This might qualify as the silliest episode of nanny-state government ever

This landed in my e-mail inbox as a “BREAKING NEWS ALERT!”

“Judge Invalidates New York City’s Ban on Big Sugary Drinks”

Really? Breaking news? Oh brother. This has to be the most inconsequential breaking news ever.

You may have heard about this last week. It was one day before New York Mayor Bloomberg’s ban of extra large sodas was to go into effect. A State Supreme Court judge invalidated the ban.

The judge called the ban “arbitrary and capricious.” And that about sums up the entire controversy.

There was never a ban on big sugary drinks. It was a ban on large sodas at restaurants and food chains. In other words, it was a large CUP ban. Not a soda ban. You would still have been able to gulp down gallons of soda.

To give it even less teeth, the ban applied to restaurants, but not convenience stores. And it applied to sodas, but not to other sugary drinks.

So “arbitrary and capricious” is a good call. And to that you can add silly, pointless and doomed.

Sources:
“Judge Invalidates New York City’s Ban on Big Sugary Drinks” The New York Times, 3/11/13, nytimes.com