Local farmer calls it like he sees it

[DonViejo]

Sidney (Ohio) Daily News
By Christopher Gibbs - Guest columnist

Let me be clear. I want to be supportive of the president and his policies. As a farmer, we voted for the president because he purported to represent a “can do, just get it done” attitude. That attitude is the core of farm folks. But the president’s trade war, now being supported by hush money to keep agriculture sedated, is a bridge too far for me. This week the president announced he is offering $12 billion of borrowed taxpayer monies to continue to “have farmer’s backs.” These dollars are nothing more than verification that the president’s protectionist’s trade policies are folly.

Let me tell you a riddle. “I slept with a billionaire because he said he loved me. I expected to make love, but in the morning I realized I was getting screwed. When I went to tell the world, I was offered cash to keep my mouth shut.” Who am I? No, I’m not a model or someone named Stormy. I’m the American farmer.

In the mid-1980s we were awash with over production in the corn and soybean sectors. Agriculture got busy, boarded planes, trains and automobiles and started building markets around the world, one handshake and one relationship at a time. We used our own funds through our check off dollars and trade associations to build markets in Mexico, Canada, Latin America and the Pacific Rim. And we didn’t stop there. In partnership with the U.S. taxpayers, we built an ethanol industry to ensure another renewable energy source for U.S. consumers.

The world markets, which the president is now tearing down in the name of fairness, were built and paid for by farmers to ensure agriculture had outlets for our production so we didn’t have to come to the American taxpayer for support.

We keep hearing about the “Art of the Deal.” I’m waiting for the “Art” portion. Using a club to bludgeon our trading partners and allies is not negotiating. It’s nothing more than a playground bully stomping around to see who will flinch.

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https://www.sidneydailynews.com/opinion/columns/112560/local-farmer-calls-it-like-he-sees-it

[liberalmuse]

1. I hate to break it to the non-corporate farmers,

but they are unlikely to see any of that money. Lay down with Trump and you will wake up with an STD.

[markses66]

2. "In the mid-1980s we were awash with over production in the corn and soybean sectors."

Trade or tariffs, it doesn't matter. He sees the real problem and then immediately ignores it.

The truth is, Trump's (read, the white nationalist) economic solution is only slightly dumber than all the other ones that have been put forward. They all do just what this farmer did: recognize the problem, and immediately ignore it.

[sarah FAILIN]

10. We were paid to NOT farm

It was dads 2nd job sof he was thrilled. We planted peas instead of corn and he sold them at work and canned the rest.

[Hoyt]

3. Hey Farmer Chris, I bet you'll vote for racist trump again. Screw you.

[Va Lefty]

4. Can't fix stupid

[Nasruddin]

11. This is just the opposite

Natural consequences is a great thing.

This letter is the opposite of what this picture and some other posters are saying.
This is someone who's used their brain, reacted to what they see, and has figured out how to come to their senses. We want to cultivate and support this wherever we find it. There are some dead - enders who are truly a lost cause, but not everyone.

He even made a pretty good joke at his own expense.

[gtar100]

16. Nah, it fits. He could have seen it coming before but chose to ignore the obvious...

that Trump was not, and still is not, qualified to be the president. Now that it's hurting him personally he's waking up to what's going on. That's great but will he actually see that it is the entire republican party that is screwing the country, not just that disgraceful person occupying the White House. If he and his fellow farmers don't see that the party that has truly had their backs at least since the 1930's is the Democratic Party, then yes, they are all a special kind of stupid.

[BadgerMom]

17. +1

We should be wary in our dealings with changleings, those who were Republican but are anti-Trump now. That said, if they've seen their error, we ought to welcome them. We need their votes. Be smart but play nicely.

[Silver Gaia]

33. Agree.

[Ferrets are Cool]

25. If he couldn't see the writing on the wall BEFORE

he stole the presidential election, then you were either stupid or willfully ignorant. Which is worse?

While I am glad they are NOW seeing the light, I have no sympathy for their willful ignorance or stupidity. I guess the stupidity is easier to overlook.

