Bloomberg Wins the Nanny State Olympics

As he counts his money and ponders an independent bid for the presidency, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has won one competition. He's the biggest nanny-statist around. Sure, Bangor is banning smoking in cars if children are passengers, and Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee wants to get rid of cigarettes, and Texas wants to require parents to attend parent-teacher conferences, and Kansas wants to require all seventh-grade girls to get vaccinated against a sexually transmitted infection. But for sheer nannyism, can you beat this?

Available soon: an official New York City condom.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration wants to reduce rates of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS, and part of the strategy is the aggressive promotion of free condoms. Officials say more people will use them if they have jazzy packaging.

One idea is a subway theme, with maps on the wrappers.

"Brands work, and people use branded items more than they use nonbranded items, whether it's a cola or a medicine even," Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said.