Bloomberg Crusades to Legislate Mortality through Soda Cups

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's latest charge at sugar has targeted 16-ounce sodas. He is on a mission to ban large sugary sodas in restaurants, movie theaters, street carts and sports venues.

At the heart of the mayor's mission is a crusade to legislate mortality.

If he is successful, will rebels hide out in Central Park, and in the dark of the night, serve up coke on tap in large paper cups?

Plastered with an enormous photo of President Barack Obama drinking a large soda, New York Magazine says Bloomberg's heavy-handed attempts to promote healthy living are nothing new. He's already taken on smoking, salt, alcohol and trans-fats.

"I think he's going to have a hard time separating people from their sugar," said Ellen Siegel, produce manager, who teaches a healthy eating series.

It's only a matter of time before a gangster finds himself on the wrong side of the law, with an officer yelling, "Your soda or your life." Can you imagine headlines like "Fatalities Mount in Soda Wars," as after being tackled and tazered, his bulging body lies cold and still, the evidence splashed all over his shirt and the sidewalk.

Though straitjacketing people away from their sugar may be a bit comical, sugar is no joking matter. Siegel applauds Bloomberg's attempt, and wishes him all the luck in the world.

Still she doesn't think people are interested in having this legislated, "I think they're going to want to say - get out of my kitchen."

Perhaps if Bloomberg aimed at heads and hearts rather than paper cups and street carts, it might be more of a winner for him.

He's tilted at sodas before, but unsuccessfully, according to New York Magazine, which reports him pushing a soda tax and trying to restrict the use of food stamps to buy soft drinks—efforts that were killed by Albany legislators and federal regulators.

Bailey's Brat is an editorial column by Greenbelt Patch local editor Bailey Henneberg.