Government Priorities

COVID vaccines don't work very well and food plants aren't being inspected, but they approve of you bringing your well-behaved dog to the diner. And the Navy has interesting recruiting priorities.

You may still struggle to find infant formula for your children. And the US Navy and other branches struggle to recruit sailors and soldiers. But don’t worry! The Food and Drug Administration and the US Navy are on the job.

Item: “Fido can now officially join your outdoor dining reservation,” leads a New York Post story.

The Food and Drug Administration recently updated their 2022 list of food regulations to allow “pet dogs” — not just service animals — “in outdoor dining areas, where approved.”

Pet dogs are still not allowed indoors or wherever food is prepared, not even to walk through to an outdoor dining area, but they can now join as their owners enjoy outdoor dining just in time for spring.

However, service dogs are still the only animals permitted to join their owners at indoor tables.

While the updated FDA regulations allow dining spots to welcome the neighborhood’s beloved pet pups, it doesn’t mean that they have to.

Restaurants, bars and cafes can still make their own decisions on whether or not they want to have tails wagging al fresco.

This is part of an annual exercise the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Nutrition (CFSAN) takes annually to update its “Food Code” regulations. While I’m sure most dog owners have already figured out which favorite restaurants allow their pets and service animals to join them - and increasing numbers of such establishments, including wineries, advertise their acceptance of dogs - I still find it odd that CFSAN regulators found it necessary to opine on something that traditionally is a local health department concern. FDA regulates food made and sold in interstate commerce, but usually not restaurants.

Meanwhile, food safety litigator Bill Marler publishes an interesting blog about his investigations into food safety issues. One of his most recently involved a foodborne illness outbreak involving two popular chain restaurants in Minnesota and Washington State that served romaine lettuce from a California lettuce provider, Taylor Farms, tainted with E.Coli 0121:H19—these especially virulent bacteria that result in intestinal cramping and bloody diarrhea. Nobody died. It helped that the victims were relatively young (ages 18-32). Marler’s firm, perhaps the largest and best-known litigators in food safety cases, now represents one or more victims. Thanks to the most recent food safety reforms, FDA is now responsible for food safety on produce farms. He’s accusing the FDA and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) which investigates outbreaks, often in concert with state health departments.

“Far too often, however, we uncover an outbreak (defined as more than two people) that for one bad reason or another the CDC, FDA or FSIS decide that the public does not have a right to know about,” Marler wrote. He’s filing suit against Taylor Farms, believing he’s doing the job the FDA should be. Taylor Farms, Marler says, is not cooperating.

So, while the FDA is spending time on Fido, joining you outdoors at a restaurant, victims of food safety outbreaks just have to wait their turn. In fairness, “Food Code” regulators and food safety inspectors are different parts of the agency. But it sure looks like a case of misplaced priorities or allocation of resources. Maybe the agency should let local governments decide about pets at local outdoor restaurants.

Meanwhile, regarding our nation’s military recruiting shortfall, the US Navy is doubling down on woke. From Breitbart News:

Navy Confirms Using Drag Queen Influencer as a ‘Digital Ambassador’ to Attract Recruits

Meet “Harpy Daniels,” the stage name of US Navy Yeoman Second Class Joshua Kelley.

Kelley announced in November 2022 in a video on his Instagram page that the Navy asked him to be their “first” “Navy Digital Ambassador.”

“I identify as Non- Binary and this has been an unbelievable experience since I’ve joined the Navy,” he wrote in a caption for the video.

“From joining to 2016 and being able to share my drag experience on my off time with my fellow sailors has been a blessing,” he continued. “This experience has brought me so much strength, courage and ambition to continue being an advocate and representation of queer sailors!”

China and Russia must be quaking in their boots. No word if their respective military doctrines will include screaming the wrong pronouns at American sailors, among other microaggressions. Meanwhile, look at this Russian military recruiting video and the following American one.

To the best of my knowledge, not hiring drag queens for recruiting purposes is the US Marine Corps. They’re also the only branch, albeit smaller, that consistently meets its recruiting goals. According to the Military Times:

The Marine Corps will meet its fiscal 2023 goal of 29,000 new Marines, Assistant Commandant Gen. Eric Smith told the House Armed Services Committee, while Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David Thompson told the panel his service’s recruiting challenges will depend entirely on what happens with the other services. The Space Force depends on the other military branches to transfer experienced officers and enlisted troops to grow as a new service.

Meanwhile, Army and Air Force recruiting will each fall 10,000 soldiers or airmen (air persons?) behind their goals this year.

The Navy Seal, Robert O'Neill, delivered the fatal shots to Osama bin Laden.

To be sure, there are multi-faceted challenges facing military recruiting and retention. National Guard troops are stretched thin with life-disrupting deployments around the world. The military and the private sector compete for the time and talents of young high school and college graduates. The FDA has its challenges as its aging workforce begins to retire and recruit new employees for mission-critical jobs. And Americans are losing confidence in their institutions, including the military and government agencies.

As I’ve written, our food safety regulatory system begs for reinvention. And our military needs a new creative team - not borrowed from Bud Light - to figure out what really attracts young men and women in our military. Being woke ain’t the message. We employ the world’s finest military - even now, despite this wokeness - to break things and kill people in our national interests.

Our federal government is a mess on steroids, and the sooner we elect a new Administration dedicated to cleaning it up, the better off we’ll be. The question is, will we make it through the next 19 months?