John Block Reports from Washington

Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.

And now for today’s commentary—

Be careful what you say. It can get you into trouble. The press is checking. We are all listening. It seems like Romney and Obama get taken to the wood shed every few days for some unintended gaffes. Even the CEO of Chick-Fil-A made the unforgivable mistake of saying that his company believed in the traditional family and the marriage between a man and a woman. That’s heresy! No more Chick-Fil-A restaurants in Chicago, Boston, New York, etc.

Here is one that we don’t want to forget. This is not a gaffe. It was carefully thought through by someone at USDA. The Department of Agriculture endorsed “meatless Monday” to “help the environment and to not waste resources” used in meat production, especially beef and dairy. Secretary Vilsack quickly retracted the statement, saying it was released without proper approval.

Damage done. The Secretary has people working for him that don’t know what department they work for. It’s the Department of Agriculture. That is – cows, pigs, chickens – the meat industry. I cannot imagine how a statement like that could get out the door. But it did.

Senator Grassley and Senator Cornyn were able to capitalize on the whole affair. To demonstrate their “beef” with USDA, they celebrated “meat Monday.” Senator Grassley said, “This is a reminder to USDA that it’s supposed to advocate for American agriculture, not against it.”

PETA – the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals couldn’t stand Senator Grassley’s love of meat and his criticism of the “meatless Monday” promotion. So, they said they will counter by taking “informed bets” on when the 78-year-old Senator will die from eating meat.

That statement is way out of line. Should I be surprised? PETA is extreme, absolutely against meat consumption – vegetarian all the way.

I wonder how many more gaffes and crazy statements we will see in the weeks ahead. Anyway, tonight I want a T-bone steak for dinner.

In closing, I would encourage you to access my website which archives my radio commentaries dating back 10 years and will go back 20 years when complete. Check on what I said back then. Go to www.johnblockreports.com.

Until next week, I am John Block in Washington.