[Fred Sanders]

32. Where is the art in Trump's art of the deal, said the author. Using a bludgeon? Not art!

[roamer65]

5. Dump told you what he would do before he stole the presidency, you fucking idiot.

Did you not listen, Chris?

I am getting sick of the whining from you Dump loving farmers. Just shut up and go bankrupt.

Own up and put up.

[Raster]

6. tRump* IS a playground bully stomping around to see who will flinch...

...blather, bluster, and bullshit.

[Hekate]

7. Spread that far and wide, Farmer Chris. Make sure nobody you know votes R again. nt

[annabanana]

27. this . . .n/t

[3Hotdogs]

41. I bet they will vote R in November.

[Silver Gaia]

34. Yes.

[donkeypoofed]

8. But he'll still vote for Spanky,right?

I just cannot feel for anyone who voted for him. Oh well, is what I say to them -and no whining allowed.

[Nay]

35. He will most likely vote for the NEXT Republican asshole who shows up on the ballot, you can

be sure of that. Even if it is obvious that that Pub will screw him, too.

[Historic NY]

9. All the money isn't going to fix the problem Trump caused...

people will go to other markets. The farmers have lost the upper hand.

[mountain grammy]

12. Well now Mr Gibbs

He was a flaming idiot on the campaign trail, but a male white nationalist was all you saw.. suck it up.

[matt819]

13. Granted, it's good to see this

But...How is it that 63 million Americans saw through this bullshit while 60 million did not? It’s not because of the git it done attitude. It’s not because of the art of the deal.

It’s because those 60 million Americans did not want nonwhite people to get any “stuff.” They didn’t want to vote for Hillary because of a 30-year campaign to demonize her. They were willing to vote for a sexual predator rather than a woman who devoted 30 years to public service. They didn’t want gay marriage, they didn’t want gay

Maybe I’m wrong, but I would put money on the likelihood that this writer and so many more like him will vote straight Republican in the midterms and in the presidential election. They will complain, but they will follow that up with, “we understand what he’s trying to accomplish” And will vote for him and for any other Republican who is running.

[Ferrets are Cool]

26. That is telling it like it is. Thank you for no sugar-coating.

You are NOT wrong.

[keithbvadu2]

14. Trump's polices are killing farmers.

Trump’s polices are killing farmers.

After all, trade wars are 'easy to win'.

Farmers are killing themselves in staggering numbers

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/farmers-are-killing-themselves-in-staggering-numbers/ar-AAzbcCN

Why are America's farmers killing themselves in record numbers?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/06/why-are-americas-farmers-killing-themselves-in-record-numbers

[TeamPooka]

15. But that farmer will still never vote for a Democrat

Though, right?
No matter how corrupt the GOP candidate

[Demovictory9]

22. if things get bad enough, he will

[TeamPooka]

30. we'll see. they fall for the same lie every time regardless. Just say Tax cuts and Republican and

they line up like zombies on the Walking Dead for guys like trump.
Every. Damn. Time.
So this farmer and others like him are going to have to put up or shut up for me to buy into what they growing.

[moondust]

18. TheRump's protectionism

might have worked 35+ years ago--before Reagan/Thatcher neoliberalism and cheap global transportation and communications fostered globalized supply chains and markets serving oligarchical supergreed. Was the idea of MAGA supposed to include deconstructing all that and returning to nation-state trade and Main Street small business?

[WhiteTara]

24. I don't think he's into protectionism.

I believe that he is trying to bankrupt the US so that he and his buddies can steal it all now that he is destroying our society and system of government.

It may be time to go to Washington and join the protest and stay and make it big and make him go away.

[moondust]

28. Could be.

Last edited Sat Jul 28, 2018, 10:39 PM - Edit history (1)

If so, I suppose there is some hope that his incompetence and stupidity along with public pressure are enough to thwart his evil designs.

[Squinch]

19. "we voted for the president." Well, hun, you fucked up. Now bad stuff is going to happen to you.

