The Black Hat Crew
By Trent LoosLast Friday my phone rang non-stop. Thursday, Colby Community College announced that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be speaking in Colby, KS on March 11, 2004 at 7:00 pm. My extensive history with Bobby obviously led many to believe that I needed to know about it and thought surely I would attend. If you don’t know, for an eight week period in 2002 I shadowed Bobby, every time he spoke I was in the front row. Recorded all of his statements and still to this day can compare all the inaccuracies.
Numerous times within months after 9-11-01, he would say pig farmers were a greater threat to the United States and democracy than bin Laden's terrorist network. Also many times I heard “Let me tell you, the best thing would be if this industry did leave the country." In Okalahoma City I heard him speak of the ridiculous subsidies that ranchers are getting by grazing federal lands. In the summer of 2002, a Florida court judge threw one of his frivolous lawsuits out of court and ordered him to pay the legal fees for the defendant.
He frequently speaks of all the damage to the Neuse River in North Carolina during Hurricane Floyd, caused by hog lagoons. I recently received a fund raising letter from his organization still attempting to raise money because of a couple hog lagoons during Hurricane Floyd, although it said nothing about the real damage.
Summary of the impact in North Carolina alone:
- 51 deaths
- 7,000 homes destroyed
- 17,000 homes uninhabitable
- 56,000 homes damaged
- most roads east of I-95 flooded
- Tar River crests 24 feet above flood stage
- over 1,500 people rescued from flooded areas
- over 500,000 customers without electricity at some point
- 10,000 people housed in temporary shelters
- much of Duplin and Greene Counties under water
- severe agricultural damage throughout eastern NC
"Nothing since the Civil War has been as destructive to families here," says H. David Bruton, the state's Secretary of Health and Human Services.
It is not only in the United States that he can’t tell the truth. Late last year the Associated Press reported Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been sued by Polish pork farmers "over allegations he called the company a 'mafia organization.'" The suit asks that Kennedy be prevented from spreading "untrue and debasing information."
In January of this year the Alberta Environmental Minister Lorne Taylor tore into Kennedy for intentionally exaggerating the environmental effects of pork farming in order to raise funds from Hollywood stars like Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Matt Dillon, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. "He's characteristic of old-style environmentalists that raise money and they have to create fear to raise money." This stems from false allegations against Canadian pig farmers.
If you question Kennedy or “factory farms” are the root of all evil. “Factory farms” have replaced “family farms.” But what is their definition of a “factory farm”? In his mind, any producer that must obtain a permit to operate is considered a “factory farm,” regardless of size. If you raise pigs that do not have access to bedding, you are a factory farmer. If your beef or dairy cattle do not have access to grass at all times, you operate a factory farm. For that matter according to his definition any farmer who applies his own chemical is a factory farmer.
I have frequently heard him accuse livestock producers of operating illegally in states when it comes to nutrient management systems. Yet he must not realize that every operation follows guidelines set forth by land grant universities, which then mean they are aiding an abiding criminal activity. No Bobby will walk into Colby, KS do his typical finger pointing at the Bush administration for poor environmental policies while promoting John Kerry for president and not provide one solution to the crowd.
I will tell you what I would love to see, is everyone show up in Colby with their black hat. You see, in our extensive past, he would always introduce me to the audience as his shadow here to shut him up and he then would add “Trent wears a black hat because he represents the evils of modern day agriculture.” Hat or not, we can not continue to let anyone like this prance around the country lying about the backbone of country no matter who his father or uncle was. A gentleman I sat by on the plane the other day summed him up best; he said "yep"... that Bobby Jr. could be president of the “Lucky sperm club.”
