Goobers - And Not the Good Kind

AP photo

Stewart Parnell, owner of Peanut Corp. of America, repeatedly invoked his right not to incriminate himself before the House subcommittee holding a hearing on a national salmonella outbreak blamed on his company. The outbreak has sickened some 600 people, may be linked to nine deaths — the latest reported in Ohio on Wednesday — and has resulted in one of the largest product recalls of more 1,800 items.

Parnell sat stiffly, his hands folded in his lap at the witness table, as Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., held up a clear jar of his company's products wrapped in crime scene tape and asked him if he would be willing to eat the food.

"Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, on advice of my counsel, I respectively decline to answer your questions based on the protections afforded me under the U.S. Constitution," Parnell said.

Peanut Co. owner refuses to testify to Congress.

Refusal to testify, my ass. It's long past time for accountability, civil suits and some good old fashioned jail time for these kinds of goobers - and I'm not just talking peanuts here.

Peanut Corp. officials said they believed the salmonella came from organic Chinese peanuts.

Which is why I stopped buying peanuts from the grocery store a few years ago - not only are they potentially toxic, they taste like crap. My palate could tell the difference, even as COOL (Country Of Origin Labeling) was being removed from products on grocery store shelves en masse. This is not, however, entirely China's fault; though they export poor quality product, it remains the responsibility of the importer/processor to insure adequate cleanliness of the products they distribute. Peanut Corp of America is simply another group of avaricious thugs whose operatives should be tried and jailed, and their company handed off to the victims and plant workers. Just call it setting a precedence; or making it right, if you'd prefer.

You can hardly buy a decent GA/VA peanut anymore unless it's from a small farm roadside stand/tourist stop on the way to Florida. And you have to be watchful there... Cashews are history as well. While US farmers struggle to survive, these vendors are selling their "valued customers" poor quality, imported animal feed, sometimes toxic, for prime US product prices. And watch the apple juice you buy, much of it is Chinese as well.

Yet another endearing legacy of the BushCo crime family and its complicit supporters. The GOP just loves to put the wolves in charge of guarding the henhouse; and true to form, the USDA reports that Parnell was appointed to the USDA’s Peanut Standards Board in July 2005 and was then reappointed in October for a second term lasting until June 2011.

Troubled peanut firm’s chief also an industry quality adviser

All Hail the Free Markets!

Or Else.