I’m just wondering why the editor of our local newspaper would print such a turkey: “On Thanksgiving, Tell Activists To Stuff It” by David Martosko, as a Guest Opinion this holiday season?
What festive cheer to attack PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, with a piece of poopoganda from CCF, the Center for Consumer Freedom?
CCF is headquartered in the offices of Richard Berman, a lobbyist for the tobacco, restaurant, alcohol and various other industries. Mr. Berman set up CCF and a number of other tax exempt groups, which all seem to support messages that dovetail nicely with his industry lobbying. However, according to David Martosko, who works for CCF, in a May of 2006 interview with ABC News, this is simply “the way things tend to be done” in Washington. Furthermore, he has no idea nor does he want to know who funds CCF: “I don’t know the firms that send the Center for Consumer Freedom money. I don’t want to know. It’s not my business to know.”
In January of 2006, Martosko was asked, in the context of CCF’s campaign dismissing concerns about mercury concentration in seafood, whether they received funding from the seafood industry, “I don’t know exactly which companies in the food sector support us. You know, it’s not my job to know. I really don’t pay attention. I do know that the vast majority of our, say, institutional funding, comes from the food sector. Beyond that, I just don’t know.”
What should you know about David Martosko during this holiday, as you drive home from your Thanksgiving dinner with extended family?
He works for the alcohol industry, as well. CCF runs ad campaigns against lowering the legal blood alcohol limits. According to David Martosko, “Government statistics and independent science confirms very clearly that the drunk driving problem in this country has been reduced to a small hard core of repeat offenders.” In fact, government statistics show that the majority of arrests are first-timers.
Happy Holidays!