Right-Wing Paranoia and Insanity Reaches New Levels

Here’s a little comic relief from all of that debt ceiling nonsense.

Via MediaMatters:

Following McDonald’s decision to offer “more nutritionally-balanced” Happy Meals and First Lady Michelle Obama’s praise of its move, the right-wing media jumped to attack McDonald’s for supposedly bending to the will of the “fat police” and making Happy Meals “less happy.”

What? That can’t be right, can it? Has Obama Derangement Syndrome so invaded the minds of conservatives that they can view a healthier Happy Meal as a clear sign of Obama’s socialistic takeover of the lives of Americans? Apparently so.

McDonald’s decision to reduce the portion of fries and add apple slices to their Happy Meals has Fox News, Michelle Malkin and other right-wing nutjobs screaming bloody murder. Here’s a sampling from The Blaze:

A child could once feel excitement over hearing a parent utter those beautiful words: “honey, we’re going to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal.” But those carefree days are over and that sense of childhood wonderment and abandon is about to be seriously curbed by a new McDonald’s policy that cuts an order of fries in half, throws apple slices, raisins and pineapple chunks around as if they were ketchup, and just generally makes Happy Meals “healthier,” and, less happy. And even though the apples are reportedly not well-received by customers, guess what? McDonald’s is forcing the fruit in its Happy Meals anyway. Whether you want it or not.

And what’s more, politics, perhaps even the White House itself, could be to blame.

[...]

So after all the years of satisfied customers “lovin’ it,” it is political pressure, including First Lady Michelle Obama’s war on childhood obesity, that reportedly forced McDonald’s hands.

[...]

McDonald’s: another casualty in the Nanny State’s war on personal choice, or is the fast food giant bringing this on themselves? Will the new, and perhaps not improved, McDonald’s menu affect your decision to patronize the long-time burger institution?

Blithering idiocy. In fact, the Happy Meal makeover was a clear business decision on the part of McDonald’s. From the LA Times:

The business strategy for McDonald’s is to make parents feel less guilty about feeding fast food to their children, so they’ll become more frequent customers.

“People tell us they want to feel good about visiting us regularly, about the food options that we serve, and want to visit us even more often,” [President of McDonald's USA, Jan Fields]

Department of Health numbers indicate that 1/3 of children and 2/3 of adults are either overweight or obese but those stats  don’t stop wingnuts like Michelle Malkin from foaming at the mouth over McDonald’s decision (“They [Michelle Obama] won’t rest until the Happy Meal has undergone the total Berkeley makeover“). Malkin has asked her readers to send in their photoshopped Unhappy Meals images.

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Every day, right-wing paranoia and insanity gets a bit more pronounced…and a bit more scary.

(Note: I entered Malkin’s Unhappy Meal Photoshop contest by sending in the illustration included at the top of this post. I’ll let you know if I get a response.)

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