What’s next, swallowing goldfish? Mayor Stanton’s “foodstamp diet” was straight out of the old-time playbook for attention seeking pols. Not exactly original. But hey, it worked! He made CNN which I’m sure was suitably admiring. But you have to ask what, if anything, was he trying to accomplish? Does he think the food stamps subsidy should be more? Was he trying to warn the folks putting into food stamps that it’s not the smoking deal it’s cracked up to be? What? If he was just trying to line up sympathy for food stamp recipients, here’s a newsflash, the S in SNAP stands for supplemental and most food stuff recipients do supplement, from their own income, from food banks, whatever. Sorry to mess up a good story line, but food stamps aren’t necessarily anybody’s sole source of sustenance. There’s another curious thing. The mayor reports a 4 pound weight loss after a week of beans and Top Ramen, yet if all the folks on food stamps lost 4 pounds per week, they would soon waste away completely. But the actual problem is just the opposite – endemic obesity among low income folks. Makes you wonder… Look, I’m glad we can supply help for people struggling to afford food, but SNAP is totally out of control, rife with abuse and growing wildly. Food supplements actually did more to improve nutrition back in the Dark Ages when commodities were distributed directly rather than giving people a ticket to the fast food aisle. They cost less too. But talking about that doesn’t show you care and it won’t get you on CNN.