Last week, I watched talk-show host David Letterman list the ten "ways the country would be different if Chris Christie was President."  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who is considering a run for president is a large man. All of Letterman's jokes were based on weight and food, including that the Cabinet would have a Secretary of Cake and the U.S. would invade pancake chain IHOP rather than Iraq.

To put it mildly, I was shocked to see Letterman behaving so badly on the air. I am afraid that Letterman and many others don't know that it is not acceptable to joke about anyone's weight in the same way it is not acceptable to joke about a disability, or sexual orientation, or someone's ethnicity.

This Sunday in the New York Times, columnist Frank Bruni spoke out against those who would dismiss Christie as a viable candidate because of his weight. Bruni said: "Downgrade Christie for his truculent style. Reject him for his limited experience. But don't dwell on his heft. Girth doesn't equal character."

I have been a fan of Bruni's since his memoir, Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater, was published in 2009. Born Round is a brave book. Bruni is a successful male columnist who described a long history of an eating disorder that began when his mother worried about his weight. He even goes as far to say "I was a baby bulimic."