Lou Dobbs Calls for Bush Impeachment Over Tomato Salmonella Contamination

Lou Dobbs suggested on his nightly broadcast on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" on Thursday, June 19, that President Bush should be impeached. Maintaining that the administration over the years had done much to deserve impeachment, but the staffing of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with incompetents and, in light of the current Salmonella contamination of tomatoes, not calling for a complete investigation of the FDA's lethargic response and/or inability to find the source of the problem was more than grounds for impeachment. Dobbs angrily excoriated the FDA and the Bush administration for their dereliction of duty in protecting the American public.

What is Lou Dobbs so angry about?

Currently, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta estimate that for the nearly 300 verified cases of salmonella poisoning due to contaminated tomatoes that have been documented by the CDC, there are possibly 30 more that are unreported. New cases are still coming in. The first case was reported on April 10, more than two months ago. To date, the FDA has yet to send investigators to specific locations or indicate if they even know where the outbreak originated. Dobbs suspects they're playing politics.

When Lisa Schiavone, lead reporter on the salmonella outbreak story, told Dobbs that the Mexican government is very concerned with the way the story might affect their trade interests, Dobbs stated: "You mean to tell us the FDA is more concerned about the feelings of some in the Mexican government than the safety of American consumers? Why isn't there a criminal investigation of the FDA going on at this very moment?"

It seems that the FDA narrowed the places of origin down in their initial investigation to two areas because of the growing season: Florida and Mexico. An original statement by the head of the FDA, stating that Mexican authorities had found evidence of a salmonella outbreak in their crops was later retracted as incorrect. To make matters seemingly worse, the FDA has no investigators in the field at present. And, according to Schiavone, the FDA is not pinpointing any specific area because -- without evidence -- they want to be fair.

Dobbs went on to say: "Their job is to protect the American consumer. They're not in the justice and jurisprudence and diplomatic business. They're in the business of protecting the American consumer, even though they have operated for some time as if they have no responsibility at all."

Schiavone then informed Lou Dobbs that the FDA does not have the science or the ability to find the source of the contamination. But it was when she informed Dobbs of the fact that the FDA did not know how many investigators it had on the case, Dobbs exploded. "You know, I have heard a lot of reasons over the years as to why George W. Bush should be impeached. For them to leave the Food and Drug Administration in this state, it's leadership in sorry condition, and to have no capacity apparently, or will, to protect the American consumer, that is alone to me sufficient reason to impeach a president who has made this agency possible and has ripped its guts out in its ability to protect the American consumer. It's insane what's going on here."

Angry or not, Dobbs has a point. The FDA is stacked with Bush administration appointees. Add to that, the Congress' continued postponed of implementation of already passed legislation for country of origin labeling (COOL) and you have more of a morass.

Some of the frustration felt by Lou Dobbs and many Americans no doubt stems from the memory of the e coli-contaminated packaged lettuce that was recalled in late 2006 which killed at least three people. Within weeks that contaminated lettuce, once it was determined that the problem was actually lettuce (originally the outbreaks -- there were two -- were thought to have been due to spinach and green onions), was found to have originated in Napa Valley, California. They even found the field on the farm where it was grown, pictures and videos of which were broadcast into the homes of millions of Americans.

Apparently tomatoes are a bit trickier to investigate. Of course, the packaging of the lettuce, with all its labels and inspection stamps, was a huge help to narrowing down where it originated.

But what are people to do while the contamination investigation goes nowhere? People have been urged not to eat raw tomatoes. Or thoroughly wash and cook them. Many are turning to homegrown produce stands for their fresh produce. With growing distrust of the government's ability to protect or even their willingness to protect dependent upon political or diplomatic factors, the public is forced more and more to fend for themselves.

Still, the Food and Drug Administration has only one mandate: to protect the American public's food supply. Charges of playing politics is nothing new, but accusations of political obfuscation that disregards the protection of the people are serious. Accusations and allegations of ineptitude and cronyism, such as those suggested by Lou Dobbs, that point directly at the president are also very serious.

The fact that the accusations and allegations have merit still does nothing to further the FDA's investigation, produce demands for tomato recalls, or in any way protects the American public except that there is increased awareness of the uncertain safeness of our food supply and the apparent inability of the monitoring agency of that supply to protect the people's health interests. An argument can definitely be made that the FDA should be investigated and overhauled for its poor handling of this and several other past episodes of poor oversight. An argument can also be made that the president and his administration are ultimately culpable for the gross negligence, ineptitude, and dereliction shown by the agency. But with seven months left in his scandal-ridden presidency, impeachment proceedings against Bush would now be meaningless and merely symbolic.

Insanity indeed...

Sources:

"Lou Dobbs Tonight," CNN Television

Lou Dobbs Tonight, "Transcripts (June 19, 2008)," CNN.com