Idiot of the Week

It's probably not nice to call someone an idiot but if someone does or says something so amazingly stupid, then the moniker seems to fit.  In this case, I feel that the label does justice to the content and so, without further ado, I present my candidate for the Idiot of the Week:


In an effort to defend Mitt Romney as being a person of the people (and not simply a rich snob), a conservative radio talk show host presented the following argument:


"I don't believe people are going to bed hungry. ... For, instance I have friends of mine who eat rice and beans all the time. Beans protein, rice. Inexpensive. You can make a big pot of this for a week for negligible amounts of money and you can feed your whole family."


Beans and rice.  Rice and beans.  Really?


In case you haven't heard about this, the host was Sean Hannity. 


Where to begin.  First, Hannity was not born poor.  He attended a private preparatory school in New York as well as a private college (Adelphi University).  He also attended New York University, so Mr. Hannity is obviously unfamiliar with what it means to be poor.  He is not, however, unfamiliar with what it means to be stupid.


Beans do provide a moderate amount of protein (about 6 to 9 grams per 100 grams of beans, depending on the type) but they do not constitute a complete protein.  In order to be considered a complete protein the food in question must contain all nine essential amino acids in proper proportions to meet the dietary needs of humans.  Mr. Hannity might have known this had he not dropped out of both of his colleges.  Not a smart move.


While he doesn't state what type of rice he means, since he is presenting this argument as a way of saving money, I would have to think (notice, Sean, I think) that he means white rice, since it is far cheaper than other varieties.  White rice also contains the least amount of nutrients and very little fiber.  Had he substituted brown rice there would at least be some fiber added to the diet but that was apparently not necessary to Mr. Hannity because he doesn't realize that fiber can also reduce the risk of illnesses like heart disease and diabetes.  At least, that's what the Mayo Clinic believes but Sean has probably never read anything put out by the Mayo Clinic.  He thinks that's where Mayonnaise is made.


Now, in Mr. Hannity's defense, he did also say;


"Look, you should have vegetables and fruit in there as well, but if you need to survive you can survive off it. It's not ideal but you could get some cheap meat and throw it in there as well for protein. There are ways to live really, really cheaply."


Exactly how long does Mr. Hannity think someone could survive on beans and rice?  He doesn't say but he does say that there are ways to live "really, really cheaply."  And on his current salary of $10 million a year, what would Mr. Hannity know about living cheaply?


Notice that he says the people who eat the rice and beans are friends of his.  If I made $10 million a year, I can honestly say that none of my friends would be living on rice and beans.  Not unless they did so without my knowing about it.


Apparently, there are many things Sean doesn't know about.