A Fine Crop Of Irony

If you've been listening to talk radio lately you have no doubt heard about the plight of the farming community in the Fresno area.

Apparently the irrigation pumps are considered a threat to some species of fish in the area so the federal government, no doubt led by the radical environmentalists at the EPA, have shut off all the water to the farms.

This has been going on all summer and by all accounts the farms are just being torched up.

Now, the stupidity of the situation is clear. Under no circumstances should the national government be crippling an entire industry, causing 40% unemployment in the area all to save some little minnow. This is a classic example of big government run amok, bowing to pressure from a special interest group and making decisions that are both counter-intuitive and have an overall negative impact on the society as a whole.

While I'm on the side of the farmer I must confess that I find it very difficult to generate much sympathy for them.

The farming industry has always been in concert with the national government, lobbying for subsidies and trade protections, etc. Hell, the government made many farmers rich by deciding to turn corn into ethanol fuel. The price of corn skyrocketed and the money rolled in. No matter that ethanol is a fluke fuel that in no way can replace traditional gasoline, it was just a gift to farmers.

Did it not ever occur to the farmers that if the government can give you your livelihood they can also take it away? Apparently not.

Worse yet is that this is happening in California. The Golden state is ground zero for radical environmentalism. Despite years of proof that these people are destructive and heartless when it comes to human beings, the voters of California keep sending wave after wave of radical leftists to all levels of government. Boxer, Pelosi, Feinstein, etc. are all very active and committed liberals. They support these kind of insane rules and regulations that place a small fish in a higher status than the working farmer.

The situation is thick with irony. All of these people who now feel so attacked by their federal government are probably the same people who applaud the government destruction of the banking industry, the auto industry, big energy, big tobacco, big pharmaceutical, the military, etc. Do these same farmers now cheer the Feds planned destruction of the healthcare industry while cursing their own fate all the while?

While this situation is no doubt painful for many people, some of who are assuredly innocent of supporting such actions previously, it may also be a necessary evil for California. This is the scourge that your state is hell bent on unleashing on the rest the country and now you want to cry when your own snake came back to bite you? I think not.

You take whatever poison you get and learn the lesson well. Maybe next time one of your elected crusaders wants to stifle humanity to save a field mouse or dust mite you can take the proper corrective steps and cut them down at the knees like you're supposed to.