Newsome Gets Irksome

Forget his sex scandal. In San Francisco the only real news is that a straight Dem got lucky. Forget his grandstanding on gay marriage that created a backlash from which gays are still suffering. Do, however, look at his latest silly salvo against common sense. He wants to tax sugar-loaded soft drinks.

If ever the nanny state was going to look foolish, look to San Francisco. Here is a city that wants to decriminalize pot and go easy on cocaine but is trying to ban Coke. Forget the crystalline tropane alkaloids and THC and get the sugar pushers.

This is all for our own good, of course. Newsome, although he's been advised that such legislation is likely to be challenged in court, lose and cost San Francisco a lot of money, is willing to grandstand--on principle, of course. It's worth it to fight obesity and diabetes, he opines.

One wonders why he is giving all the non-sugar sweeteners a pass here. They, as mostly synthetic chemicals, could well prove to be more damaging than organic sugar.