Colbert and Stewart Disagree on Sugary Drinks Ban

When Mayor Bloomberg announced that he wanted to ban the sale of oversized 16-ounce sugary drinks in NYC, everyone went ape shit. Sure, while the idea to try to force people to become more conscious about choices affecting their own health is well-intentioned, it's not exactly the sort of thing you can set as a legal precedent, enforceable by law, without it blowing up in your face.

But it strikes me as telling that the idea received such vociferous responses from all directions, and it makes me wonder whether the explanation for such vitriol comes from our reluctance to admit that this is a more complex issue than it may appear at first glance. After all, one does have to admit that it would be good for citizens if they drank less soda... and that the evidence shows that, when they get to make the choice, they go for the ridiculously large stuff that's going to bring them that much closer to obesity and diabetes.

Jon Stewart points to the ridiculousness of the ban, since "it would combine the draconian government overreach people love with the probable lack of results they expect."


And then moves on to show what such a law ought to entail if we were to apply it consistently:


Stephen Colbert, on the other hand, has a very different reaction:



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