Obama Is Joe McCarthy Redivivus

Vast Overreach

President Obama did much more to undermine free speech than the infamous Senator Joe McCarthy. Senator Joe focused upon Hollywood, attempting to destroy those whose opinions he disagreed with.  Obama perverted the office of the Presidency and issued Executive Orders willy nilly, threatening non-compliants with destruction of livelihoods.  Most of his regal decrees had the objective of forcing the nation into a "wunnerful Progressive Paradise".  

The Federalist recently carried a piece with an example of how far command and control has been asserted over US citizens.

For hundreds of years, the meat-packing industry bore the responsibility for transforming Bessie the Cow into carnivores’ favorite source of protein, and more recently the Food Safety and Inspection Service inspectors of the U.S. Department of Agriculture ensured that the finished product was “safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.”

Not so anymore. Due to agency rules issued during the Obama era, FSIS inspectors enjoy expanded duties, including monitoring facilities for any “disrespectful” or “insult[ing]” communication (no, not among the animals). Should they uncover any such communication, inspectors are empowered to take “corrective action,” even if that involves slicing and dicing fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment.

No, this is not a joke.  FSIS inspectors have been directed and empowered to regulate the speech of  anyone in a meat processing facility.  The speech in these institutions has to comply with what the government has certified as "respectful" or "non-insulting" speech.

"What in the world does speech (written or verbal) in a meat processing plant have to do with cleanliness or hygiene?" we hear you ask.  Well, to be frank, we find that question to be impertinent, and impertinence is definitely disrespectful. So there.  Our great and noble President Obama decreed it so.  Eat them apples.

Take the case of Don and Ellen Vander Boon, the owners of West Michigan Beef Company.

The breakroom at West Michigan Beef includes tables that essentially serve as a repository for newspapers, magazines, articles, and other forms of literature that employees or the owners wish to share with those who care to read them. Think of it as a pre-technological Facebook.  . . .

In 2015, following the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that purported to redefine marriage for the entire country, various employees shared articles and information related to the decision. Don participated by sharing an article that expressed the traditional Christian view that God designed marriage as a union between a man and a woman and set forth reasons for that position.

When a USDA public health veterinarian, the on-site inspector, saw the article in the breakroom, well, he had a cow. He removed the article and reported it to his USDA supervisor. The pair stampeded into Don’s office and threatened to remove USDA inspectors—effectively shutting down the facility—if Don returned the article to the breakroom, stating the article was offensive and harassing under expanded agency rules.

We will destroy your business if you fail to comply!  Welcome to the wonderful world of Obamian liberty and freedom.  Be reminded, dear reader, that this is going on in the "Land of the Free".

This ban on Don’s speech appears to have been grounded on the USDA’s “Anti-Harassment Policy Statement” issued in July 2015, which prohibits written or oral communications that USDA officials consider “disrespectful” or “insult[ing]” on the basis of sexual orientation.

Notably, the feelings about which the USDA is concerned are not those of Don and Ellen’s 45 employees, but rather those of the handful of USDA inspectors working in the Vander Boon’s federally regulated plant. So much so that the company’s breakroom for company employees must be intellectually sterilized, lest an inspector catch a glimpse of an “insulting” article while walking through the breakroom.

We trust that the Trump Administration will lead all such perversions to the slaughterhouse.