Special Prosecutor. Are you listening, Congress? Special Prosecutor NOW!

That's a heck of a picture of our "Commander-in-Chief." One would think he'd be positioned at the cow's other end. A cheap shot, I know, but, honest to [insert deity of your choice here], that's the first thought I came up with.

Watch for some retaliatory action against U.S. District Judge James Robertson in the future. This administration surely wouldn't want someone on the bench to actually enforce the law.

They want to stop mad cow testing. They don't believe they have the athority to regulate green house gases. They give away our nuclear secrets to India a country who has not signed the nuclear nonprolifiration treaty for mangos. Boy do I feel safe.

Robertson was also the name of the FISA Court Judge who quit after the illegal wire tap program was disclosed ... is this the same judge?

Maybe he should be pictured in a "donkey" outfit, what a jack ass!!

I'm sorry, this is probably too dark a humor to be liked much. The first time I saw 'Give them Zoell' All that went through my head was 'Let the eat Zoell! Of course that would be cannibalism and cannibalism is wrong.' Now they use the same base phrase to put up a headline about E. Coli?

Bush certainly doesn't seem to have any problem showing the American people his true colors. It's too bad more didn't open their eyes in 2004. Some of these GOP senators are also showing their true colors. It is so totally irresponsible for anyone to say that the deaths of our service men and women in Iraq are because the Democrats are wimps. In reality, the Republicans are the wimps because they refuse to find a path out of Iraq. They'd rather follow a leader whose been lost in the ozone for years. It's easier for them to call anyone who doesn't agree with them names or say they are unpatriotic. They keep complaining about the Democrats, well maybe it's time the Republicans started coming up with a few things themselves. Talking tough is not the same thing as doing something about it.

The thing that is most ironic about the mad cow thing is that the republicans are the ones who talk about letting the free market work - e.g. don't regulate testing for mad cow disease (or any other example you care to think of), as market forces will make companies do it themselves, since consumers will demand it. Here is a perfect example of the free market working. Creekstone listened to the market, determined that 100% testing would be a competitive differentiator, and implemented such a program. They also determined that customers would probably be willing to pay a premium price for the assurance that the beef was safe. To have the administration tell them they can't do it is absurd. This is the way the market works - a company comes up with something that sets their product apart - and if it works (e.g. the consumers buy it, and the company makes a lot of money), then other companies follow suit. These are the market forces that republicans tell us will solve all the problems of the world without regulation... So it's supremely ironic that they aren't letting the market work here.

Cannablism is how cows get mad cow disease. They are fed beef by products (ie. anything they can't sell)as well as other animal by products to boost there protien intake. It makes the cows grow bigger and faster than grain. There was no mad cow before factory farms.

America, we can learn from this. What can we learn? To test our Presidential Candidates for 'Mad President's Disease'. Look what happens when we get one with it! So, let's remember the old adage, "Better Safe Than Sorry".

As a native of SC, I can assure you that mr.Demint does not speak for all of us. For starters, adults in public service who stoop to name calling should try to remember the simple things they were taught in the first grade. But as a water-carrier for every hairbrained idea that his man-god has entered, Mr. Demint probably not only thinks Iraq is saving billions of lives from the evil mesopotamians, but also probably believes that his personal morals are good enough for all and should be enforced by the government.

Please report on the presidents friends from Texas who on a recent visit found him wild eyed and ranting(ThinkProgress has the story).This man is becoming increasingly dangerous and the American public deserves to hear about what is going on with him behind the scenes.

Hmmmmmmm - the CDC makes up a plan on the fly on how to handle a potentially fatal drug resistant TB infection or other communicable disease (rather that having an ACTUAL plan already in place - we used to have actual plans, you know); we don't test for, and, therefore prevent, Mad Cow Disease and actually use the power of the Federal Government to stop companies who want to certify as disease-free; we don't inspect food coming into this country so that our pets die and other animals we consume for food are loaded with those same toxins in the food they are fed; E. coli is running rampant and we still don't test for it; we are reassurred by the FDA that drugs are safe - until they are recalled for killing people, that is; ... I could give example after example of your government hard at work "protecting" you. With the Republicans it's all about business and making money. If you can make more money by not spending it on testing - good (all that testing cuts into the profit margin, you know). If you can make more money by using and importing cheap, untested Chinese wheat gluten rather than purchasing it here - better. If you can make more money by not developing a "cure", preventing the disease and, instead, develop drugs to "control" the disease - even better (if polio was around today, we wouldn't have a vaccine, or quarantine procedures, but we would have lots of expensive drugs to control it - more money for Big Pharma that way). Money, money, money - follow the money and you'll see why Republicans always create the policies they do. P.S. If we do have a significant health crisis in our country, guess who'll gain lots and lots of power to do whatever he wants?

Jocelyn, I think anyone who believe that the free market system should be allowed to work without fetters should be forced to read Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle. Preferably after eating a nice hearty meal of saussages.

They are not testing all cattle because they want to, they have to to be able to sell it in Japan. It's about profit!

Sue, as an RN you should know what I know. Hospital bed space has dropped significantly in the last twenty years. What is worse is that we also have a major drain of nurses lately. If we had an epidemic, the system would be so overwhelmed that the death toll would be catestrophic. The stress on nurses is causing them to leave in droves. Almost as soon as one is out of college, another has quit and moved on. Until the begining of this month, I was an employee of the local college as a distance learning facilitator. I sat in on nursing classes which were broadcast to Savannah. I tend to pick up information too easily.

