Andy's Angle

I'm sitting in class at The Ohio State University, chatting about social media in the overall scope of an integrated marketing plan. On the school front, I've officially challenged my first grade in Biology 102 (the class I wrote about in last week's column) that I suspect may have been a little lower than earned due to my... vocal critique of the Professor's views on antibiotic resistance. I'll keep you posted.

On the news front:

The Beef Board/NCBA Rift Continues... As my colleague Chuck Zimmerman shares, CBB went on the offensive at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver last week, challenging "myths" discussed by NCBA leaders and members relative to the context of CBB's audit of NCBA's work with the checkoff. While the leadership of CBB continues its aggressive stance toward NCBA, the Federation of State Beef Councils took a very strong stance of their own, voting overwhelmingly to maintain its relationship with NCBA despite CBB's objections.

Speaking of Beef... I'm cooking this afternoon at the Ohio State Fair! For the third year, I'll represent the Ohio Beef Council in the Heartland Cuisine series of cooking demonstrations. Visit the Taste of Ohio Cafe presented by ABN Radio this afternoon at 5pm and I'll prepare this tasty recipe for you...

More on the Sherrod Case... For the mainstream press, the Shirley Sherrod flap is over and done. Move along folks, nothing to see here. As NewsBusters reports, however, there is (as always) more to the story. Likewise, Tom Blumer has plenty to offer on d'affaire Sherrod...

Earlier in the month I shared my thoughts on the LeBron James situation. LeBron's move to Florida, as I noted, saves him several million dollars annually due to Florida's more favorable tax climate. State and local taxes in Florida are extremely taxpayer friendly in Florida, especially when compared to states like Ohio which are less friendly to entrepreneurs such as King James.

Counterproductive public policies like high state taxes are often shielded from public scrutiny because a single individual's decision to move to Florida is rarely news. In the case of a high profile individual like LeBron, however, the media attention is inescapable. Conservative pundits predicted James' move to Florida long before it occurred, citing specifically the boost to James' bottom line in so doing. This happens with businesses, too, by the way. Recall a few short years ago when Honda elected to build a new facility in Greensburg, Indiana rather than proposed sites in Ohio; Indiana has a much more favorable business climate.

Jim Prevor in The Weekly Standard draws a parallel between the poor public policies that led James to move South with the concept of "food desserts," or areas of the country where people live more than a mile from a supermarket. First Lady Michelle Obama adopted the issue of food desserts as a key priority in her efforts, noting that 23.5 million people are affected by this food access issue. Prevor wisely notes that Mrs. Obama's plan includes subsidizing businesses for opening groceries in the inner cities and other affected areas, rather than "facing up to the public policy problem," causing the food desserts in the first place, namely higher cost of doing business. "She is looking to spend money directly to de facto compensate individual retailers for these high costs of doing business – and doing nothing to resolve the root problem."

Read Prevor's article; it's one of the best economic policy articles I've read in a long time.

As we reported yesterday, Shirley Sherrod, the now former USDA State Director for Rural Development in Georgia, has created quite an odd news event involving the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the United States Department of Agriculture. Sherrod, an African-American, told a story of her own experience discriminating against a white farmer while employed with a non-profit organization 24 years ago.

The video of her relating this story to the NAACP Freedom Fund banquet last March was released by conservative documentarian Andrew Breitbart to demonstrate what he claimed to be rampant racism among NAACP members and leaders. While implicating Sherrod directly, the video depicted the crowd as quite enthusiastic about Sherrod's admission of discriminating against a white farmer.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack reacted swiftly, demanding Sherrod's resignation. He denounced Sherrod's admission, referencing USDA's own history of racial issues (i.e. the Pigford settlement). This morning, however, both Vilsack and the NAACP are singing a slightly different tune. Vilsack "will conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts to ensure to the American people we are providing services in a fair and equitable manner," he said in a written statement. Likewise, the NAACP backpedaled from its original condemnation.

Sherrod, for her part, blamed FoxNews and the Tea Party for the swift reaction of the Administration, claiming that the administration is "scared" by the Conservative movement and its alleged megaphone at Fox.

