Over the railings of the sinking ship of state, some good things come.

Have some (veggie) fries with this.

Coughing up a little bit of truthtelling even by Presidential appointees? Must be the lame end of a failed presidency. And coming out of the woodwork is a bit of truth. Maybe this is another signal that even the enablers of the executive branch are ashamed of the monster they've created.

A new presidential report on cancer takes on not only tobacco companies but the food industry while calling on the federal government to "cease being a purveyor of unhealthy foods" and switch to policies that encourage Americans to eat vegetables and exercise.

The report, issued on Thursday, also urged changes in public and private insurance policies to encourage doctors to spend more time counseling patients on how to stay healthy by eating right, exercising and avoiding tobacco.

Federal, state, and local policies have actually made healthful foods more expensive and less available, have limited physical education in schools and created an environment that discourages physical activity, the report said.

"Ineffective policies, in conjunction with limited regulation of sales and marketing in the food and beverage industry, have spawned a culture that struggles to make healthy choices -- a culture in dire need of change," said the report, available on the Internet at http://pcp.cancer.gov.

Margaret Kripke of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson cancer center, a member of the President's Cancer Panel, said in a telephone interview, "What became clear to me is that we simply don't have the political will to protect the public health."
(snip)
"We heavily subsidize the growth of foods (e.g., corn, soy) that in their processed forms (e.g., high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated corn and soybean oils, grain-fed cattle) are known contributors to obesity and associated chronic diseases, including cancer," the report reads.

"The people who are doing the U.S. agricultural subsidies need to connect their subsidies with the policy on public health and I don't think that has been done," Kripke said.

Yet fresh fruits and vegetables are not subsidized in the same way. "And physical education classes in school have almost disappeared," Kripke said.

Does this mean we're going to see the cretin in chief having his stomach pumped alongside one of his food poisoning victims, like his jogs with the amputees he's created? Or maybe pricking his finger alongside one of his overweight diabetics?

More like this please, presidential appointees who live up to their roles, keep their oaths, and protect the public interest. Closet democrats, in other words.