Rush Limbaugh's Morning Update: Thin

France -- long considered the fashion leader of the world -- is also on the cutting edge of liberalism. This week both worlds collided when the French Assembly approved a bill to make it illegal for anyone to "incite" extreme thinness.

"Anyone" includes fashion magazines, advertisers, websites -- anyone and everyone could be a criminal for "inciting" people to become thin. The death of an anorexic model two years ago spurred this legislative effort, which is supported by doctors and shrinks who treat anorexics. The French Senate is expected to tackle the legislation within weeks.

Now, the penalties for inciting the thin are stiff. Judges would be able to impose on the "inciters" two-year jail terms and fines nearing $50,000. And if somebody is found guilty of incitement resulting in the death of a skinny person, the fines go up to 70,000 bucks and three years in jail. Fat fines and fat time, folks, in France.

But France isn't the only Euro-nation concerned with the skinny; last year Spain also banned ultra-thin models from catwalks. And we know that American liberals look to Europe for legislative inspiration. We already have laws on the books for the fat, here; New York and other liberal bastions have banned cooking oil that they think harm the fat. So it's perhaps only a matter of time before thin is no longer in, and that the skinny will be up for grabs, too -- so to speak.

But there's a bright side, here (we always try to find the bright side at the EIB Network). Once the fat and the skinny are dealt with... can the ugly be far behind? We need to target them, too!

Read the Background Material on the Morning Update...
• AP: France May Make It Illegal to Promote Extreme Thinness