The Week - UK (2022-02-19)

Best of the American columnists NEWS 15

19 February 2022 THEWEEK

America’s

wake-upcall

onobesity

CharlesLane

TheWashingtonPost

In manyways,we’re luckythat theCovidpandemicdidn’thit 30years ago, says CharlesLane.

There werenomRNA-basedvaccinesback then;nosmartphonestogatheranddisseminate data;no

Zoomtoenableremote working.Butin onemajor respect,America would have beenbetter offthen.

In 1990,noUSstatehadan adultobesityprevalence rateof over15%.Today,bycontrast, noUS

statehasan obesityrateunder20%;in16statesit’s above35%.Giventhat,after age, obesityis

oneof thebiggestrisk factorsforCovid,thishelpsexplainwhytheUS’soveralldeathratefromthe

virus hasbeenthehighestin theworld.RecentresearchsuggeststhatifAmerica’s nationalaverage

body-massindexwere onapar withthatof Denmark,amid-rankingcountry,some157,000fewer

Covidpatientswould havediedinthe USbetweenthestart of 2020andthe autumnof 2021.It’s

further evidence of thedireneedtoconfront America’s weightproblem.Whyis thegovernmentstill

subsidisingtheproductionof cornsyrupandotherparts of thecountry’s high-fat,heavilyprocessed

diet?Whydofederalfoodgrantsfor needyfamilies still coverthe purchaseof cakeandfizzy drinks?

Thefirst step to fightingthe obesityepidemicistostop“doing things thatmakeit worse”.

Is Black

LivesMatter

corrupt?

PeterFlaherty

RealClearPolitics.com

Aretheleadersof theBlack LivesMatter movementrunningascam?It’s beginningtolookthatway,

saysPeterFlaherty. Serious questionsare beingasked aboutthefinancesofthe BlackLivesMatter

GlobalNetwork Foundation(BLMGNF), themainorganisationaloutgrowthof themovement.

Attorneys-generalin WashingtonstateandCalifornia havedemandedthegroupceasefundraising,

owingto its failuretofile financialreports for2020.Thegroup’scharity registrationis reportedly

also outof compliancein several other states.It’sunclearexactly whoisinchargeof thegroupat

themoment.Co-founderPatrisseCullors–“aself-avowedMarxist”whoonce calledfor“theend

of Israel”–abruptlyquitlast May, amid revelationsabout herpurchase of fourhomes worthmore

than$3m.She turnedover theleadership to twoassociates, butit lateremerged that theynevertook

uptheroles owingtodisagreementsabouttheirduties.BLMGNFhas$60min itscoffers, buthow

thismoney is beingspent,andatwhose direction,is amystery.“There is moretransparencyand

accountability in theoperationof alocalchapterof theGirl Scouts.”The“selective silenceof

previouslyvolublewoke corporate boardsandnational mediapundits” onthisissueis shameful.

DonaldTrumplearntearly onin hiscareerthatit’s easy to getaway with floutingthe lawifyou’re

brazenenough,saysDavidA. Graham.Hebroughtthatphilosophytothe WhiteHouse, wherehe

ignoredrules onnepotismandfinancialtransparency.It’s littlesurprise,then, to hearthathe also

ignoredthePresidentialRecordsAct,passedafter Watergate,thatrequiresalldocumentsfroman

administrationto be preservedin orderto create ahistoricalrecord andavoidcover-ups.Reports

lastweekrevealedthat Trumpdestroyed many documentsandtook15boxes of records with him

to Mar-a-Lago containing,amongother things,his correspondence with NorthKorean dictator

KimJong Un.Despite being repeatedlywarnedby White Houselawyersto savedocuments, Trump

routinelytorepapersup;staffwouldgatherfragmentsandstick themtogether.It’s even claimed that

he cloggedWhiteHouse loos withdiscardedpapers.Asaresultof hiscontemptuousdisregard for

therules,we’releftwithwhattheformergovernmentofficialDonaldRumsfeld mighthavecalled

an “unknownunknown”.“Becausethereis nowayofidentifyingwhatrecordsTrumpmighthave

destroyedorstolen,we’llneverknowwhatwedon’tknowaboutthe Trumppresidency.”

We’llnever

knowthefull

Trumpstory

DavidA.Graham

TheAtlantic

Doesbeatingapoliceofficer witha

flagpolecountas“legitimate political

discourse”?Whatabout smearing

faecesonthewallsof Congress?The

RepublicanNationalCommittee

(RNC) suggestedasmuchthe other

day,saidJonahGoldbergintheLos

AngelesTimes,whenit votedto

censuretheRepublicanrepresentatives

LizCheneyandAdamKinzinger.Their

crime?Daringtoserveonthe Houseof

Representativescommitteeinvestiga-

tingthe 6 JanuaryattackontheUS

Capitol–aprobe that,accordingto

theRNCresolution, isa“Democrat-

ledpersecutionofordinarycitizens

engaged inlegitimate politicaldiscourse”.Whatnonsense.

Thousandsofpeople attendedthepre-riotrallyoutsidethe US

Capitol,andnoneofthemare “beingpersecuted”.TheRNCis

abodyof“boosters,has-beensandother partystrivers”whose

mainroleistodraftapartyplatform(ormanifesto).Butthese

officialsnowseemto“thinktheirjobistowhitewashan

attemptedcoupandprovidefodderforDemocraticads”.

Theliberalmediaiscertainlymakingthemostofthisstory,

saidMollieHemingwayinTheFederalist,butit’sdistorting

thefacts.OfcoursetheRNCdoesn’tthinkriotingislegitimate

politicaldiscourse. Itwascondemning

thefactthatthe 6 Januaryprobeisn’t

just goingafterrioters;it hasalso

subpoenaedpeoplewhoweren’t

rioting–whoweren’tinWashington.

What startedasaninquiryhas

becomean“inquisition”,with

pro-TrumpRepublicansbooted off

it.Well,nowthe RNCresolutionhad

dividedtheparty,too,saidAaron

BlakeinTheWashingtonPost.Mitch

McConnell,theleader oftheSenate

Republicans,denouncedit,and

calledtheCapitolattack a“violent

insurrection”.Itshowshowtheparty

hassplitbetween“aJan. 6-revisionist,

Trump-y base”andapartyleadershipthat“believesthisstuff

is counterproductive, atbest,andeven justplainwrong”.

There’sareasonTrump’sallies wanttodiscredittheprobe,said

MichaelS.SchmidtandLukeBroadwaterinTheNewYork

Times.Itistakinganunprecedentedlyaggressiveapproach,

usingmore thanadozenformer federalprosecutors whohave

deployed“tactics typicallyusedagainstmobstersandterrorists”

to uncoverevidencefromTrump’scamp. Thecommittee’saim

isto findenoughevidenceto forcetheJusticeDepartmentto

bringchargesagainstthosewhoorganisedthe attack.

Cheney:censuredbyherownparty

TheCapitolattackinvestigation:splittingtheRepublicans