The House Natural Resources Committee is pushing back against a claim by Patagonia that President Trump "stole" land from Americans by moving to shrink two national monuments in Utah.
It's no secret that U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop dislikes The Antiquities Act and was thrilled to see President Trump move to dismantle the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah. So it shouldn't be a great surprise that the House Natural Resources Committee that he chairs has publicly attacked Patagonia, which opposes the president's move.
Last week Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke branded the outdoor wear company as a "liar" for running ads saying President Trump stole land from the American people by issuing a proclamation that cut 2 million acres, combined, from the two monuments. And on Friday the Natural Resources Committee used its Twitter feed to claim that "Patagonia is Lying To You."
"A corporate giant hijacking our public lands debate to sell more products to wealthy elitist urban dwellers from New York to San Francisco," the tweet added.
Perhaps this shouldn't be surprising in the brash, pushback, smack down political world the Trump administration has ushered in, but the tweet has raised more than a few eyebrows.
"When a federal government official publicly calls you a liar on an official social media account, without any due process whatsoever, the first thing you should do is call a lawyer. The second thing you should do is find out the name of the official who posted this tweet," wrote Walter Shaub, who formerly directed the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, in a tweet of his own.
"I don’t know if there’s any legal recourse, but I hope Patagonia has a law firm research the issue," he added. "The federal govt officially and publicly calling a company a liar for political reasons is a bizarre and dangerous departure from civic norms. It’s also decidedly anti-free market."
The matter raises the question about whether it's appropriate for a federal government entity to publicly attack a company. What will be interesting to see is whether it boosts sales for Patagonia, as President Trump's criticism of Nordstrom earlier this year did for that company.
Comments
You really can't be that oblivious, Lee, can you?
It is that OBVIOUS, isn't it Lee? Unfortunately accurate cartoon.
Ron, the election results in Alabama had nothing to do with politics.
Okay. What was it, then? Drumpf sure sounded like it was when he said, "We NEED you to vote for Moore, because if you don't, our agenda will collapse." I'm interested in hearing your interpretation, ec.
Oh, so the accusation of sexual misconduct with a minor had nothing to do with it? Politics is why many Republican Congressmen and Senators campaigned against him? Politics is why the Senate campaign committe didn't back him and why the RNC stayed away so long? I tell you Lee, I can only hope you are being intentionally disingenious. The alternative would be embarassing for you.
Okay, if you say so. But how do you explain drumpf's support?
Meanwhile, I just made my first purchase from Patagonia.
Explain Trumps support? Do you believe Moore lost because of Trumps support?
Yes, Trump's support was political, as well of respectful of the principle of innocent until proven guilty. But the election results had nothing to do with Trumps support. Had there been no misconduct allegations, Moore would have won by a landslide with or without Trump support.
Agree Lee.
Thank you. But are you sure you're not a politician in disguise? That kind of dodging, twisting, turning and avoiding the question sounds just like what we here in Utah expect from our good friends Hatch, Lee, Bishop, Stewart, Love et al.
As wth just about everything else that goes on the U.S. capitol these days, the debacle in Alabama was a slimy mix of morality, immorality, honesty, party loyalty, dishonesty, values vs no values, and an incredible clash of ideologies mixed with stupidity and greed and just about every other corruption one can imagine. It was, in a nutshell, an unfortunate display of what this nation has sunk to as our politicians have placed party agendas ahead of what's really important.
Conservative columnist George F. Will did an excellent job of examining the politics and morality of this mess: https://www.arcamax.com/politics/fromtheright/georgewill/s-2028190?fs
Happy Hannukah, friend.