Tell me exactly how bloated ...

A reader drew our attention to this funny paragraph of today's Washington Post story on restaurant menu board labeling in San Francisco. The California Restaurant Association had written a verbose complaint to oppose new labeling requirements.

Warming to the challenge, city attorney Dennis Herrera issued a statement calling the 59-page complaint "nearly as bloated as Burger King's Triple Whopper Sandwich with Cheese (1,230 calories, 82 grams of fat)." Further noting that a federal judge upheld a similar regulation in New York after a trade group asserted that it violated the First Amendment, Herrera termed the irony "as rich as an order of Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing (2,900 calories, 182 grams of fat)."

That's bare-knuckled politics! "Agree to the new labeling rules," the city attorney seems to be saying, "or we will use the spotlight on the resulting controversy to remind the public what kind of product you sell."