Tags
barack obama, climate, drink up, environment, michelle obama, nature, science, water
When running for his first term in 2008, Barack Obama told the American people how to solve our energy problems without drilling for oil: fully inflate car tires and get regular tune ups. Nonsense on stilts, but revealing of Mr. Obama’s cluelessness, then and now, of the realities of America’s energy use and production needs.
And in 2013, First Lady Michelle Obama is also belaboring the obvious, and USA Today at least partially considers it a virtue:
credit: Eric Thayer/Reuters
A sign of our divided times: Even a first lady project encouraging people to drink more water is drawing criticism.
Michelle Obama traveled Thursday to Watertown, Wis. — naturally — to promote a new program by her Partnership for a Healthier America to encourage people to drink more water.
‘Drink just one more glass of water a day and you can make a real difference for your health, your energy, and the way you feel,’ Obama said. ‘So Drink Up and see for yourself.
Mirable dictu (wonderful to tell)! Who woulda thunk it?! One more glass of water will improve my health, make me more energetic, and improve “the way I feel?” Why, might it even replace Viagra? The potential benefits for world peace erect steadfast, towering images of possibility! Could this be true? Politico deflates Mrs. Obama’s watery pronouncement:
There really isn’t data to support this,’ said Dr. Stanley Goldfarb of the University of Pennsylvania. ‘I think, unfortunately, frankly, they’re not basing this on really hard science. It’s not a very scientific approach they’ve taken. … To make it a major public health effort, I think I would say it’s bizarre.’
Goldfarb, a kidney specialist, took particular issue with White House claims that drinking more water would boost energy.
‘The idea drinking water increases energy, the word I’ve used to describe it is: quixotic,’ he said. ‘We’re designed to drink when we’re thirsty. … There’s no need to have more than that.
Take the link to the Politico article to see a few comments from scientists slightly more favorable–but far less scientifically defensible–to Mrs. Obama’s newest public health brainstorm. However, the reality remains that her suggestion is ultimately in the same effectiveness league as tire inflation and tuneups. Which of course means the government will be spending millions of taxpayer dollars to promote it:
In announcing Michelle Obama’s “Drink Up” program, the White House said:
‘To remind families of the importance of drinking water, supporters of PHA’s effort will carry the Drink Up logo on nearly 300 million packs of bottled water; more than half a billion bottles of water; 200,000 packages of reusable bottles; and more than 10,000 reusable bottles in the next year.
Additionally, more than 10,000 outdoor public taps are expected to carry the brand over the next few years. Cities will also be utilizing the logo to encourage people to drink more tap water.
And hosts on a dozen TV shows are participating in an around-the-clock, cross-network, bilingual day of drinking water and encouraging their audience to Drink Up.
credit: nationalgeographic
Now we’re branding tap water and “outdoor public taps.” That’ll encourage people to drink water, which without the urging of the First Lady no one would ever think of doing. Imagine the advertising slogans:
“Water: It’s not just for toilet bowls!”
“Don’t hate me because I drink an extra glass of water every day” (purred by a slinky model).
“Water: the new white meat!”
“I don’t always drink water, but when I do, I drink 100% federal government branded Obamawater” (the most interesting man in the world).
“If you like it, you’ll be able to keep your own tap water!”
“Water: Drink Up! The NSA is watching!”
I await Mrs. Obama’s future campaigns to encourage sleep, yawning, scratching when it itches, having a good bowel movement at least once a day, voluntarily using toilet paper, bathing now and then, wearing clothing in public, sex, and refraining from brushing one’s teeth with battery acid, with breathless anticipation.
And who said the Obama Administration never did anything to America? Hey, maybe I can get a multi million dollar grant for wind and solar water? Drink Up!
Stately McDaniel Manor 
How long till there is a water intoxication crisis because some idiots drink too much water? Another example of fixing an non-existent problem. Arrrgh!
Are disbarred lawyers allowed to give legal advice? Can’t wait for that. Drink more water, pump up your tyres, have regular tuneups? I think I’ve just stepped through the looking glass. Is there a White House hotline where I can get some advice on laying tiles? The Obamas are beyond parody. They should be under adult supervision. Barry would be unremarkable when left tending a hardware shop in Des Moines, but this clown is in charge of multi-trillion dollar corporation. They are parochial in every negative sense of the word, and blind to the fact that their jewish sponsors could not care less about them.
