Mad Cow Case Clouds Bush*s Political Outlook

[kskiska]

Report of Disease Colors Spurt of Good News With a Touch of Uncertainty

CRAWFORD, Tex., Dec. 27 -- The discovery of mad cow disease in the United States could shift the political landscape at the start of President Bush's reelection year by injecting uncertainty into a fragile economy and drawing scrutiny to his handling of an industry that was a financial and political ally in the last election, analysts in both parties said yesterday.

White House officials had sounded ebullient as they headed into the holidays at a time when economic indicators were turning up, Saddam Hussein was in captivity and a new Medicare law had just been signed. Now, the administration will start 2004 under the type of sudden economic threat that Bush aides had expected would come only from a terrorist attack.

"Life is just not as good as December was for the president," Republican pollster Whit Ayres said.

(snip)

Dan Glickman, agriculture secretary under President Bill Clinton and now director of Harvard University's Institute of Politics, said the White House has just weeks to develop a plan for more rigorous livestock tracing and testing. He suggested that Bush bring together representatives of science, consumers and the industry in early January -- a time when his aides had hoped to be focused on the State of the Union address.

"This will require very aggressive, proactive solutions coming from the administration," Glickman said. "You cannot monkey around with this. This is a big potential problem."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35110-2003Dec27.html

[Cocoa]

1. "you cannont monkey around with this."

Nice. :-)

[diamond14]

2. protestors at the offices of the United States Agricultural Dept. (pic)

Washington DC, 12/24/03



there's a change coming now...just imagine how much oil would be saved if all Americans went veggie....and no more water pollution from massive pig farms and giant feed lots...and everyone could eat well on grains/fruits/vegetables/beans/corn...then, we could start making plastics from corn and biomass fermentation...then, no more oil wars...

[tritsofme]

4. Come now, "Mericuns love their beef,

It dont matter if they go mad or not.

[Cocoa]

5. the guy in the Santa suit

may be unclear of the concept. :-)

[cosmicdot]

3. "This will require very aggressive, proactive solutions ...

... from the administration," Glickman said.

how they approach the dilemma should be interesting ... will this be similar to Cheney's energy task panel? global warming?

I can't trust them with zilch-to-date.

Wonder who has been calling whom and what the chatter has been?

[Snazzy]

6. You know some sort of cheese burger photo op is coming

Maybe already happened? Off to Yahoo! photos with me.

I can picture the thought bubble over so-called brilliant political strategist Rove's pointy head "we must have a photo op, lie, change the subject. Works every time!!"

And so: "Mission Accomplished" becomes "cheeseburger digested."

[stevedeshazer]

7. This is QUITE a stretch

Let's check the Bush Record. The short version:

-Lied to start pre-emptive war
-Massive tax cuts for the wealthy
-Messed with Medicare
-Pissed on the UN
-Enron
-Carrier landing
-and SO much more

And this writer and these party analysts declare that "Mad Cow Case Clouds Bush*s Political Outlook"?

You're kidding, right? One sick cow? Brings down the BFEE?

Oh, please.

[carols]

10. If there is any food that could bring this administration down

it is not beef, it is the humble pretzel. Lest we forget, the pretzel is mightier than the steer :-)
Carol

[are_we_united_yet]

17. Most excellent Carol!

[roguevalley]

11. one sick country lost us what ... 22 countries to export beef to.

Consider what a hit we took in the trade balance. Anything and I mean
anything will derail our economy now, especially since its a fake anyway.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

12. "One sick cow"?....

No, my friend...that cow's not "sick", and it's definitely not resting. That cow was rendered into meat selections and byproducts at least two weeks prior to the meat being tested. And guess what? The likelihood that every single one of the 4000 cows in that herd ate tainted feed is very close to 100%.

And where else was the tainted feed sold? So far, I've seen nothing that even approches asking THAT particular question.

Something's burning here...and it's not grilled steaks.

Maybe you should read these articles before you go off into the "scoffing" deep end:

Mad cow testing
<http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:vHNQ_J_BPrIJ:www.azstarnet.com/star/today/31227editmadcow.html+mad+cow+testing&hl=en&ie=UTF-8>


US widens mad cow-related meat recall to eight states
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/63933/1/.html>

"Meat from the affected Holstein dairy cow and 19 other slaughtered cows was sold in Washington state, Oregon, California, Nevada, Alaska, Montana, Hawaii, Idaho, as well as the US territory of Guam, according to Kenneth Petersen of the US Food Safety and Inspection Service."


USDA considers changes to mad cow program
<http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20031228-125904-1754r>

[stevedeshazer]

15. Okay, the cow is dead

I read the stories, thanks for posting them. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. There are huge implications, yes. Testing is lacking, yes. Republicans and the big beef industry are at least in part to blame, yes.

But this article breathlessly suggests that Bushco will be hurt by this. I don't buy it. If 9/11, fake war, and looting the Treasury didn't hurt them, a single case of BSE isn't going to do it. Shit in the meat is much more prevalent and dangerous by transmitting E. Coli than this. Just my opinion.

