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
And, Lee, the group who more than any other made the day in Alabama was black women. The one demographic that befuddles Repuclicans in general and Trump in particular. He simply canniot relate to them. Personally, one on one, in groups - he has no frame of reference.
What "dodging, twisting and turning" did I do? The issue being addressed was whether the outcome of the election was based on politics. It wasn't. It was based on questionable allegations from 40 years ago. Politics, Trump, greed, party loyalty had nothing to do with it. If there had been the latter the election would have gone the other way.
We all choose what is most important to spend our time on.
Some choose what is best for the country, regardless of party. Others choose to enable a probable {*} pedophile because of blind ideology.
[*] - when there are that many trees standing, you have to admit it looks like a forest.
Whats that saying, Rick, about bitching about a speck in someone elses eye while you have a 2X4 in your own? At this point it's more like a 12X12.
Choose between what is best for the county and what is questionable 40 year old accusations. Lay up.
Time to move this discussion off the Traveler. We're bringing an end to comments.