The US Postal Service will destroy an entire print run of new stamps because they apparently encourage unsafe behavior in children. The “Just Move” collection of stamps was commissioned to encourage juvenile philatelists (wherever they may be) to exercise. These stamps depict young people engaging in all sorts of healthful activities like biking, skateboarding, swimming, and running.
The well-meaning stamp collection came under fire when Michelle Obama, outspoken about her interest in children’s health, was asked to be involved in promoting them. Things went south when the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition (clearly a necessary branch of White House bureaucracy) noted that at least three of the stamps encourage “unsafe” activities, including (gasp!) a cannonball into a pool, doing a headstand without a helmet, and skateboarding without kneepads. ((These “experts” are apparently unaware that no one does headstands with a helmet. That’s why gymnastics is done on a mat. Seriously.))
Now the already financially troubled Postal Service will destroy that first run of stamps, and it is unclear whether the project is now dead in the water. We can be thankful that the Postal Service is at least partially funded by market demand, so the taxpayers won’t be eating this ridiculous debacle entirely. Which is good. But this seemingly trivial scenario should give us pause for other reasons.
This is not just yet another case of politically correct nonsense getting in the way of reason and common sense. Climbing trees and mountains, biking in the woods, starting fires, archery, and many other useful, healthful, or educational activities may have a degree of danger inherent in them. But removing danger from our children’s lives doesn’t make them safer. In many ways, it puts them at risk. I would much rather teach my children competence and responsibility than hold on to the illusion that I will always be there to shield them from every influence and agent of corruption and/or danger. Because I can’t shelter them from reality forever. Some day, they are going to have to work and live in the real world, and I want them to know how to take care of themselves. Apparently the President’s Council on Tomfoolery wants incompetent, ignorant, fearful automatons who need a child-proofed nursery to live in for the rest of their pathetic, flavorless lives.
Clearly, postage stamps designed to encourage exercise are not the most powerful forces attacking the safety of our children, either in the physical, spiritual, emotional, or mental senses. If we are so concerned about the well-being of our children, perhaps we should limit children’s television, shutter McDonald’s, and outlaw the consumption of sugary foods. But no, I really don’t mean that. Because that isn’t the civil government’s job. That’s the job of parents and then individuals. It’s our job to determine for ourselves what we deem within the permissible range of risk. Or is it?
This move by the USPS may be a shadow of things to come. Because if the civil government is ultimately responsible to pay for our healthcare, they also become responsible for determining what is and is not “healthy.” They become the parents. It becomes their job to enforce more intrusive health regulations: ranging from food to recreation. And this has already begun. Proof: the continuing saga of Nanny Bloomberg’s soda ban.
Choice and responsibility are inextricably linked. If I am not in the position of taking responsibility for my health, I also lose the choices involved in my safety. Get ready for heavier fines on motorcycles, tobacco, alcohol… you name it. And in order to determine who is involved in these unhealthful or potentially dangerous activities, our Nanny State is going to call on an even Bigger Brother to monitor every aspect of your daily life. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other avenues of social media are going to become a little window on whether you carved your pumpkin without eye protection and cut-proof gloves… on whether you smoked a cigar when your child was born… on whether you drank more than 15.9 ounces of Coke on that one trip to Steak ’n’ Shake. This is about more than stamps. Our freedoms are about to be even more tenuous.
This is just too sad for words.
This is great leftist reading just like the fat broad article I just read.
I am glad I got to have a childhood before all these Gaulieters showed up.
Google “Two Minute Conservative,” http://adrianvance.blogspot.com When you speak ladies will swoon and liberal gentlemen will weep.
“Gauleiter” (sp)
Brown shirt thuggery.Hypocrites say they are for choice but want to push their boots on our necks for the choices we make
It’s the liberal mind game…..the one who wins has the most people feeling like failures for ATTEMPTING to please a liberal.
Too bad they don’t have a stamp like this?
how about this one?
You know what Blob…the scumbag TROLL fantasizes about?
(and guess who first coined “teabaggers” of whom he so fondlly parrots?)
Have it your way!
Funny….from the scumbag liberal troll, westhollywoodBlob, who believes everything his god ohblabla says. of course blobs god bows down to foreign kings and worships SORO’s. Blob”’the SORO’S sucker HA HA HA
Now that’s really ironic, considering it’s coming from a faggot liberal. But then you libs are experts at “kocksucking” now aren’t you.
One of your kids?
