The International Herald Tribune published an article yesterday that makes me wonder if insanity runs rampant through the Bush administration.

U.S. government fights to keep meatpackers from testing all slaughtered cattle for mad cow

Yes, you read that correctly. A beef producer in Kansas called Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its cows to make sure that none of them have Mad Cow Disease before they send them for slaughtering. You might think that a supporter of capitalism would support the innovation of this company in finding a way to make their beef stand out from the crowd. You might think that the president would support a company wishing to insure that the product they sell to the public is safe. You would be wrong on both counts. The Bush administration is supporting the big beef producing companies who don’t want to test because it would be too expensive and they are afraid that if one company does it then they would all have to do it. So the Agriculture Department sued to stop them but a judge threw out the case back in March. The ruling was just about to take effect when the Agriculture Department appealed. In other words, they know they don’t have a case but are trying to delay the ruling as long as possible. This is how George Bush protects the American public.

Mad Cow Disease has killed 150 people worldwide including three Americans. Since it takes years for symptoms to develop, there is no way to know how many Americans are infected.

Every day, I am just happier and happier that Beth convinced me to be a vegetarian.