Has anyone noticed that a sizable number of the so-called "Earmarks" that the Republicans and their media stooges are mocking are agriculture-related? Doesn't this strike you as a little, I dunno...elitist?
For example, John McCain, who like me has apparently just figured out Twitter, has been Twittering like mad today on his David Letterman-style list of the top ten earmarks he finds amusingly offensive.
#1: $1.7 million for pig odor research in Iowa
Over at Faux News, Hannity sneers, "thanks to Tom Harkin, almost $2 million for swine odor and manure management. Because those pigs and their manure, they do smell pretty bad. We need to do something about that." Yuk-Yuk-Yuk.
Yeah, Sean, we kinda do, and if you'd ever get out of your comfy chair and get your smug, bloated behind down to Eastern North Carolina or rural Iowa, you'd know why. You live in Duplin County, there ain't a blessed thing funny about the odor of pig shit.
McCain also finds this funny:
$650,000 for beaver management in North Carolina and Mississippi
And, he adds,
How do you manage a beaver?
(I'd take a swing at that last straight line, but Ana Marie Cox beat me to it).
Apparently, Senator Straight Talk doesn't realize that the buck-toothed little bastards did a million dollars worth of damage to North Carolina farms, timberland, and roads last year. Guess when you have eight houses, the problems of small farmers out in the sticks don't mean that much to you and are, in fact, rather amusing.
It's kind of odd, given the farmer fetish the right wingers and their media stooges seem to have. After all, whenever they want to get the opinion of "real Americans" they always seem to find a farmer to interview. But let the budget contain provisions for research into things that might increase farm yields or address problems that face farmers, and it's hardy-har-har! Beavers! Pig Poop!
But I guess farmers are like the troops: the Right loves them in the abstract, but for God's sake let's not spend any money on them.