The Classic Liberal Blog

Where did my country go? I've become a stranger in a strange land.

America was once the "land of the free," but one can hardly say that with a straight face anymore. Only a politician could pull it off. The limited government gifted us by our Founders, has become the largest, most expensive, most powerful central government man has ever known.

We couldn't have failed more if we tried.

American Family Farms Under Siege

As small farming in America experiences rebirth, the federal government has put them under siege.

EPA to Crack Down on Farm Dust

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering a crackdown on farm dust, so senators have signed a letter addressing their concerns on the possible regulations.

The letter dated July 23 to the EPA states, "If approved, would establish the most stringent and unparalleled regulation of dust in our nation's history." It further states, "We respect efforts for a clean and healthy environment, but not at the expense of common sense. These identified levels will be extremely burdensome for farmers and livestock producers to attain. Whether its livestock kicking up dust, soybeans being combined on a dry day in the fall, or driving a car down the gravel road, dust is a naturally occurring event."

You read that right. Dust.

Police SWAT Team Holds Entire Family at Gunpoint for Hours

A police SWAT team conducted a food raid in rural Ohio, holding an entire family at gunpoint for hours without explanation.

Agents from the State of Ohio Department of Agriculture with the S.W.A.T. team did not give any explanation to the family other than a warrant, did not provide them a phone call, did not charge the family with anything as they burst into their private home. But what they did do was make a big mess, taking over ten thousand dollars of merchandise with them, reported the IVN Bureau Chief.

"They were not read their rights… Over ten thousand dollars worth of food was taken, including the family’s personal stock of food for the coming year. All of their computers and all of their cell phones were taken, as well as phone and contact records. The food cooperative was virtually shut down. There was no rational explanation, nor justification, for this extreme violation of Constitutional rights." - John Loeffler, IRN/USA

Have we entered a new era of police brutality at the hands of our own government?

John said, “They kept guns trained on the parents, the kids, toddlers, from about 11 in the morning until eight in the afternoon.” Is this what we expect now from our government?

Yes, we have entered an era of police brutality and the total state. But I'm sure pointing those guns at the children, was done "for the children."

FDA Raid on Amish Farm

“They came in the dark, shining bright flashlights while my family was asleep, keeping me from milking my cows, from my family, from breakfast with my family and from our morning devotions, and alarming my children enough so that the first question they asked my wife was, ‘Is Daddy going to jail?’”

That’s how Amish farmer Dan Allgyer described an early morning visit last week from two FDA agents, two U.S. Marshals, and a Pennsylvania state trooper. Apparently, investigating a single farmer for possibly trafficking raw milk across state lines requires a show of force.

Raids are increasing on farms and private food-supply clubs

When the 20 agents arrived bearing a search warrant at her Ventura County farmhouse door at 7 a.m. on a Wednesday a couple weeks back, Sharon Palmer didn't know what to say. This was the third time she was being raided in 18 months, and she had thought she was on her way to resolving the problem over labeling of her goat cheese that prompted the other two raids. (In addition to producing goat's milk, she raises cattle, pigs, and chickens, and makes the meat available via a CSA.)

But her 12-year-old daughter, Jasmine, wasn't the least bit tongue-tied. "She started back-talking to them," recalls Palmer. "She said, 'If you take my computer again, I can't do my homework.' This would be the third computer we will have lost. I still haven't gotten the computers back that they took in the previous two raids."

As part of a five-hour-plus search of her barn and home, the agents -- from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, Los Angeles County Sheriff, Ventura County Sheriff, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture -- took the replacement computer, along with milk she feeds her chickens and pigs.

While no one will say officially what the purpose of this latest raid was, aside from being part of an investigation in progress, what is very clear is that government raids of producers, distributors, and even consumers of nutritionally dense foods appear to be happening ever more frequently.

Activities like these take place in America every single day. Yet nobody seems to care. After all, there's important stuff like Christiane Amanpour debuting on ABC's "This Week." Freedom is like so, not realpolitik.

Learn More - Farm Raids.