05/25/06 Here We Go Again

Here come the "I told you so's ', and it's no fun to gloat. This winter I wrote a controversial piece on how our government has been stooped to groveling before the Japanese's to get them to lift sanctions against our beef. In this political ping pong, I urged our politicians to cowboy up and "ride for the brand" by standing up for the high quality of beef we produce. If a country bans our beef, rather than roll over like a submissive puppy , play hardball and tax and boycott their exports. Naturally Washington ignored my advice so here we are at it again. Japan announced that they will resume beef negotiations only if Tokyo gets the "right" answers to questions about our packing plants. They never will, because it is has never been about quality. No one has ever died from Mad Cow in the US, while 100- 300 Japanese die each year eating poisonous fish. Funny how Japan won't accept our beef with any traces of bone, while a favorite snack is chicken cartilage. Hum, Come to think of it, could be some marketing opportunities for rocky mountain oysters. Source: Aginfo.net Groveling degrades our cattlemen and our country.