Shirley Sherrod and Us

Shirley Sherrod, the USDA employee who was summarily fired last week, as it turns out, is everything that America should embrace. She has overcome her own personal barriers and prejudices to help small farmers be protected by those that would take their land, regardless of color. Yet, this week, as Keith Olbermann nicely summarized was "thrown under the bus" by the Obama administration, the NAACP, and other groups before examining the evidence to the contrary.

As Iowans, we should be particularly outraged at our former Governor and attorney, Tom Vilsack who said, when the story from Fox and other news agencies first came out, "We have been working to turn the page on the sordid civil rights record at USDA. This controversy could make it more difficult to move forward on correcting injustices." After his rush to judgment and learning that there was more to the story, he made the correct decision to rehire Sherrod. At the moment, it is unknown what the outcome will be, but Mr. Vilsack may find himself under the wheels of the bus, if that is what is called for justice to be served.

The failure of the press in reporting this story is almost unforgivable. Clearly we are in an age of propaganda, the likes we have never seen before, where a foreign owned news company is acting as a mouthpiece to drive a rightest agenda (and doing so with great success). However, where was the fact-checking by CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, etc.? How embarrassing must it be for seasoned news professionals to look at each other and say "I thought you checked the facts."

Also, how simple are we as people to jump with the press to the conclusion that a person was guilty without so much as a chance to be heard? What a disservice to our shared humanity?

I hope that Shirley Sherrod is rehired. I hope that she is considered for the Secretary of Agriculture position. It is clear that through her actions, the citizens of the United States were better serviced than by her bosses or others that sip from the teat of the USDA.

The 5 Percent Allowance: A License to Defraud?

Organic = good, right? The U.S. Department of Agriculture's "certified organic" program allows up to 5 percent of a certified product to consist of non-organic ingredients. In the scheme of things, this should still be better than industrial farming food-like substances, but wait, there's more. According to Jim Hightower:

With the phenomenal growth in consumer demand for organic products, such giants as Kraft and Dean Foods have rushed to capture this multibillion-dollar market, except they don't want to play by the rules. Big Food found its enabler in [Barbara] Robinson, who was chosen to administer the organic program during the George W. Bush years.

Consulting regularly with the corporate powers, Robinson has brought synthetic after synthetic under the organic label. At the start of the certification program, 77 non-organic ingredients were on the allowable list, which was supposed to shrink as time passed. Today 245 ingredients are listed.

Likewise, the program was supposed to set uniform standards for how organic foods are produced. Yet 65 of the standards recommended by the board since 2002 simply have been ignored by the administrator. For example, the board proposed specific rules to ensure that organic dairy farmers provide "access to pasture" for their cows, but Robinson's team has refused to implement the proposal. Thus, a giant milk purveyor such as Dean Foods (Horizon dairy products) is allowed to sell "organic" milk from cows that are confined in factory conditions rather than allowed to graze in open pastures. By failing to set rules that apply to everyone, the USDA is permitting private, for-profit organic certification firms to create their own standards, which means corporate interests can shop around for the most lenient certifiers.

What is interesting to me is the way the USDA, under Robinson, has defined "organic" food. According to the USDA:

• Organic is a production claim
Organic is about how food is produced and handled.

• Organic is not a content claim
It does not represent that a product is “free” of something

• Organic is not a food safety claim
Organic is not a judgment about the quality and safety of any product

Organic does not mean a product is superior, safer, or more healthy than conventionally produced food

Many people choose organic products because of what they perceive to not be in them, e.g., chemicals growth hormones, what have you. But, by the USDA's own definition, they do not share this view, nor, apparently do they enforce it.

Hightower suggests calling the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's office at 202-720-3631. Tell Sec. Vilsack what you think organic means and suggesting that Rayne Pegg, the new administrator that he appointed, to do a better job, with better rules in place to make sure we get what we think we are paying for. In honor of National Farmer's Market Week, do it.

Tom Vilsack Not a Suitable Choice as Ag Secretary

Barack Obama nominated one of "our own" to his cabinet. But is Tom Vilsack qualified to be Secretary of Agriculture? If by agriculture you mean Big Ag, the folks who brought you GMOs, Cloned cattle, and CAFOs, you betcha. But if you mean agriculture that is sustainable and healthy, well let's just say Obama could have done a whole lot better than the Pittsburgh, PA raised Tom Vilsack.

