MSNBC's Martin Bashir Blames GOP for Cantaloupe Food Poisoning Deaths
In an outrageous rant during his 3 p.m. ET hour show on MSNBC on Friday, host Martin Bashir actually attempted to blame budget cutting by Republican lawmakers for a deadly outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe: "John Boehner and his Republican majority decided to gut the food safety and inspection service....Cut, cut, cut. Now the results are in. 16 people have lost their lives."
Bashir went on to blame free market principles in general for the outbreak: "Republicans in Congress talk proudly of their commitment of laissez-faire economics, where government gets out of the way and everything works perfectly. You try telling that to those who ate melon with a side of listeria."
View video after the jump
At the same time, Bashir portrayed President Obama as the would-be hero of the story, foiled by the villainous GOP: "Earlier this year, he signed the Food Safety Modernization Act into law....he actually tried to do something....But guess what actually happened? The proposal died on the vine."
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Here is a full transcript of the September 30 segment:
3:23PM ET
MARTIN BASHIR: Federal authorities now say that 16 people have died after eating cantaloupe infected with listeria. Among them, William Beach from Mustang, Oklahoma, seen here, who died at the age of 87. His wife found him collapsed on the living room floor struggling to breathe. At least 72 others have been sickened and authorities say those numbers, sadly, are expected to rise.
And while the source of the outbreak has been identified, that doesn't resolve the root cause of the problem. For far too many years the safety of food in this country has been the subject of conjecture and each outbreak of E-coli or salmonella is always followed by cries for tougher safety standards. And the President heard those cries. Earlier this year, he signed the Food Safety Modernization Act into law, bringing about the largest change to this nation's food safety laws since the 1930s. Yes, he actually tried to do something about it. The President also called for an additional $120 million in funding in order to employ more inspectors so that cantaloupe for brunch would not mean admission to hospital by lunch.
But guess what actually happened? The proposal died on the vine. Worse still, John Boehner and his Republican majority decided to gut the FDA's food safety and inspection service. First, slashing $87 million from its budget and then another $35 million from the USDA for good measure. Cut, cut, cut. And now the results are in. 16 people have lost their lives. Close to 100 are sick.
Republicans in Congress talk proudly of their commitment of laissez-faire economics, where government gets out of the way and everything works perfectly. You try telling that to those who ate melon with a side of listeria.
Throughout the weekend, you can get the latest from the show on Twitter at Twitter.com/BashirLive and Facebook at Facebook.com/Martin Bashir. Don't bother reaching for the stars. When we come back, the other programs Republicans want to cut.
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Comments
What an absolute scumbag!
Submitted by NC Cop on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 5:10pm.
Yeah, it's the budget cuts that led to their deaths. Because nobody has ever gotten sick and died BEFORE budget cuts, right, you idiotic stooge.
This is pretty low, even for a liberal.
Ratings toilet
Submitted by locomotivebreath1901 on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 5:13pm.
This Bashir clown is simply pandering to the thirteen petulant adolescents who still watch that network
I can play his game too, it's
Submitted by deerjerkydave on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 5:53pm.
I can play his game too, it's because of anti-science left wing hippies that farms keep poisoning Americans with their organic produce. This issue has been ongoing long before Republicans took control of congress just nine months ago.
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"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State Governments are numerous and indefinite. -James MadisonNot enough known yet
Submitted by richb313 on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 10:49pm.
We do not know enough about this outbreak tto make any informed decision yet. Speculation on all sides do no good. Speculation or making guesses before evidence is in or data collected is one of the biggest causes of misdiagnosis in the Medical Profession and any discipline you could name. When you look at evidence or data if you already have a theory or speculation we start seeing patterns or correspondence that might not be there. This is one reason for double blinds in Drug testing.
In the world outside the medical labs we have to eliminate pre-concieved notions in order to properly evaluate what the evidence or data is telling us. News Organizations with thier quest for headlines and fierce compition to be first to report anything pollute the ether with unfounded speculation and theories usually from ill informed sources. More real damage has been done because of this rush to judgement. Once a thing has been said or published it cannot be taken back It is out there. Conspiracy theories devlope when the outcome does not match the narrative.
There should be consequences for the media when they do this. It is OK to make a mistake but specualtion is not a mistake it is willfull disregard for the publics intrest by making it almost impossible for investigators to conduct an unbiased investigation, and do not get me started on how Justice has been contaminated by the press with pre-trial speculation.
Correction
Submitted by pockets64 on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 9:36am.
GOP took control of only one house of Congress. The power is still with the Dems. If there was any blood spilled by laws from the House, that blood is also on the hands of the Senate and the WH.