Bridgette - I'm not suggesting the free market system run unfettered. I think the FDA should require companies to test for mad cow (and all the other fun stuff in Sue from West Allis' post. It's just really ironic that the ones who squawk the loudest about how the market regulates itself (e.g. the republicans and the current administration) are the ones who are attempting to block it from working!

In Molly Ivin's book Bushwacked she cited several cases where people died eating uninspected meat. Remember the Republicans are the party of uninspected meat. She recommended that "now would be a good time to become a vegetarian." Oops E-Coli in spinach and scallions too? What are we suppsosed to do, starve?

Bridgette - I am "happily" retired because I saw more than plenty in over 30 years of practicing. The nursing shortage will be with us until we not only have the responsibility for everything that happens, but also have control over it as well (like staffing ratios, availability of support staff and equipment, etc.) as well as a professional level salary and the respect we have long deserved from the medical community and health care industry. There's a lot that needs to get fixed: How about the explosion of people who aren't insured, the use of Emergency Departments as the health care provider of last resort for the uninsured, the closure of public hospitals, the lack of Emergency Department capacity which causes frequent "diversion" to other hospitals when capacity has been exceeded, the tremendous shortening of hospital stays which started with the "drive-by" HMO deliveries where pregnant women could well have stayed in their cars and had their babies rather than taking up a hospital bed for less than 24 hours (sarcasm mine, but seriously folks, has anyone paid attention to the increase in maternal and infant complications since then?), the massive increases in "outpatient surgery" so that surgical patients are sent home to care for themselves rather than admitting them to the hospital for professional care (insurance companies are making huge profits on this one), the profit-driven hospital system, the influence of "drug reps" over physician medication prescribing by the use of and their gifts (bribes), the lack of capacity in Emergency Departments to contend with any significant catastrophe, the lack of sufficient equipment in reserve (respirators, monitors, IV pumps, etc.) for any large scale health disaster (Avian Flu, anyone?). It's enough to make us all sick.

Charming portrait of our Commander-in-Beef there, a regular cow-chip off the old block. But wouldn't the horns and ears be on the other end?

I always wondered what the Altarboys wore at those 'Bohemian Owl God' religious services, out there in California. Are the Altarboys all Holsteins? Are they steers (castratti)? Only in America, huh?

Sue, you are SOOO right. It is so very frustrating and getting worse by the day - since the R have been in power, particularly, we have seen life as we once knew it go to hell in a handbasket in order to fill and overflow the coffers of the drug companies, insurance companies, oil companies and lobbyists for those special interests. Who, by the way, fund the politicians and make sure they are WELL rewarded for allowing same to run wild - at the expense of our health, our security, our economy and the very core of our nation. This idiot from TX that some people actually put in office AGAIN - has cost this nation more in treasure, blood, health care, security, etc. I think than any other admin. in history. I feel as if I live in the Twilight Zone. Is this how it is in communist countries I wonder? Do the people there WANT what is best for them and their nation as we do but the government totally ignores them - just as ours totally ignores us? It is all about money, money, money - to hell with our country and to hell with our CITIZENS. Perfect example is the tainted food coming in from China. Why are we importing WHEAT gluten from CHINA?? What do OUR wheat farmers who are not trying to poison us do with the wheat THEY grow? Why are we not feeding AMERICA first and then exporting what we don't need? Something is VERY wrong here and we all know it goes back to the money for the rich. I am afraid of our food supply as I have never been in my life. This wheat gluten could just as well have poisoned our little babies in formula -- what in God's name has happened to our nation? WHEN did we become so TRUSTING of other nations who would love to control us and will do it in a heartbeat when the time is right? Am I the only one who sees that China or any other nation we import our FOOD products from can poison 80% of us before ANYBODY can pinpoint WHERE and WHAT it came from? With the Muslim savages worldwide who want to see us all dead - WHY are we IMPORTING food products at all? Why are we not testing ALL food - domestic and foreign? Money, money, money and sorry politicians in both parties who have sold us out totally. Look at the immigration bill - amnesty for illegal aliens. Entire cities that are "santuary cities" for illegal aliens to live and cannot even be STOPPED for DUI - could be seen as targeting a certain race! Why do we scream we want our borders secured FIRST, we want employers to pay the price for hiring cheap illegal alien labor so that our own CITIZENS and LEGAL immigrants' wages are depressed and we have people out of work - yet the politicians totally IGNORE us? The people taking the polls are undoubtedly paid by the big business lobbyists and our own Chamber of Commerce. They never ask the question: What do you want first - border security or make illegal aliens legal while the border is still wide open? Port security first or make illegal aliens legal first? Slow and steady self deportation of illegal aliens by drying up the jobs magnet and prosecuting the employers hiring them or just making them all legal and rewarding them even more for breaking the law? What has happened to America? What is wrong with this picture when you and I must obey the laws of our land and most of us do so willingly. Illegal aliens have broken the law by being here, by staying here, and our GOVERNMENT just protects them more and more as they steal our birthright, rape our culture, our language - the very core of America and what this nation was built on. People, please google your local representatives for contact information and call, email, fax, visit - whatever you can do to keep shouting what we want for America. We want a SAFE food supply for ourselves and our children. We want the laws of our land to apply to ALL - not exempt one particular group of people. We are called racist when we scream for law enforcement - when indeed the racism is against those of us who happen to not be illegal aliens and who are OBEYING the law. The racism is directed as US no matter what color we are. Are we in the Twilight Zone or have I just lost my mind?

Good Grief!!! Doesn't the President know that if you don't test the meat and the meat is tainted, sold on the market People are going to end up getting sick or end up dying; They should realize then, that it would be a lot better to spend the money on testing than to worry about major lawsuits that could come back and haunted them with more money to spend. Just look at the grizzly stats and look at the figures.

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