Because of that stupid thing you did.

That's how it works.

[jayschool2013]

20. The can-do attitude

He wrote:
As a farmer, we voted for the president because he purported to represent a “can do, just get it done” attitude. That attitude is the core of farm folks.

What? The rest of us don't want to "get it done"? We're weak-willed because we didn't grow up on farms?

Fuck you, Chris the Farmer.

[Nay]

36. You'd be appalled at how widespread that attitude is among farm communities.

"I'm the backbone of America, and everybody else is just along for the ride."

Um, yeah, keep telling that to the doc who fixes you up/the teacher who teaches your kid/the guy who cooks your food/etc.

See how much sympathy you get when you make boneheaded moves like voting for Trump.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. The $12 billion is not taxpayers' money,

... it will come from the children and grandchildren of present day taxpayers because the descendant will pay off the extra debt.

It is not spent out of a large pot. It is taken in advance from our descendants.

[secondwind]

31. The 12 billion is coming from cuts to Medicare etc

[world wide wally]

23. If farmers think this city born and bred llying billionaire knows or even cares about them,

They are ABSOLUTELY a very special kind of stupid

[Tarheel_Dem]

29. Color me unimpressed. You were warned by 44, but the unfounded fear of Hillary taking away your....

sacred guns, and your loathing of brown people made rural America the perfect patsy for a demagogue like Trump. Suck it up, and take your government handout or "hush money" while the rest of us suffer the consequences of your mistake. You were fine with Trump "screwing" the rest of us as long as long as it didn't impact you. It appears your white privilege can't protect you from everything, after all.

[pazzyanne]

37. I have an observation about the posts on this subject and it deals with one of my pet peeves.

Many of the posters here feel compelled to judge the author of the letter without knowing that person personally. It is so easy to judge others. I am sure all of us here have been judged unfairly by others. Seems to be part of the human condition. The thing is that when you judge vicariously, you miss important information. I read the man's letter and found it to be a rendition of the struggle these farmers have gone through to build a clientele for their products. Those products are close to every farmers heart. tRump smashed their accomplishments with his bull-in-the-china shop handling of trade. tRump's actions concerning the tariffs he imposed have destroyed years of hard work. I don't know too many people who have that happen who aren't doing some honest soul searching. For the most part, farmers are salt of the earth, hardworking, honest people who work in an industry that has absolutely no guarantee they will get a return on their labor. They are use to the weather turning on them, but this time it isn't weather or natural disaster. It is the POTUS of this country. They will lose everything based on a moron's action. Hell of a lesson. Give these enlightened farmers a break. Everyone can change course, and they don't need us judging and making the headwinds stronger than they already are for these farmers. Just saying!

[olegramps]

43. He is not being judged. It is his culture that is being judged and produced these robots.

Travel the rural communities and you will be engulfed in the ultra-conservative message of outright hatred that is being preached 24/7 on broadcast outlets. It is ubiquitous and totally without any significant opposing opinion. Go to their churches and you will soon find that they vote as a block and anyone who opposes them is emphatically shunned as the enemy. They firmly believe in the propaganda that liberals are immoral, un-American scum and that only they are the real Americans. I am all for providing them with the opportunity to demonstrate their superior self sufficiency that they are to proud of with out subsidies for not actually planting anything.

[pazzyanne]

44. I live in one of those rural communities and live with the conservative views from family

and friends. But I also know the struggle that farmers have faced for the past 60 years as I have seen it with my own eyes and lived it and their history for the better part of my life. I remain a DFL liberal in this desert, but that does not close my eyes to the fact that the author addresses the tariffs with an eye that also has a history. I can't change their perspective but I can respect the learning they are experiencing. It is also never a good idea to paint any community with a broad brush. Dealing with rural communities as "them" is not the way to win friends and influence enemies. I have been doing this for 60 of my 75 years on this earth. I no longer have a sister who has gone over to the darkest of the dark side by choice, but that does not mean all of the people in my community live on that side of the tracks. I am "water wearing rock" in my community by giving respect where respect is due and there are small victories almost daily. Will the author change his political outlook? Who knows, but for this brief window of time, he has spoken his truth, the truth I have lived with him in a similar rural community. His politics do not match mine, but his life experience does, and I will not belittle him for those experiences. Hopefully the small seed of discontent now sown in his life will grow and there will be one more voice of reason calling in that wilderness.