But this whole point is BS anyway. One of the problems with having the govt in control of so much is that the citizens stop looking after their own good. When it comes time to shop, they always assume the govt has their backs, so they don't shop wisely.
Irradiated Produce
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 11:26am.
Don;t forget the hippies resistance to irradiated produce, a process which kills things like listeria.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
It's only going to get worse as Election Day approaches
Submitted by Rover on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 6:26pm.
As it becomes more and more clear that their messiah will not get reelected, and that they'll lose the Senate as well, their lies, distortions and specious bomb-throwing will get worse and worse.
I don't look forward to this campaign season: my anger at these democratic activitists lying while pretending to be journalists delivering news is probably going to give me a stroke.
Bashir is the new Olbermann...
Submitted by bohratom on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 7:33pm.
Bashir has turned into the new Olbermann for MSNBC, Every story he talks about is put in the light of "Obama the great" and "Republicans the horrible". I guess he is trying his best to get his own primetime show with all the vitriol he uses. I mean I think he is more wacko-left then even the socialist O'Donnell is.
The weasel Bashir
Submitted by greatj on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 5:32pm.
Bashir is a two faced toady bootlicking weasel and he should be deported back to Pakistan and get rabies.
Martin Bashir is a complete
Submitted by seanrobins on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 7:51pm.
Martin Bashir is a complete fool. Come on, Martin: Do leave us hanging, which dollar was cut, and which inspection, where and of what was cut? Can't tell us? There's a reason you can't: You're a lying POS!
What a wretched dumbass.
sean robins
I said it befor and I will say it again about Martin Bashir:
Submitted by djwolf12 on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 2:27am.
To borrow a line from comedian Jeffrey Ross, Martin Bashir looks like Eugene Levy and Keith Olbermann had a baby and then peed on it.
In Soviet Russia there is no
Submitted by Rusty Shackleford on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 10:45am.
In Soviet Russia there is no cantaloupe! Dat is solution!
Anyhoo, when I first heard this story I wondered if it was another case of microbe-ridden "organic" food causing yet another food poisoning outbreak. But don't worry! The bacteria is organic and depending on where you live might even be considered locally grown!
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Chris Matthews: The Joy Behar of MSNBC.
Bill Maher: The Joy Behar of HBO.
Paul Krugman: The Joy Behar of The New York Times.
Last Day?
Submitted by Fredy on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 5:25pm.
After making up a total lie on national TV can Bashir survive?
There have been NO BUDGET CUTS!
Bashir is lieing!
Look for the network to blame him and fire him!
- - - - -
Also note: The federal government does not actually PAY FOR INSPECTIONS!
The food producers pay for the inspections that are done by the government.
People need to question EVERYTHING that is stated as fact by the propagandists on TV!
I was wondering when someone
Submitted by ThePickle on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 6:00pm.
I was wondering when someone was going to bring up the fact the food producers actually pay for the inspections through user fees and that the government simply provides the inspectors.
Also, I believe that the majority of safety inspections carried out on fruits are conducted by State Dept. of Agriculture inspectors. Not Federal.
So in addition to lying about the budget cuts, the most likely place to assign blame for the Listeria outbreak is in facts the government inspectors that failed to catch it and NOT the Republican authors of fictitious budget cuts.
I am a public health officer, and most inspections are...
Submitted by drsamherman on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 11:46pm.
...run by the state authorities, whether it is the Department of Agriculture or similar agency.
The problem is this runs into three very conflicting jurisdictions: 1) Colorado Department of Agriculture which would do the bulk of local inspections on the particular farm(s) involved; 2) FDA which really oversees more of the process and less of the actual food itself; and 3) US Department of Agriculture which also does inspections and somewhat delegates a lot of this to the state. The majority of Department of Agriculture (state & federal) inspections focus on the mechanics of getting food to the table, e.g. growing, harvesting, processing. FDA only becomes involved if food contamination is noted. There are regulations in place requiring all farms, production and distribution facilities to maintain a record of the supply and processing chains, and Listeria outbreaks are often done by the time they are first reported.
Clinically, Listeriosis is a bear to treat because it is a rare pathogen. The onset symptoms of fever, muscle aches and pain are relatively non-specific. Meningitis is common, but this can also be a manifestation of other pathogens. The primary causative pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes, is usually transmitted via contaminated food (or water in some cases) and primarily infects the young, old and immunocompromised (e.g. chemotherapy, chronic steroids, immunomodulators like Humira, etc.) and the presentation is non-specific enough that starting antibiotic therapy may not specifically target L. monocytogenes as it is a bacterium that is highly likely to be multi-drug resistant. When a patient presents, treatment is initiated immediately but it may take up to 48 to 72 hours to get a final microbiology report back from even the fastest responding labs. When finally identified, it is a reportable event to the local or state health departments and they in turn will notify CDC. CDC usually places Listeriosis outbreaks on extreme high priority and will send staff from their Atlanta HQ to local hospitals to begin tracing the cause. I have to say the CDC is d@mn good at what they do. On the few Listeriosis cases I have ever worked, identification as a causative pathogen immediately turns the case over to an infectious diseases physician and the patient is immediately quarantined appropriately.
