Posted on 08/13/2009 3:25:58 PM PDT by Shermy
PENSACOLA, Fla. - Dr. Jason Newsom railed against burgers, french fries, fried chicken and sweet tea in his campaign to promote better eating in a part of the country known as the Redneck Riviera. He might still be leading the charge if he had only left the doughnuts alone.
A 38-year-old former Army doctor who served in Iraq, Newsom returned home to Panama City a few years ago to run the Bay County Health Department and launched a one-man war on obesity by posting sardonic warnings on an electronic sign outside:
"Sweet Tea (equals) Liquid Sugar."
"Hamburger (equals) Spare Tire."
"French Fries (equals) Thunder Thighs."
He also called out KFC by name to make people think twice about fried chicken.
Then he parodied "America Runs on Dunkin'," the doughnut chain's slogan, with: "America Dies on Dunkin'."
Some power players in the Gulf Coast tourist town decided they had had their fill.
A county commissioner who owns a doughnut shop and two lawyers who own a new Dunkin' Donuts on Panama City Beach turned against him, along with some of his own employees, Newsom says. After the lawyers threatened to sue, his bosses at the Florida Health Department made him remove the anti-fried dough rants and eventually forced him to resign, he says.
"I picked on doughnuts because those things are ubiquitous in this county. Everywhere I went, there were two dozen doughnuts on the back table. At church, there were always doughnuts on the back table at Sunday school. It is social expectation thing," says Newsom, a lean 6-foot, 167-pounder in a county where 39 percent of all adults were overweight in 2007 and one in four was considered obese.
Newsom was hired by the state Health Department to direct the county agency. His $140,000-a-year salary is paid jointly by the state and the county. His job primarily involves educating the public about health issues - swine flu, AIDS and the like - but he also decided to address the dangers of glazed, sprinkled and jelly-filled treats.
He angered staff members by barring doughnuts from department meetings and announcing he would throw the fat-laden sweets away if he saw them in the break room. He also banned candy bars in the vending machines, putting in peanuts instead.
In May, lawyers Bo Rivard and Michael Duncan, co-owners of a new Dunkin' Donuts, asked Newsom to take down the "America Dies on Dunkin'" message. Newsom already had run other anti-doughnut warnings, including "Doughnuts (equals) Diabetes," and "Dunkin' Donuts (equals) Death."
The businessmen had the backing of County Commissioner Mike Thomas, who owns a diner and a doughnut shop. Thomas called for Newsom's ouster, saying the doctor shouldn't have named businesses on the message board.
"I think he was somewhat of a zealot," Thomas says. "I don't have a problem with him pushing an agenda, it's the way he did it. People borrowed money to go into business and they are being attacked by the government."
A short time after Newsom's meeting with Rivard and Duncan, Newsom says, his bosses at the state Health Department told him that his leadership wasn't wanted and that he could be fired or resign. He chose to resign May 8 but has reapplied for the job.
"I have never been known for my subtlety. I don't have a knack for it. I speak the truth to people and just assume that that my data and purpose are so real and true that everyone will see the value of what I'm doing," says Newsom, who now works at a prison, doing exams of inmates.
Rivard and Duncan did not return numerous calls to their offices.
"Dunkin' Donuts is pleased that the signs have been removed," Andrew Mastrangelo, a spokesman for Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin' Donuts said in an e-mail.
The Florida Health Department has refused to talk about Newsom since he is considered a job applicant. "We will be happy to talk to you after the position has been filled," department spokeswoman Susan Smith said in an e-mail.
Newsom is hoping to get his job back so that he can resume his campaign against overeating.
"My method was a little provocative and controversial," he says, "but there wasn't a person in Bay County who wasn't talking about health and healthy eating."
Apparently he offended the Future Surgeon General.
Another health Nazi.
He would have been fine if he hadn’t named them.
How stupid can you get?
Big Mac = Heart Attack
Whopper = Blubber
I mean, it is not like the doctor is wrong..
but he should find a different way.
Makes me hungry for Krispy Kreme’s hot donuts. YUM! Unfortunately, I resemble some of his remarks!
I felt a little sympathy for his free speech rights until I realized that he was working for the gubmint.
>> A county commissioner who owns a doughnut shop and two lawyers who own a new Dunkin’ Donuts on Panama City Beach turned against him, along with some of his own employees, Newsom says. After the lawyers threatened to sue, his bosses at the Florida Health Department made him remove the anti-fried dough rants and eventually forced him to resign, he says. <<
No conflict of interest there.....
>> He angered staff members by barring doughnuts from department meetings and announcing he would throw the fat-laden sweets away if he saw them in the break room. He also banned candy bars in the vending machines, putting in peanuts instead. <<
The best way to deal with psychos like this is to bring your own doughnuts in and eat them in front of him like a harlot eating a strawberry in a raunchy film.
Another health jerk, these are the kind of people that are for obamacare. So lets get this straight, he grabs other peoples property (junk food or not) in the break room and disposes of it ? I would call the cops if it were mine. Pity the poor soldiers who were treated by this tyrant. Or would he be better behaved if his patients could clean his clock?
My husband, Dr. Doughnut, calls doughnuts “the staff of life”. They are like a One a Day tablet for him.
“He angered staff members by barring doughnuts from department meetings and announcing he would throw the fat-laden sweets away if he saw them in the break room. He also banned candy bars in the vending machines, putting in peanuts instead.”
He’s acting like a complete butthead! You can encourage people, but you have no right to control them in something like this. At least, not yet!
My old man used to say
“some guys have something to say, others just have to say something...”
Unless he was talking to a patient, it was none of his business..
Without grease the South would die of starvation, Grits and butter, Eggs and Bacon Grease, fried everything. You can live forever or it can seem like it.
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
C. S. Lewis
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The fact that the government is wasting OUR tax dollars on this bleating blow-hard makes me sick.
Apparently a sociopath with dictatorial tendencies.
You’ll see a lot more of these types of health/food nazis if we ever get a full government-run health care system (”single payer”.)
I can't imagine how Dunkin donuts could possibly be bad for you. As far as I can tell, they're made from tofu and falafel dough and cooked by having a dog sit on them. Definitely don't taste good enough to be bad for you. OTOH, Drano isn't exactly a health tonic either, so maybe so. Dunkin recently came to Arizona and I have to say I'm not impressed.
He speaks the truth!
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