"Our founding fathers are no doubt spinning in their graves fast enough to provide cheap, clean, renewable power to the entire Atlantic seaboard."

Patrick Henry

By now you've probably heard about the Happy Meal lawsuit.  If you haven't, the Salt Lake Tribune explains:

After months of threats, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has sued McDonald’s Corp., alleging that its practice of giving away toys with children’s meals is deceptive advertising.

The consumer-advocacy organization generated a slew of media attention last summer when it threatened to sue McDonald’s, claiming that the toys constitute a method of circumventing parental control and teaching children unhealthy eating at an early age.

According to the complaint, filed Wednesday in the Superior Court of California for San Francisco County, "McDonald’s exploits very young California children and harms their health by advertising unhealthy Happy Meals with toys directly to them."

Additionally, "Children 8 years old and younger do not have the cognitive skills to understand the persuasive intent of marketing and advertising."

Co-plaintiff Monet Parham, a Sacramento, Calif., mother of two, said she was bringing the case because of the constant requests for McDonald’s Happy Meals.

"I don’t think it’s OK to entice children with Happy Meals with the promise of a toy," she said, adding that she tries to limit her daughters, 6 and 2, to monthly visits. But Parham said the requests increased this summer, thanks to the popularity of "Shrek Forever After" and the idea of collecting all the toys, which would require weekly visits.

What can we say about this idiocy?  Words may fail us, but not Megan McCardle:

One shudders to consider that when Patrick Henry stood up in St. John's Church and declared "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!", he was offering to exchange his life for a freedom that would then be passed down people like this . . . people who would gleefully toss that freedom away with both hands if, by so doing, they might protect themselves from the harrowing predations of . . . a cheap plastic toy.   Presumably, had he known this was coming, he would have sat his ass back down and shut up.

Bold added.  Read McCardle's piece to learn more about Monet Parham and the CSPI.