AN OFF-RAMP GOVERNMENT

The Rev. Dana Prom Smith, S.T.D., Ph.D. (8/21/07)

While stopping for lunch at an off-ramp restaurant, I noticed a Pepto-Bismol dispenser next to the cash register. It didn’t augur well for a comfortable meal. Recently, while shopping for fruits and vegetables at my favorite supermarket, next to the tomatoes I noticed a product called Environne Vegiwash. The implication is that the vegetables and fruits were unsafe to eat. With 90% of our fruits and vegetables untested for pesticides and pathogens, it’s no wonder that an enterprising capitalist would seize on our anxieties to turn a profit.

So much for being safe from terrorist threats. As they say, the devil is in the details. President Bush has been so focused on winning his unwinable, elective mega-war that he forgot the details of food. Of course, paying for his tragic fiasco has meant that the federal government no longer has the resources to protect our borders or our food.

Next after food, our children’s toys from China are lethal. The government, whose chief task is to protect the citizens, fails its first task. So much for seafood, dogs, cats, and toothpaste. Ironically, President Bush’s tragic war on Islamic terrorists ignores our own capitalistic terrorists. They’ve been so busy making a fast buck that they didn’t bother to protect our food, health, and children while our youth are eaten in the jaws of war. Of course, they’re Bush’s kind of people. They like cheap labor, unprotected borders, killer toys, lethal food, and war profits. They’ve got the big picture. It’s greed.

Copyright © Dana Prom Smith 2007