According to the Organic Consumers Association, Vilsack’s positions have included the following:

• Vilsack has been a strong supporter of genetically engineered pharmaceutical crops, especially pharmaceutical corn.
• The biggest biotechnology industry group, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, named Vilsack Governor of the Year. He is also the founder and former chair of the Governor's Biotechnology Partnership.
• When Vilsack created the Iowa Values Fund, his first poster child for economic development was Trans Ova and their pursuit of cloning dairy cows.
• The undemocratic 2005 seed preemption bill was the Vilsack's brainchild. The law strips local government’s right to regulate genetically engineered seed.
• Vilsack is an ardent supporter of corn and soy based biofuels, which use as much or more energy to produce as they generate and drive up world food prices, literally starving the poor.
• During his time as governor "Vilsack oversaw the largest proliferation of hog confinements in the states history."

At a time when our food supply is "at risk," it makes little sense to promote a person who has been the head of a state with some of the environmentally unsound waterways in the country. If the President-Elect wants an Iowan to run the agency, I hear Denise O'Brien is available.

Vilsack Says Obama is the Nominee

CNN reports that former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said Sunday it's time for Hillary Clinton to acknowledge she has lost her bid for the Democratic nomination.

Vilsack, who was briefly a presidential candidate himself last year, told the Associated Press it's "pretty clear that Senator Obama is going to be the nominee."

"After Tuesday's contests, she needs to acknowledge that he's going to be the nominee and quickly get behind him," Vilsack also said.

Vilsack first announced he was running for president in November, 2006, but dropped his bid three months later after the Democrat failed to drum up a significant level of support or raise the necessary campaign funds needed to compete. He endorsed Clinton shortly after and played a key role in the New York senator's unsuccessful Iowa campaign effort.

His comments came the same day the Clinton showed signs she plans to press on after Tuesday's contests — continuing argue she has won the popular vote and that the party's superdelegates are able to switch their allegiances before the convention in August.

Vilsack Lists Worth $20,000 to Hillary

O. Kay Henderson Reports

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has helped supporter Tom Vilsack retire some of his campaign debt. Vilsack ended his own presidential campaign in February and soon endorsed Clinton's bid for their party's presidential nod.

Clinton's camp initially said she'd be helping Vilsack pay off his campaign debt, but Vilsack later said he'd taken out a loan and intended to pay off the debt himself. New records filed with the Federal Election Commission show Clinton cut Vilsack a $20,000 check for "list expenses."
A spokeswoman for Vilsack says Clinton purchased a "strategic document" and it's not "appropriate" to discuss the list publicly since it now belongs to Clinton. Radio Iowa initially contacted Clinton's campaign, but was referred to Vilsack's spokesperson for information about the list.

The document is likely Vilsack's list of campaign contacts in Iowa, and perhaps his list of donors here and elsewhere. Clinton rival Barack Obama has already converted one coveted Vilsack backer in New Hampshire.

Gary Hirshberg, president of Stonyfield Farm, a company that makes the top-selling organic yogurt in the U.S., had been one of Vilsack's key backers in New Hampshire.

ED in 08: Vilsack Speaks

ED in O8, an organization focused on education, kicked off its campaign June 26 in Des Moines. The purpose of the group is to make education a focus in the 2008 presidential election. Speaking at the event were former Colorado Gov. Romer, and former Iowa Govs. Ray and Vilsack.

My Nostradamus Moment: Vilsack Shows Up in Northern Iowa to Endorse Clinton

From my Anybody Need a New Deputy Campaign Manager post

"Speculation/Prediction: Look for Hillary Clinton to visit Iowa very soon with Tom Vilsack holding her cape."

Fast forward to Saturday May 26th:

According to KMEG: Senator Clinton also spoke for about 30 minutes at the Senator Clinton also spoke for about 30 minutes at the Sioux Center Public Library earlier Saturday.

Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack introduced Clinton with his endorsement.

Re: Clinton deputy campaign manager Mike Henry, while certainly a convenient scapegoat for writing the "skip Iowa" memo, is not the one who should be axed, unless he also leaked his own memo. It is his job to provide advice, even if it appears to be ill-advised to those of us who live in Iowa.

Anyone Need a New Deputy Campaign Manager?

This isn't going to look good on Mike Henry's resume...

Warning that her campaign needs "a new approach to winning,"
Hillary Rodham Clinton's deputy campaign manager, Mike Henry, wrote a memo this week urging the Democratic front-runner to bypass next year's Iowa caucuses to focus time and money on states where she's faring better.

Her advisers fearing backlash from Iowa Democrats who cast the first votes of the 2008 presidential race, Clinton denounced the memo hours after it leaked from her headquarters and played down an internal debate over campaign strategy. "I am unalterably committed to competing in Iowa," she told The Associated Press.

Privately, Clinton advisers, including former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, have acknowledged that she would probably not win Iowa if the election were held anytime soon.

Speculation/Prediction: Look for Hillary Clinton to visit Iowa very soon with Tom Vilsack holding her cape.


Updated at 9:41 am 5/24
U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., will make three campaign stops in North Iowa Friday to promote her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. No mention of Tom Vilsack, however.