor of America's largest city after 2013 because of term limits, but every effort needs to be made to keep him out of any other elective office.