If the kidney specialist Goldfarb really thinks “We’re designed to drink when we’re thirsty … There’s no need to have more than that”, he’s an idiot, though it is more likely that he is dishonestly over-simplifying and only intends that to apply to people in good health. Right now I am recovering from a serious attack of gout, not the only one I’ve ever had, and I have also more than once had the related variety of kidney stones. These ailments are caused by certain protein breakdown products crystallising out in the wrong places, and both prevention and recovery are greatly helped by drinking lots of water to help reduce the background level of those protein breakdown products and flush them out.
Anyway, there are a great many situations in which drinking lots of water promotes health, and it is no refutation whatsoever to point out perfectly accurately that people in good health get no benefit from that.
Dear P.M. Lawrence:
Thanks, as always, for your comment. It seems we have something in common: gout. No fun.
Of course drinking water is not a bad thing. But the article is a satire, poking fun at people who, as the title noted, belabor the obvious, particularly with the use of taxpayer dollars.
Erin Brockovich should be the spokesperson for the campaign:
“We had that water brought in special for you folks.”
Drink up!!!
…. so, indeed, you are harping on essentially a PSA announcement to drink more water.
So, is drinking more water bad for you? (answer honestly)
Is keeping your tires properly inflated bad advice?
Is getting a regular tune up bad advice?
Is eating healthier bad advice?
So…. what exactly was this article about, again? that the decent advice is bad advice, or the Obama’s said it, so it must be refuted?
Dear Rule of Order:
Of course keeping tires inflated and drinking water aren’t bad advice, etc. That’s not the point of the article.
So the point of the article is to not come up with something as obvious as “Just Say No” for one of the usual First Lady “projects”, then?
Weigh them in the balance as to which one has more journalistic integrity with regards to harp on:
Drink more water, its good for you.
When offered drugs, just say ‘no’.
Granted, a HUGE “War on Drugs” was being developed (and this was a GREAT rallying cry to save the children), so its probably not as easy to quantify as some stickers on a water fountain, but the ‘duh’ moment is just as poignant.
Dear Rule of Order:
Actually, I wasn’t blogging during the “just say no” campaign. If I were, I would surely have taken it to task.
Dear Rule of Order,
You’re missing the point. Any sentient person KNOWS that you have to drink water, inflate tyres, carry concealed, etc. etc. The article was clearly too nuanced for you.
Moochelle is just trying to raise her profile. Similar to Al Bore and the absurd “An Inconvenient Truth”. She has NOTHING to say that the world/America needs to hear.
I’d like to hear her comments about black majority cities that have become cesspools of depravity. You wouldn’t want to be hanging by your neck while you wait.for that!
Any sentient person knows to learn to read, any sentient person knows to decline drugs, any sentient person knows to eat well, any sentient person knows excersize is good for you, any sentient person knows volunteering helps the community, etc. Its the “office” of the First Lady. They get pet projects, they attempt to engage the community as a whole at the lowest common denominator.
“She has NOTHING to say that the world/America needs to hear.” — and clearly the reply to the point on the article as a whole was to nuanced for you:
If she has nothing of substance to say, writing an article about some one whom had nothing of substance to say makes what you are saying worth even less than the subject you opine about. In this instance, it seems downright Pavlovian; the Obamas said something/write a critique.
Well RoO you’ve lost me there! But ‘pet projects’ aside, her time may have been better spent addressing crime in majority black cities like Detroit, Camden, Newark, Atlanta, Milwaukee, etc. Then her appeal to the lowest common denominator would find fertile ground.
Maybe if the Obamas said something worthwhile people wouldn’t be so critical, after all he is the ‘smartest’ president America has ever had, bar none.
Sorry, but I can’t get an inspirational heartwarmer out of being lectured by a disbarred lawyer.
Admit it Mike, you are rule of order, aren’t you? Nothing like dependable obtuseness to fuel commentary. You clever false-flagger you.
Actually, if only her husband would peter off into something harmless too.
Heck even the urban legend about Marie Antoinette claims she said “give them cake.” Moochelle proclaims across the nation, give them water, and that is not an urban legend.