Saturday, April 03, 2010

Clearing the Air on the Yost's "Statist War on Fat" (Includes Audio)

Awhile back, I got an audio file of Dave Yost doing his stump speech at an endorsement function that was characterized as Dave ranting about how we should choose apples over chips or some such nonsense.  The clip is five minutes long and the portion that I have been dubbing "Dave Yost's Statist War on Fat" lasts for about a minute or so and is about three minutes in to the clip.

Having now heard the clip, and heard from Dave directly, I can now discuss the issue and analyze it with some perspective.  But first, folks should really hear this for themselves -- in context, so I am providing the entire clip.


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Context is important, but in our sound-byte driven environment, it is very easy to come away from that section of the speech as "Dave Yost wants to make sure that you chose an apple instead of chips." when that really isn't what he is trying to say at all.  Dave wrote me to explain:
OK. Specifically, Hamilton County has received a federal grant for $6.7 million to make it "eaiser" for people to eat right and exercise more. I use this stimulus-funded boondoggle in every stump speech as an example of what's wrong with our spendthrift government, and the inter-generational theft that's going on in Washington AND Columbus. (Strickland, who cannot legally run a deficit, has simply gotten Obama to do it for him.)

I'd rather be fit than not (at the moment, I'm in the "not category) but the worthy ideal of fitness is none of the federal government's business.
Folks, these speeches are boring enough as it is, but we all have to start doing a better job of listening -- myself included.  Granted, I think Dave chose a very easily misunderstood example and if you listen to the clip, I don't think Dave actually gets to making his point very effectively (if at all).
BOTTOM LINE: Dave isn't a statist hellbent on waging a War on Fat.  Thank goodness...  I still don't know what this has to do with the Auditor's race, but I feel better about it now.