In these types of matters, it is best to wait until the CDC reports on the matter. There is too much public hysteria, and the ignorance and stupidity of the media reporting often exacerbates the problem.
It's preventable
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 11:33am.
Things like e-coili and listeria infections are preventable, by the use of irradiation if food products, a process which kills most pathogens. It is a safe, effective, and underutilized solution. People just need to stop being afraid of the word "radiation." We sterilize our Band-aids, for obvious reasons, using this process. Why don't we do the same to our food for the same reasons? I'll tell you why. The same organizations which promote things like "organic food" also fights tooth and nail against the very processes which would protect us against the pathogens that "organic" food can, and does, host.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
FDA & USDA have fought for food irradiation.
Submitted by drsamherman on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 2:24pm.
But guess who is fighting against it? If you can say "envirowhacko", you nailed it.
Apparently, this current crop of envirowhackos reads too many 50s era comic books, because they believe food irradiation (which is very, very low dose and not absorbed at all in the food) will turn everyone into the Hulk or give everyone cancer.
All right. Hurt feelings. Just a little. Little bit. Little bit.
Submitted by The Vet on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 2:29pm.
I only said the same thing as the Cobraman oh like 12 hours earlier but whatever.... Maybe if I changed my name to BigAngryB-52BomberManBombin'OnYourButtMan, I could get the attention of the good doctor. But whatever....
Oh, here is where I put one of those smiley things - :-)
Exactly, Fredy
Submitted by Galvanic on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 7:12pm.
Because the Democratic Congress never passed an FY2011 budget, the Federal government has been running on CRs (continuing resolutions) to sustain spending at the level of the last budget passed.
In other words, this FY's budget was passed by the Democratic Congress and sustained through CRs passed by the Republican House and the Democratic Senate, and signed into law by the President.
MSNBC Is starting to sound like a very long
Submitted by Lipton on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 5:43pm.
comedy sketch. This is just stupid.
Let's give Martin Bashir his due
Submitted by Kingfish17 on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 6:47pm.
It's obvious that he is an expert on cantaloupes. After all, it's obvious this guy is a melon head!
"You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas...on the taxpayer’s dime." Barack Obama
Bashir means "neckless" in some language?
Submitted by drsamherman on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 8:38pm.
The way he sits in the chair at MSNBC makes me wonder if he has any cervical vertebrae? The camera angles make him look like his head was fused to his body like some kind of defective mannequin. Perhaps the best explanation is that he is just another spineless, whining Bridiot like Piers "Hacker" Morgan.
Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together...
Submitted by kata on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 5:58pm.
... mass hysteria!!!
1. The FY 2012 budget that attempts to cut $285 million from the FDA budget.... well that's gone nowhere.
2. How much exactly IS $285 million from the FDA Budget? (note that the 2010 numbers does not include the addition 1.4 billion added new legislation. - also note the absence of the 2011 budget.)
3. How useful IS the Food Safety Modernization Act anyway?
I dont know whats
Submitted by kevtheweb on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 6:18pm.
I dont know whats scarier. This terrible journalism/reporting, or the fact that there ARE people out there that will hear this and think that it was the Republican's fault due to "budget cuts".
Cut the budget and "something" happens: blame it on the cuts!
Dont change the budget and "something" happens: We not spending enough!
Increase the budget and "something" happens: Spend even more!!!
Your not going to stop every instance of bad food making it to consumers.
Blame Michelle Obama.
Submitted by big.league.slider on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 8:15pm.
Ever hear of anyone who contracted listeria from eating french fries?
Cantaloupe would be much safer if it was deep fried.
Nah
Submitted by djwolf12 on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 2:30am.
Moochelle will only be satisfied that her mission is complete when all Americans are eating Dirt Soup for breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
Bashir obviously doesn't know what lunch and brunch are.
Submitted by motherbelt on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 8:28pm.
employ more inspectors so that cantaloupe for brunch would not mean admission to hospital by lunch.
OK, I know this has nothing to do with food safety, but LUNCH does NOT come a few hours after BRUNCH.
What the heck is going on around here?
Submitted by Boudin on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 11:39pm.
Where is the comment thing below the page? I like that the link is back but good golly maybe we could do both at the same time?
