Talk show host Jan Mickelson and I had fun ragging on the Agriculture Department bogus bonanza on Iowa’s WHO radio this morn. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is the former governor of Iowa, but I’m pretty sure Jan won’t be giving him any blurbs any time soon.
In the second segment of the 19 minute interview, Jan prodded me to tell the story of how I dodged an Iowa Job Trainers lynch mob.
To download or listen to the show, click on the following – mickelson-2013-03-21_part
Wish I could have heard the show. I do listen to Jan when I have opportunity. But here’s the problem. Jan goes light on farm programs. The subject of your discussion today is only a particularly inane area of agriculture funding. But as you well know the whole system is wretched. I doubt Jan will touch that subject. Not when WHO’s “The Big Show” runs daily from 11:30-1:00 pm celebrating the status quo in Iowa agriculture, which is federally-funded.
Here’s the thing about WHO. They have Limbaugh, Mickelson, Simon Conway, and Steve Deace on for nine-and-a-half hours a day, and it is all more than neutralized by their stupid farm show. A lot of Iowans are sick and tired of the CAFO problem here. Iowa literally stinks.
I’m sure you guys had a good time this morning. Of course the USDA program you were discussing is idiotic beyond belief. But until Mickelson and WHO stop sucking up to farmers in Iowa there will be absolutely zero sentiment for ending welfare for farmers. A welfare system that has ruined farming except on the margins.
I would love to hear you daily on a farm show in Iowa, Jim. I am so sick of the pretensions and self-justification and aggrandizement in Iowa agriculture. You could make hay here, pun intended. But I doubt WHO would hire you even if you were available. Because at the end of the day, after all the conservative bravado is done, they can’t even stand up to Iowa agribusiness. What kind of conservatism is that?
Okay, Jim, I just listened to the podcast on WHO, and it confirmed my assumption that Mickelson would avoid the difficult questions. First, when noting some of the books you authored, Jan conveniently avoided mention of Farm Fiasco, the singlemost searing indictment of American agriculture in history. Second, towards the end of the interview when you brought up the more general problem with farm programs, Jan did not pursue this. HE WOULDN’T TOUCH IT. Now, of course, talk show hosts are always pressed for time. But that’s the problem with talk shows: it’s sound-bite journalism not conducive to a thorough discussion of issues. Third, Jan was giggling more than usual today because he knew he was treading in dangerous waters.
Did you see the Super Bowl commercial that lauded farmers and ended with the Dodge truck parked in front of the hog confinement building? That is why Iowa farmers and most Iowans believe they are entitled to farm welfare. Self-righteousness, self-justification.
Gary, I thought Jan was laughing ’cause he enjoyed the riff about the Iowa job training lynch mob. I have been interviewed by some very dour hosts and I have always appreciated that Jan seems to enjoy a good chuckle.
I’m pretty sure that Jan had me on the air on WHO back in the early 1990s when I was thumping farm programs vigorously.
I have a vague recollection of a show I did @ 1990 in Iowa – not sure who the host was – I’m not even sure if it was WHO. (Did Iowa have an active public radio station back then?)
At that point, shortly after Farm Fiasco came out, I had done radio interviews in a fair number of cities – and the callers were usually outraged that I was calling for an end to subsidies. I was derided for not recognizing farmers as the spiritual pillars of America etc.
But when I did the talk show in Iowa, I was amazed that the callers were more critical of farm subsidies than anywhere else I encountered. They were the least sentimental folks on agriculture of any place in the country.