In the aftermath of a mad cow scare, columnist Rich Lowry thinks we shouldn’t let environmental activists stampede us into hysteria. American agriculture, he says in a column in today’s Journal, is "miraculously productive and safe."
Lowry, relying on experts from the Hudson Institute (an industry-supported think tank) is merely the latest in a long line of folks, including our governor, to reassure us.
Me, I find more reassurance in the news that Washington has imposed new regulations on the beef industry, regulations that industry bought…er, fought off for years.
But don’t believe me. Believe Henrik Ibsen. He wrote the book (or rather, the play) on this subject. In "An Enemy of the People," Ibsen describes what happens in society when the community’s business is put at risk by a truth-teller. Guess how it ends.
PS Lowry is editor of the National Review. The Journal runs his column often now but still runs that of William F. Buckley, founder of the National Review.
Ah, the liberal media….