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Saturday, January 31, 2009
Republican: Georgia rivals China as ‘source of contaminated food;’ Irvin should step aside
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Randy Evans, a prominent Republican and Newt Gingrich ally, writes a weekly column that appears in some Georgia newspapers.
He’s penned a tough one that takes state Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin to task for the peanut butter debacle down in Blakely — suggesting that it may be time for the nine-term commissioner to step aside.
Contrary to one line below, Irvin has in fact declared that he will not stand for election again.
But at minimum, consider Evans’ column a declaration that Republicans will spread the peanut butter scandal pretty thick in a 2010 effort to claim an office they’ve never been able to snatch from Democrats.
Here’s a large chunk of the Evans piece:
Unfortunately, it is not as if the Blakely peanut plant is the first sign of a problem with food originating in Georgia.
Instead, there has been a consistent pattern of problems over the past few years that now enable Georgia to rival China as a source of contaminated food.
This is not good for the safety of consumers anywhere. It is not good for Georgia businesses. And, it is not good for Georgia.
In 2010, Georgian’s will elect the Commissioner of Agriculture. There is no word yet on whether Commissioner Irvin will seek his eleventh term as the Commissioner of Agriculture.
Commissioner Irvin was first elected to office in 1956 as a member of the Habersham Board of Elections. Forty two years later a portion of Highway 365 was named after him (the “Tommy Irvin” Parkway). He has been inducted into the Georgia Agrirama Hall of Fame, the Vidalia Onion Hall of Fame, the Georgia Seed Association Hall of Fame, the Habersham County Hall of Fame, and the University of Georgia College of Agriculture Hall of Fame and, according to the Democratic Party of Georgia website, “Commissioner Irvin is recognized nationally for his service as an agriculture leader.”
Well, thanks to the Peanut Corporation of America, he is now recognized nationally for something else, and Georgia is not the better because of it. It is time for Commissioner Tommy Irvin to take his awards and step aside - for sake of the health of Georgians and Americans everywhere.
Change came to Washington, D. C. in 2008. It may be time for change to come to the peanut capital of the world — Georgia.
