RADLEY BALKO writes that fat people should be suing the U.S. government, not McDonald’s, for making them fat.

It’s a good article, with lots of links. I remember some years ago seeing someone compare the food pyramid with the dietary guidelines for cattle feedlots (which are designed to pack on the fat, of course), and finding them almost identical. Moo.

By ignoring the starch-to-sugar science, the USDA could continue recommending that Americans eat lots of grain. That kept the corn and wheat farmers happy. By downplaying sugar’s effect on metabolism, Americans would continue their low-fat obsession, consuming snacks and soft drinks largely sweetened with corn syrup. That kept the sugar farmers happy, and the corn farmers even happier. And all of this allowed NIH scientists to avoid admitting that their long-held low-fat prejudice might have been wrong. That kept the bureaucrats happy.

Everybody wins. Except the people who took their own government’s advice, and wound up with bulging bellies, belabored hearts, and a case of diabetes.

Sounds worse than anything McDonald’s is accused of. But when the government does things out of corrupt self-interest, it somehow gets a pass that the corporate sector doesn’t. Why is that?