The Peanut Corporation Debacle

What could be more natural than enjoying a peanut butter sandwich with your kids? Like economics, the food crisis in America is touching lives in a very real way beyond corporate profits and money. The Bush administration, combined with neglect from past government, has all but guaranteed that America has become a haven for corporate sociopaths. The reality is that whether it is decreed or not, the mere act of eating from a jar of peanut butter has become a high-risk activity.

The Peanut Corporation of America has become what amounts to another grand heist by corporate interests in the name of profit. However, this time, the act has directly affected thousands of lives with 9 deaths attributed so far. More than 1900 food products have been recalled. How do Americans know which products are dangerous? Must we throw away everything that contains peanut butter to save ourselves grief? Perhaps so. This latest food debacle points a finger at what appears to be the dwindling safety of our national food supply, yet another crisis of confidence. In my mind, this is as much of a national security issue as any war that we might choose to fight on any war front. We should be outraged, yet continue to excuse the kind of sociopaths that continue to prey on America like it is just another day.

The Peanut Corporation has a clear record of past problems, yet has exposed our nation, even our school children (for those of you that get even more indignant about such things). Stewart Parnell has made a mockery of safety in exchange for what can only be seen as more profits or perhaps because of his poor management, he found it necessary to send out tainted peanuts and peanut products to keep his doors open. He had even managed to make a profit from lawsuits on bad products sold to industry in the past. His actions go back as far as 1989. Like Bernie Madoff and toxic banking derivatives sponsored by none less than your U.S. government, Parnell is just one more head case on the list of corporate sociopaths that we can't seem to get rid of. It could be that we have sociopaths running the ship as well. Could it be true?

Generally, the nation associates sociopaths with killing others without having any feelings through what is commonly called disassociation. When disturbed family members kill their children or when serial killers coolly plan the deaths of their victims, we call them sociopaths. The Tylenol Killer is considered a sociopath. What about white collar crime that threatens the national security in no small way in favor of personal comfort or millions of dollars? Stewart Parnell invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid the embarrassment of conflicting himself publicly and was dismissed in a mere 10 minutes. "Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, on advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer your questions based on the protections afforded me under the U.S. Constitution," Parnell responded. America knows the truth.

"This appears to be a case where someone willfully sent tainted food across the nation, including to children, and we know now that the results are fatal. These men and anyone else involved in this should face jail time," proclaimed Representative Anthony Weiner. "We appear to have a total systemic breakdown," said Representative Bart Stupak at a Congressional Hearing Wednesday. We don't need another Congressional inquest. The nation doesn't need Congressional pandering. The evidence is clear.

We don't need to consider that the crime is somehow worse because children have been involved. Life is life at any age. Sickness that leads to death is just a tragic for the elderly as it is for the young. Since Corporations are held to be a legal entity much in the same way as a individual, corporations and their officers need to be held responsible for unethical and criminal behavior. Since Parnell is 'innocent until proven guilty', the nation needs a legal trial to ply the overwhelming evidence of the corporate crime and to get the job done. In the meantime, the nation has another group of tainted corporate criminals without a flicker of conscience that the nation continues to found its' existence on.