Huckleberries: Obesity ad larded with Craig references

In the “Larry Craig Can’t Catch A Break” Dept., a lobbying group has incorporated the Idaho senator’s personal/political/legal troubles into a 30-second commercial about childhood obesity. S-R colleague Jim Camden posted the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine video on his Spin Control blog Tuesday. So, what do fat kids have to do with Sen. Craig’s bathroom habits? According to Spin Control, the group’s Stop Childhood Obesity Now campaign claims U.S. senators are “taking money from the meat and dairy industry, then making it easy for schools and food assistance programs to get federally purchased bacon, burgers, meat and dairy products.” The video, now posted at Huckleberries Online, too, illustrates this claim by showing a well-dressed man in a bathroom stall in a public restroom, tapping his foot, and then stuffing the bundles of cash he receives under the divider into a large briefcase. Then, the adjacent stall door opens as the camera pulls back and the voice-over says: “Companies get rich, and kids get fatter.” Exposed, a costumed pig with a bag full of money in the next stall squeals and slams the door shut. The voice ends: “Is your senator on the gravy train?” Craig would probably take a ticket on any other train than the one-way choo-choo he’s on.

“Yes, the fire alarm went off Tuesday while SReporter Erica Curless was interviewing activist Dan Gookin for a City Council election story. But it had nothing to do with any heated remarks Gookin made about his favorite target – urban renewal. United Way volunteers from the Spokane office set off the alarm while cooking omelets in the basement of our Coeur d’Alene building as part of a fundraiser.

“Huckleberries Online: 86 percent supported the proposed Sandpoint bypass project.