Mississippi legislators attention whoring

Ah, Mississippi, that bastion of civil rights and body autonomy.

Now some attention-whoring legislators in that state have introduced a bill that would revoke the licenses of business who serve food to fat people. This bill will never get passed, and not because of a lack of fat hatred, and the authors know it. It's a stunt, authored by men whose bills often tend to be fluff bits naming highways after war heroes and commending dead soldiers on their military service.

We've basically got three old white guys who have seen the civil rights movement take away their right to treat people badly based on their skin color. What's a good ol' boy to do, but find some other group of people to bar from the restaurants? Hating fat people is not just socially acceptable; it's becoming government sanctioned!

Now, these guys know full well that their bill is not viable. The bureaucracy required to even get it started would be staggering, and enforcement would be impossible. The restaurant lobby would never stand for it. But, just the proposal of this bill may make some people feel that their treatment of fat people is legitimate. Some restaurants may start treating fat customers differently just to avoid future legal complications. It doesn't make good business sense, of course, but neither does the poor treatment we get from doctors.

One final note: Do you think that Representative Read is going to consider himself banned from restaurants by his own bill? Do you think he believes the rules apply to him? I would recommend that he ban himself from them voluntarily, if he feels this strongly about fat people eating food.