'Today' Show's Trans-Fat Warriors: Vieira, Curry Back Nanny-State Ban

September 29th, 2006 8:11 AM

This morning's big political news at 'Today' was the Bob Woodward book, State of Denial. Turf battles and rivalries in a White House - who would have thought it? Dems are presumably clinging to it as the Last Best Hope for Liberal-kind.

But in terms of revealing the liberal MSM mindset, I found much more interesting a few off-the-cuff comments made by members of the Today cast. At the end of the first half hour, the entire gang gathered on the studio couch, and talk centered on a just-completed segment on a proposal in NYC to ban the use of trans-fats by city restaurants.

You might say Meredith Vieira made her position 'Crisco-clear': "I think they should ban it."

But is Matt Lauer something of the house libertarian? She turned to him and said: "I bet you think they shouldn't [pass the ban] because you don't like the government involved."

Lauer took something of a middle road: "I think you could put a sign up on the door of the restaurant saying "We Cook With Trans-fatty Acids." Let the people decide - you go in there, you don't go in there."

This provoked a flurry of outrage from the female crew members. One was heard to yell something along the lines "but they're already in there!"

Ann's curry was running particularly hot. As shown here, she literally pounded her fist into her hand as she exclaimed: "Remember, heart disease is the number one killer in America. We have to save lives!"

Nanny-statism at is baldest: Hillary would be proud.

Note: for an excellent overview of the issue, check out this article by Ken Shepherd of NewsBusters and MRC's Business & Media Institute.

Note II: NewsBusters is looking for a few good men - or women. NB is seeking military, ex-military and former intelligence community members to write about the media's coverage of military and intelligence issues. If you're interested, email newsbusters@mediaresearch.org

Finkelstein lives in the liberal haven of Ithaca, NY. View webcasts of Mark's award-winning TV show 'Right Angle' here. Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net