[olegramps]

46. Do some farmers struggle, sure and so do hundreds of thousands of minorities.

That doesn't have anything to do with the fact that the majority of the rural communities are staunchly Republican. I have lived in the South and have numerous relatives that are dedicated racists. Are all Southerners racists? No. But I can I know how the vast majority vote and why. Go to any virtually any rural business and if they have a TV its tuned to FOX. A radio and its tuned to extremists spewing division and out right hatred. The broad brush argument is a common method of explaining away the fact of that these communities are very closed minded. Any entertainment to the contrary is an exercise in delusion.

[pazzyanne]

47. So because I live in a rural community I must be "staunchly Republican?"

And thank you for telling me that I am delusional. Judge much? One of the reasons I come to DU is to get away from that kind of thinking. You just disproved that it is a safe sanctuary for someone like me.

[olegramps]

49. Firstly, I never said that you were delusional. It is delusional not to acknowledge the facts.

I lived in the South and even though my immediate family abhorred discrimination, the fact was the vast majority were not. It was a fact of life, just like the fact that the rural areas of our nation continue to support Trump regardless of the fact that he actively discriminated against Black people and is a pathological liar, etc. There is no need to catalogue his outrageous behavior. It is well known and dismissed by the vast majority of rural citizens as they pull the lever to put him in office. Their sole concern is that his policies are now affecting their wealth. The don't give a damn otherwise about his outrageous conduct of the office of the presidency.

[Boomer]

38. He voted for an "attitude"?

Even the most rudimentary of research into Trump's public history would show that the Art of the Deal was not even written by Trump and that he is an obvious narcissist who exaggerates his successes and ignores his many failures.

Voting for Trump is like voting for the town blowhard. I have never been able to wrap my mind around people who simply can't see what a fraud Trump is. He's so damn obvious.

[Nasruddin]

45. So what if it's obvious to you

We know how you voted. Now you have a shot at a lot of other people who didn't vote the way you did.

People are SUCKERS for the charm of narcissists! Their evil magic happens over and over. Most of us are just waiting for the right one to come along and push our buttons - then all that rationality goes out the window and we couldn't care less about any evidence of any negatives.

Until we wake up.

It doesn't help much that in a typical presidential election, all the major candidates have a lot of narcissism in their makeup.

It's true you may not like some of farmer Chris's and friends' positions on god-knows-what, but you have common ground right now, so exploit it.

[MountCleaners]

50. Funny how city folk didn't vote for him...

We see through this type. Especially in New York, but if you're in another big city, you're familiar enough with Trump from the tabloids. I mean, really.

[zentrum]

39. The racism and anti-immigrant

......speeches Trump gave during the campaign didn't faze this farmer. He was all for them shown by his pro-Trump vote.

Now he may lose his land, or be cast out of his life, or near homeless himself. A refugee in in his own land. He deserves it.

Let him live the migrant-farmer life on some tract of poisonous big-agri-land.

[PearliePoo2]

40. Yeah you got "screwed" Farmer Chris, but you willingly let it happen.

And guess what? The screwing isn't over, it's actually going to get worse. You're now totally fucked.

Why? Because those markets and contracts you had aren't coming back. China and others have moved on. Get it?

[3Hotdogs]

42. We're all fucked. They lost their crop value. The rest of us get Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.

[Different Drummer]

48. People like this guy astound me.

They had a chance to vote for perhaps the most qualified candidate to ever run for POTUS and what do they do? They vote for a clueless political novice because of who he isn't. Did they not know that the job of being a Trump supporter was dangerous when they took it? It's funny how millions apparently didn't know that and yet, those of us here on DU did.