Following her interview with CNN pointing out that her story was used to illustrate her own growth and acceptance that racism is wrong and that she was mistaken in discriminating against the white farmer, pressure mounted for the Administration to reconsider its sacking of the embattled Sherrod.

The challenge I observed in this situation is that Sherrod's admitted incident of discrimination occurred 24 years ago. Is it reasonable to fire someone for an indiscretion that occurred a quarter-century ago? Furthermore, why didn't either the NAACP or USDA review the entire situation before throwing Sherrod under the bus?

Perhaps the bigger, and mostly unreported issue, however, was raised yesterday by Tom Blumer at the Washington Examiner: Shirley Sherrod is a major beneficiary of the aforementioned Pigford settlement. Blumer poses the question that Sherrod's selection as Rural Development Chief and her role in Pigford case may be more than coincidental.

And, as Glenn Reynolds points out, the bigger issue with the Breitbart video is the reaction of the NAACP members and leaders in the crowd to Sherrod's discussion of actively discriminating against a white farmer. Expect that issue to be quickly forgotten by almost everyone, by the way. Glenn has a roundup of other useful and interesting links on this issue.

I'll share more on this in my column this week, but I wanted to share some relevant links on President Obama's new "Food Czar" Sam Kass. I met Sam in Washington on a tour of the White House Garden while he was coordinating Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move" initiative. While I wish the White House had allowed Sam to be interviewed, I was appreciative of the off the record conversation nonetheless. Published reports indicate that while Kass' responsibilities have not changed, he's been titularly upgraded to "Senior Policy Adviser for Health Food Initiatives.

From Fox, the details. From Glenn, some context. From TownHall, some analysis.

I got to my first class of the day WAY early, so here are some things I'm reading before lecture begins:

Steinbrenner Is Dead: The legendary Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passed yesterday at age 80. One of my favorite figures in sports, Steinbrenner shaped the American League, and by extension the entire Major League, perhaps more than any other figure of the last thirty years. Decried by his detractors as "overbearing and tempestuous," the Ohio native was nonetheless one of the most successful sports moguls of the modern era.

ESPN's Big Ten blogger notes Steinbrenner's numerous connections to the Conference, and especially to Ohio State: The Boss earned his Master's degree at Ohio State from 1954-55 and served as a grad assistant under Buckeyes legendary football coach Woody Hayes. Steinbrenner went on to serve as an assistant at both Northwestern (1955-56) and Purdue (1956-57) before entering the shipping business.

Because of his affinity for Ohio State, and because of his love to the marching band in particular, he became a significant benefactor of The Ohio State University Marching Band. The University named the Joan Zieg Steinbrenner Band Center at Ohio Stadium in his wife's honor following "The Boss'" contributions to its construction.

NCBA Blogs: The National Cattlemen's Beef Association launched its "Beltway Beef" blog this week. From its first post: NCBA is stepping up its efforts to not only keep you informed, but also engaged. "Beltway Beef" affords you the opportunity to learn and express your views. You can rest assured we'll be listening. This blog is intended to serve as a sounding board for the U.S. cattle industry. We will be covering mainly policy issues that impact U.S. cattle producers and rural communities. Mosey on over and check it out. Good luck to the blogging team!

Fisher Tals About "The Compromise:" We've covered extensively "The Ohio Compromise" between HSUS and Ohio agriculture. Ohio Farmer editor Tim White chats with one of the agreement's key architects Jack Fisher about his feelings about the deal after the fact. Fisher shares his thoughts on the public reaction to the compromise, and what it means for the future of Ohio agriculture.

Is College Overrated? An important read from my friend Ed Winkle. As a current and "non-traditional" student at Ohio State, I have my own very unique perspective on this question. I think two things of relevance to Ed's comments: First, college is as important today as ever before. And second, that there is a perception in this country that if you don't earn a traditional four-year degree, there's something wrong with you.

Speaking from experience, and from discussing this notion with other successful professionals who either didn't pursue or didn't complete an undergraduate education, there is a stigma. Why? My theory is that we've done such a good job of promoting the virtues of education that folks subconsciously assume that baccalaureate study is the only acceptable path to success in business and industry.

That being said, some very influential thinkers like TV personality Mike Rowe are working to reassert the importance of hard work and manual labor.

Okay, class is starting, so it's back to work for me!