[private_ryan]

8. let's not put our hopes in this please

tell a few candidates to drop out and have a primary fight, but not with words that will haunt us in the Nov election. Kerry vs Dean today was not good for us. Very poor choice of words from both.

[stevedeshazer]

9. Huh?

Did you post on the wrong thread or something? Dean vs. Kerry has what to do with Mad Cow disease?

[0007]

13. Cook Book Recipes

for "Mad Cow Disease" by Karl Rove.

[Cocoa]

29. look what you just said

you're saying, play down the attack against Bush, and play up the attacks between the candidates.

Did you mean to be so transparent?

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cliss]

16. Hm, Ream-publicans brought down by a cow?

A nice, fitting end. I think that at this moment, Rove & Company are sitting around the table, eating lobster mind you. They're debating what steps to take next.

They'll wait a while to see if this dies down on its own. Not exactly a proactive group here. They only act when there's no other option.

Now if there are more cows found, or if someone actually contracts the disease and dies, then they will take swift action. They will gather together industry leaders and promise reform. At least, it will look like that on the surface.

Recall Enron. They sat on their hands and let the company go down in flames. Not that they should have done anything. But these men are simply too compromised by the industries they represent. They are not able to push for a change, because they are owned by the industries. They ARE corporate america.

[Snazzy]

18. Photo-op idea #1

With thanks to AP and the 16 patty cheeseburger kid.

http://diaries.suchisthis.com/jwagman1/?cmd=view_entry&eid=23

(warning on that link--it's a kid eating that 16 patty burger. And Net commentary. Yikes.)

[diamond14]

20. wow!!! those photos on the link are unbelievably crude....

just gross...that's all....

[Snazzy]

21. Yep. Amazingly foul, isn't it.

I should have thrown up a big flashing red warning that the commentary there is also extremely offensive.

This kid is on the fast track to net legend status. Bet he's having some mad cow flashbacks about now.

In a lowest common-denominator way, perhaps even lower, this is what is wrong, and what we face.

</gratuitous philosophical thought>

[themanintheback]

19. Boo hoo hoo for cattle ranchers

They mostly vote Repuke anyway. Maybe now their kids will have to join a union to get a good job and that will turn them into Democrats.

[stevedeshazer]

22. I am a cattle rancher

I've been a Democrat all my life. I resent your overgeneralization.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

23. Amen, brother

If I could get my "good union Democrats" to stop voting with the NRA on gun control, we could probably win a few elections around here.

I don't care if the farmer/rancher is a Republican or a Democrat, it isn't funny having your livelihood threatened, whatever the circumstances.

[Skittles]

25. he did say MOSTLY

and he would mostly be RIGHT.

[MaineDem]

24. How ironic

If "ironic" is the right word, to think that after all the lies and misadministration of the past 3 years, the BFEE may be brought down by BEEF.

It does bring a somewhat cynical smile to my face.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

26. Dem campaign slogan: WHERE'S THE BEEF? (nt)

Is THAT lady still alive?

[goforit]

27. I certainly think the foot and mouth disease would be more appropiate.

But I do believe the Madcow syndrome has already hit the minds in the WH.

[shawn703]

28. I hope people care about this

Nobody seems to remember that because of *, we can have more arsenic in our drinking water, and our kids can get salmonella with their school lunches.

The real reason this is a big deal to the administration is not because * cares about the public health, but because his friends in the meat industry stand to lose big time if nobody imports their product.

[FlaGranny]

30. Well, folks, I was just out running an errand

and I drove by a Steakhouse restaurant - the parking lot was jammed. I don't think many people are paying much attention to this yet.

[myrna minx]

31. Remember the WInter Olympics?

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/02/022602_Cohen_Beef.html

Why Did Bush Sit Next To Sasha Cohen At The Olympics? Just Ask "Where's the Beef"?


February 26, 2002

By BuzzFlash Reader Alan Balch

On the afternoon of Friday, February 8th, George W. Bush spoke at the National Cattlemen's Beef Associations annual meeting in Denver. "We want the people in China eating U.S. beef" the President stated to thunderous approval. He reminded them that he has done much for the beef industry and cattle ranchers, and that he plans to do more (see http://199.117.58.133/newsroom/ncba/2002/02_0208a.htm).

No doubt, Bush's appearance at this event netted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions for the GOP. In each of the last three election cycles, the National Cattleman's Beef Association gave nearly a half a million dollars in political contributions, for a six-year total of nearly $1.3 million. Roughly 85% percent of these donations in each of the last three election cycles have gone to Republicans.

Later that same day, Bush traveled to Utah and participated in the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. After appearing in the national anthem ceremony, Bush showed up sitting in the stands amongst the US athletes. NBC showed him humbly perched next to a shocked and giggly young lady who handed Bush her cell phone so he could say hi to her mommy. The young girl was figure skater Sasha Cohen. A few nights later, NBC interviewed Sasha and played up the Presidential encounter including a quick interview with the mother. Sasha gushed about her fondness for the President. While endearing, NBC's somewhat over the top coverage of the entire event and Sasha's almost too glowing endorsement of the President prompted the eternal political cynic in me to do a little digging.

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