So Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued a proclamation urging good Coloradans to avoid meat for one day out of the week, but Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts declared his own "Meat on the Menu Day," which I might take as a good-natured rib from a beef-producing state, except that he then said that Colorado's "MeatOut Day" was a "direct attack on our way of life." Gosh, don't anyone tell him what Catholics do on Fridays during Lent! Seriously, abstaining from meat for one day a week represents a "direct attack on our way of life"? Jesus Mary and Joseph will right-wingers ever stop their incessant whining? You may call Gov. Ricketts at 402.471.2244 and tell him to cut the drama, because statements like "direct attack on our way of life" is how people convince other people that having a veggie burger makes you a "terrorist." I do not exaggerate -- it isn't that long a walk from "animal rights protestors are terrorists" to "people who don't eat meat terrorize the meat industry." I love steak myself, but I won't buy it from Nebraska producers as long as their Governor is a whiner.
Speaking of people who really shouldn't open their mouths ever, Sen. McConnell (E-KY) literally promised a "scorched-Earth Senate" if Democrats follow through on nixing the filibuster. How do we respond to threats? We still do the right thing, that's how! Hence you may call your Democratic Senators and tell them to ignore Mr. McConnell's threat and get rid of the legislative filibuster. Yeah, I already knew that Mr. McConnell could unearth many more layers of obstruction. But if Democrats cower before this threat, then they do not deserve to win another election again, ever. Besides which, Mitch McConnell himself ended the use of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees not even four years ago! And he has also said, far more recently, that folks should try winning arguments before they try getting rid of the filibuster; does demanding a physical quorum merely to turn on the lights in the Senate chamber resemble a "winning argument"? Imagine the spectacle of a group of grown men reduced to doing such things, and you'll help end Mr. McConnell's manufactured hostage crisis post-haste.
Also, as you know, America uses economic sanctions as a weapon against a lot of nations, including Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, and Syria, but all of that comes with a cost: the good citizens of those nations can't get food, medicine, electricity, or medical supplies, all of which becomes more acute during a pandemic. You may now know, however, that our Treasury Department has the authority under our laws to allow these nations to import essential products (including food and medicine) during a pandemic. A truly great nation wouldn't need to be told to do this, of course, but we are that nation, so we must tell our government what to do. Toward that end, Roots Action helps you tell our government to stop letting sanctions actually hurt the innocent, especially during a pandemic. Anyone who tells you letting humanitarian supplies through is just a way of letting weapons through -- as if there's literally no such thing as a port inspector! -- has revealed themselves as one of two kinds of people: 1) someone proud of their cynicism, or 2) someone irredeemably cruel. I'm not sure which kind of person is worse.
Finally, our government has long had a jones to speed up processing lines at chicken plants -- a program even Bush the Lesser rejected! -- such that chicken inspectors get hurt more and pus and bile and blood shows up in your chicken casserole more frequently. Also, too, don't they know there's a pandemic on? But along comes H.R. 1815/S. 713, the Safe Line Speeds During COVID-19 Act, which would suspend all waivers our Department of Agriculture has granted allowing big food processing corporations to shoot their chickens by at 175 per minute, plus it'd stop Agriculture from extending those absurdly-high line speeds to pork processors. Further, the bill would defund any Agriculture efforts to speed up lines in the future, and direct our Government Accountability Office (or GAO) to investigate the harm these high line speeds have done to our food processing workers. These are all good works, and just remember that work accidents and food poisoning are still very unpopular in America. Food and Water Action helps you tell your Congressfolk to support food and worker safety by passing the Safe Line Speeds During COVID-19 Act.
Comments