I used to suggest to NB's, that with their articles, they should link a e-mail or complaint box of some sorts for these cretins. Maybe a few e-mails similar to these comment would decrease the frequency of such idiocy?
Well?
Comment system
Submitted by shooter on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 11:48pm.
NB's comment system sucks. But, I love to comment. Go figure.
_________________________________________
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert A. Heinlein
F' you and die, you imported, commie, camel-flea infested a-hole
Submitted by Dave. on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 12:27am.
Little wonder America is dying.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Poison cantilopes
Submitted by Scrapiron on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 12:23am.
The truth will never come out of the current regime. Add in thousands of unclean/diseased criminal aliens and a farmer hiring them and you'll see more and more of this.
Leftists are responsible for ALL deaths in the last 40 years.
Submitted by The Vet on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 12:46am.
Two stories, one about the dangers of contaminated spinach and another on the NY Times’s ignoring of irradiation as a preventative for food borne illness, show us how the moral posturing and emotional hysteria of the anti-nuclear-power left have not only vastly contributed to global warming, mercury poisoning, strip mining, general air pollution, etc. but have also been responsible for the deaths and maiming of virtually everyone who suffered from food-borne microbial illness in the last 40 years.
Food irradiation is a process by which foods are zapped with a sudden burst of radiation that kills microbes but leaves the food otherwise unaltered. It’s exactly the same process as pasteurization except that it uses radiation instead of heat, with the added benefit that it doesn’t alter the taste or nutritional content of the treated food. It leaves zero radiation in the food. The technique was first developed during WWII and during the next 20 years it was tested, retested and tested again for safety. They force fed generations of lab rats massively irradiated food and never found the least hint of problem. By the early ’60s at the latest, it was proven beyond all doubt that irradiation was a safe and highly effective means of preventing microbial contamination of food.
Despite this overwhelming scientific evidence, ever since the mid-1960s anti-nuclear leftists have demonized irradiation and created such anti-irradiation hysteria that for decades no politician could even think of allowing the irradiation of food, no matter how many lives it would have saved. Virtually everyone who has gotten sick from eggs, meat, vegetables, etc. in the last 40+ years has done so needlessly. The hundreds of immune-compromised people who die of salmonella every year didn’t have to die that way. All of the hundreds of people, many of them children, crippled or killed by E. Coli did not have to suffer. The people killed and maimed by contaminated leafy vegetable didn’t have to die.
Strange way to comment
Submitted by Denny Crane on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 2:41am.
He really is a dipstick, besides the fact that there weren't any budget cuts how does he explain the outbreak in 2009. Or how about the one in 2010.
Or that there are over 800 reported cases of listeria every year.
We Are The 53%
I blame illegal aliens and
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 3:28am.
I blame illegal aliens and their employers.
What?
Submitted by The Vet on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 4:03am.
I would ask you to clarify but what is the point? You respond to no one here anyway.
Ummm, OK
Submitted by Denny Crane on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 4:16am.
So you think that business people or the people they employ (illegally) are purposefully contaminating food. Sure, go with that. (HUGE EYE ROLL)
I will be waiting for your clarification as the Vet has quasi asked for with bated breath.
Or it could just be a natural thing that we should protect ourselves from. You cannot feed 300 million plus people without having a few problems. Although we are pretty darn good at it.
We Are The 53%
Sarcasm is obviously lost on
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 11:47am.
Sarcasm is obviously lost on you, I thought the VET would catch it but you not so much.
Looks like we both missed it.
Submitted by The Vet on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 12:52pm.
Sarcasm is hard to catch in the written word. Sorry. But we can't really be blamed. Unless it is stated it is sarcasm, it must be implied from the words themselves. Your post was really too short for us to catch the sarcasm.
Most people know how to show sarcasm.
Submitted by Denny Crane on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 3:28am.
In the online world where people can't here your words it is considered good manners to make your sarcasm know with a little thing called a sarc tag. There are several ways to do this.
(sarc)
/sarc
/s
;-)
:-o
Otherwise your post will be considered as your opinion and not sarcasm.
We Are The 53%
We feed a lot more then 300 mil
Submitted by Boudin on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 12:23pm.
We actually feed billions
What an absolutely
Submitted by ronber on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 9:23am.
What an absolutely vile person this Bishir person is. Why is there never a drone around when when one is so appropriately called for?
Keith!!!
Submitted by bertkillian on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 5:03pm.
Martin Bashir IS Keith Olbermann. I swear!! Can't you see the resemblance, the likeness in the spoken word between the two meatballs? It is uncanny how close they are. If Marty isn't a close relative to old Olbermoron I would be mildly to severely surprised. If not, he has certainly taken up the flag for old Keithy boy.