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Recently, far right conservatives, including Rush Limbaugh, attacked me for my views on fighting the obesity epidemic.
After being invited on the FOXNews Neil Cavuto show Your World Cavuto on Monday, I encountered a firestorm of vitriol from the far right in hundreds of emails and phone messages.
On his program, Cavuto asked me why I was criticizing Bubba Watson, who after his Master's win, celebrated at a waffle house. I was surprised by the question, as I never criticized Watson, and answered "Well, it would be great if celebrities and sports figures set a better example for our obese nation ."
That started the firestorm and even Rush Limbaugh is on my case, calling me an "elitist inside-the-beltway nutritionist … whose success is based on pestering people about what they eat."
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Then Newsbusters.com entered the fray, "Apparently some self-appointing nanny-state-loving guardians of nutrition like Katherine Tallmadge believe that Watson set a bad example for Americans by eating [at the waffle house]." When in reality I said "a splurge now and then is fine, in fact I ate a slice of blueberry pie and ice cream last weekend!"
I was shocked by the professional and personal attacks. My passion is helping people transform their health and lives through nutrition. Interestingly, I never mentioned my political affiliation, though assumptions were made by FOX and Limbaugh fans. I was called "an elitist beltway snob," a "phony," a "Parisian Communist" (a Swede, I was born in France), a "policewoman with a big fat nose," a C***, a B****, and even words I'd never heard of like "Libtard," "Dumbocrat," — well, you get the idea.
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These are hopefully people on the fringes, accusing me of being un-American, un-Christian, etc. What's ironic is I was raised in a very conservative and religious environment. My American grandfather was a huge admirer of Ronald Reagan and would feel so sad over this venom against me by people who call themselves religious, patriotic conservatives. I love my country and practice my religion very seriously. I believe in loving my fellow human beings, which I thought religion was all about.