I think someone in the postal service should be sure to steal 451 of them before they are destroyed. Then next year start releasing them to collectors one every six months and see how far the price can be driven. Then about six years from now, hide the rest of them, 100s, in a bank box, will it to an unborn child. Then 40 years from now our great grandchildren Nazi can burn an entire city down to make sure the contraband reading material does not fall into innocent hands.
They won’t destroy the stamps that are promote Moslems they are more dangerous than doing a cannon ball in swimming pool, skateboarding without a knee pads or playing soccer without a helmet.
Doesn’t anyone think it violates separation of church and state for the USPS to issue stamps that celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa (sp?), Hanukkah,and EID ,the Muslim holiday? The same judicial system that is keeping kids from wearing green and red clothing into public school because of separation of church and state seems to have no problem with postal stamps that have religious themes. If the USPS’s attitude is to allow access to portrayal of themes to all groups, why not portrayal of Buddhism, Hinduism, Satanism, Unitarianism, Quaker Pacifism, Mormonism, etc,etc. ? It seems the government is allowing things on stamps to make money selling these stamps around the holiday season rather than to be consistent. Or maybe the government should allow equal access of religions of all sorts into public schools? Instead of just teaching safe sex they should allow churches to teach responsible sex with love and abstinence as a law of God. They definitely should allow creationists to teach the Biblical account of creation and cosmology rather than limit the curriculum to teaching Big bang cosmology and evolution. Let the two points of view be debated and allow students to decide which they believe is true.
I don’t think the First Lady should be promoting anything politically whether it be beautification of America as did Lady Bird Johnson or good nutrition and exercise as is Michelle Obama.We did not elect Michelle Obama. It is ridiculous that she has a White Staff of 20 some people and that she is using her position to promote anything. These stamps appear innocuous but they point out that the Nanny State has control of ever aspect of our life now. Parents , not government bureaucrats, should be responsible for raising their own kids.
Right on you are so right. Well said.
Pretty bad when political correctness catches up with the politically correct, eh?
The last president to royally screw up our postal issues was FDR but at least he had the excuse of being a philatelist (that’s “stamp collector” for all you dumbazz 47%).
And a minor point about the stamps – a careful economic analysis of the costs of these stamps (even if they were sold and used!) indicates that the costs of production of these stamps were slightly higher than their face value. As I let that sink in to my own brain, my first reaction was “no wonder the Post Office is having trouble”. You can’t stay in business long if you are selling something for less than it costs you. I realized that the same rocket scientists are running Obamacare (and the IRS, too). They don’t know crap about money and economics. That’s not their job. That job is done by our glorious Coonunity Organizer.
The secret is to sell at a loss, and make up for it in volume.
I like it! But be careful, one of our elected geniuses might read that and make it law.
STUPID, let the kids alone take your extremist BS to grown-ups, they have to live with the bumps and scrapes of life in order to know they are alive. This ZOMBIE administration is tearing out the WONDER.
They should have known better to get that fat butted women into the deal. She believes that the government has a money farm, therefore, there is plenty of money, you don’t need to worry about waste.
Why don’t they issue this as a stamp?
Here’s one….
I remember back in the day when I grew up, how we used to do the stupidest things and get hurt and then come back laughing and bleeding but we all survived our childhoods without all the nanny state coddling. America is losing itself right quick and we are being tuned into a nation of wimps.
What about what Dr Seuss can tell you???
Obama parasite is as Obama parasite does.
Perhaps a stamp they would endorse is a child sitting in a padded cell eating jelly with a rubber spoon.
WHAT CAN IT HURT TO DO A CANNON BALL IN A POOL OR A HEAD STAND WITH OUT A HELMENT OF WHICH MIGHT GET IN THE WAY .WE NEVER HAD ANY OF THAT STUFF AND NO BODY GOT HURT ,IF SOME ONE DID GET HURT WE NEVER RUN HOME TO MAMA,WE JUST PUT SOME DIRT ON IT AND KEPT PLAYING.WE LEARNED HOW TO PLAY AND NOT GET HURT WITH OUT ALL THAT POLITICAL SAFTY STUFF
The so called Affordable Health Care Act is the exact opposite of this. Only a BRAIN DEAD Liberal believes this is about health care! This ponzi scheme is all bout FASCIST governmental control with every aspect of the individual’s daily life being known. Only those not working especially of a certain skin color will not pay anything for health care.
We are obsessed with safety when we should be obsessed with FREEDOM.