When I went to one of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) websites that I most frequently visit, I saw something very disturbing. I hope I don’t see it much longer.
In an effort to keep WATTPoultry.com readers informed of the latest developments in the U.S. highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) situation, I go to a webpage administered by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) which includes information about where the latest HPAI infections are, when the case was confirmed, what type of birds were involved, how many birds were affected and whether it was a commercial or backyard flock.
By now, our readers in the U.S. should all know that we are in a government shutdown, which means that some services have been suspended until this is resolved. Yet since the shutdown started, I have noticed at least a few updates to that APHIS webpage, so I still try to check before noon each day. On a couple of occasions, I have seen updates made before their predictable time.
But after receiving an email from the Indiana State Board of Animal Health about some HPAI detections in that state, I went to check the APHIS site to see if those cases had yet been confirmed.
And while I saw nothing about the latest situation in Indiana, I did see a message that, as a non-partisan journalist, a taxpayer, a USDA patron and a decent human being in general, I found unacceptable.
This is the message that appeared: “The Radical Left Democrats shutdown (sic) the government. This government website will be updated periodically during the funding lapse for mission critical functions. President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people.”
Talk about childish. I’m surprised there wasn’t a “nanny-nanny boo-boo” at the end of that statement.
We expect APHIS employees to be mature and knowledgeable people with whom we should have confidence. That message doesn't instill confidence.
Don’t get me wrong, some statement should exist to announce that the website might not be updated routinely because of the government shutdown. But it’s absurd to point fingers. There’s two sides to every story, and usually in a dispute, both parties are at fault to some extent.
We need a resolution to this shutdown, but to throw in statements that only serve to stir up more anger among taxpayers who are already sick of the two parties’ inability to get along, well, that’s just childish and wrong.
There’s also the little detail that people seeking government services should not be subjected to partisan nonsense. They just want to get their needs met. I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, RINO or even a Whig, you should be able to acknowledge that.
Then there’s this little thing called the Hatch Act, which forbids using your official government position to influence elections or engaging in political activity while on duty. The person who added this message to the website and the person who instructed that person to add that message likely didn’t consider that.
Sadly, USDA isn’t the only federal agency that is taking part in this nonsense. A video which began playing at some airports last week featured Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who warned airport travelers of impacts to Transportation Security Administration operations because "Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government." Representatives for airports in Charlotte, Phoenix, Portland and Seattle told USA TODAY they would not play the video. One airport official in Portland said they refused to play the video as submitted, saying the “Hatch Act clearly prohibits use of public assets for political purposes and messaging."
Whether or not the Hatch Act was violated could be open for debate, but such a debate should be unnecessary.
Obviously, I hope the impasse will end and such a message on the APHIS website will no longer be necessary. But in the meantime, I urgently request that the message be rewritten in a non-partisan fashion.
