I suspect a lot of people arent going to like what I have to say about the latest version of the Bill and Mark Show. Bill Chirdon is the head of the Pennsylvania Department of Agricultures Bureau of Food Safety, and one of his main roles in life seems to be to torment Mark Nolt, a Mennonite dairy farmer who sells raw dairy products directly to eager customers, and refuses to register with the PDA and obtain a raw milk permit that would prevent him from selling the yogurt, butter, and cream his customers so value.
As predicted here last month, Bill and his gang of agents and state police raided Marks dairy for the third time in the last 14 months, this time taking possibly $20,000 worth of dairy products.
Each time Bill and Mark go through this little ritualand it has become something of a rituallots of people who think consumers should have the right to buy whatever kind of dairy they want get all upset. Big bad Bill Chirdon, they say, is picking on poor defenseless Mark Nolt.
And so he is. Psychologists have a name for whats happening here. Its called sado-masochism.
Ive written about Big Bad Bill and Poor Defenseless Mark a number of times (just do a search under “Nolt”), but frankly, this ritual is getting very tired.
Bill is pretty easy to understand. Hes a bully. We all know that bullies love to pick on people weaker than them. They hate to pick on people who might stand up against them.
Ive only spoken with Bill Chirdon once, and that was in early 2007, shortly after he arrived at the PDA. We have a way of selling raw milk in Pennsylvania, he told me then. We like to work with the farmers.
In the view of people like Chirdon, the victim is at fault, as in, If he had just moved over when I told him to, I wouldnt have had to beat him up.
Id like to see Bill Chirdon go up against Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures. Now that would be interesting.
But Big Bad Bill would never do that. Because he might lose. And be humiliated. Smart bullies never let that happen.
But people who let themselves continually get beaten up by bullies at some point have to ask themselves why they are regularly submitting to the torment. Mark Nolt says his religious beliefs preclude him hiring a lawyer and mounting an aggressive legal defense. So he defends himself in court, and I can tell you from having watched him in action that hes a much better dairy farmer than he is a defense lawyer.
Maybe hes engaged in civil disobedience but, if so, I dont see many people coming to his rescue. Lots of people express outrage in Internet postings and give him money. But none of them are blocking the roads when the PDA and state police caravans come to raid Marks farm. None are defying the state police ban on taking videos of the raidsa clear violation of free speech. None of them openly challenge the PDA to come raid their farms, in true civil disobedience fashion.
I know a number of legal people who would like to help Mark are frustrated because he objects to having legal representation on religious grounds. If theres a larger religious issue here, then fight back legally on that basis; the courts have been receptive to arguments based on religious infringements.
I hate to sound harsh, but my reaction at this point is this: If you cant or wont fight back in some realistic way, then maybe you ought to think about going into a different line of work. Raise beef or chickens instead of milking cows and selling raw milk and yogurt.
Bill Chirdon will keep doing what hes doing till the cows come home. Hes having fun. Instead of kicking the dog after a tough day, he can kick Mark Nolt. He can tell his colleagues hes setting an example, that the dozens of other dairy farmers who are selling dairy products without a license will fall into line more easily. He can tell his family hes protecting the citizens of Pennsylvania from poison milk, even though no one gets sick from Mark Nolts products.
He can laugh at all his opponents, as in, Im having more fun than Ive had in a long time. And he can privately thank his lucky stars that no one is willing to stand up and give him a real run for his money.
David, this is sad. Sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe is right. Some of my ancesters, who were Quakers, were shunned by thier church for various reasons. One was the Revolution. History will repeat itself.
They don’t need words. They have guns, and the willingness to use them.
You have to keep in mind Nolt’s history. The forebears of his faith suffered intense persecution, including torture and burning at the stake, for standing up for their religious beliefs. What bully Bill is doing is, well just bullying; it pales in comparison.
Here is where I look on the bright side:
Mark’s God is bigger than Bill’s. The LORD blesses those who put their trust in Him.
The man who is to be most feared, and whom the State fears the most, is the man who is not afraid to die.
Maybe that is just a little bit too religious and apocalyptic for some of you. But you have to remember that governments killed over 262 million of their own citizens in the 20th century, many of them by famine. That is where government control of the food system inevitably leads.
We farmers are beginning to face the possibility that our lives, livelihoods, and families may be destroyed. If we don’t prevail much worse may be in the offing. Times like this call for more faith like Nolt’s.
Your blog has evolved from a previously curious and intelligent observer to a delightfully informative, somewhat rowdy and notorious speakeasy/teacher/townhall soapbox for both sides over the past year or so. Never has the like happened. Thank you!
This marks the turning point – where are the citizens willing to unsheath their sword? Because without them Mark Nolt will surely fall. I can imagine the glee on Bill’s face. I would love to shame him for his lowly goals. Why isn’t he shutting down meat processors, or fighting the FDA? (As Ron Schmid says in "The Untold Story of Milk", because raw milk dairies are an easily located target that they hold up victoriously as a trophy for protecting the public health. "See? I’m doing my job!" While people statewide continue to die of heart disease, cancer etc.
David Kendall,
I now would re-word that quote to "To die with one’s sword sheathed…". Because while dying with one’s sword UNsheathed may be bitter disappointment, at least you died trying. Dying with one’s sword sheathed means they took your life without a fight, a lone soldier on the bridge.
(I mean sword figuratively here; any weapon, be it legal, monetary, articulate pens, face-to-face confrontation with regulators, etc.)
Maybe we should quote Dylan Thomas instead… " Do not go gentle into that goodnight"?
This is what David (Gumpert’s) entry says to me; Stand up and be counted; Join Sally Fallon’s Army of Angry Moms, Donate to FTCLDF, Visit your legislators and your regulators, Make a YouTube video, Teach your neighbor about raw milk and allergies/arthritis/eczema/lactose intolerance; Get in your car and drive to the capitol; Act like an American — the old kind — and fight for your freedom!
-Blair
If Mark Nolt has done such poor job defending himself why did the thugs find it necessary to return a third time? Did they not have enough food that lacked their "PAPERS" from the first and second raids.?
To say Chirdon is a bully is a gross understatement in my view. This bully seems to me little less than a violent criminal for he is striving to deny Marks customers the LIFE AND HEALTH GIVING FOODS that would result in the degradatiion of their health which will inflict bodily harm. The problem is this is not just about Chirdon this is government policy nation wide and coming from the top down, is it not?
Write to him. Tell him how you feel. I’m going to do that just now. So what if you don’t live in PA.
Sounds to me like we need to make some friends at the local Sherrifs department so the "guns part" of this oppression is no longer interested or cooperative.
So who knows the local sherrif??…go see him and get him on our side? Do this privately. He does not hurt his friends guaranteed!! Do not embarrass him. He is an elected official and wants to look good for the people.
This has happened in other rebellions. Lets do it here. Mark Nolte needs friends in all places. Who knows the cops?? Cops have a hard time with bright strong willed educated moms. Send in the moms…. it worked in CA. Ever seen a hungry and angry Lioness??? The time to attack the cops is not on raid day. It is before raid day.
Always take your video camera ( lots of them ) and always always play to the video camera.
This is a battle of U-Tube…video footage wins and grabs headlines.
Amish video wins all.
Remember the loving forgiveness of the Amish after school house milk man murders.
This nation cried….
….bring them to their knees.
Think strategic and think smart guys.
Mark McAfee
OPDC
I agree, let all of the moms have a voice. Lay everything on the table, and let us discuss each point of view. Sadly, that is not the case. TPTB in the raw milk world dictate what can be/cannot be discussed.
Perhaps there is a way to reach the leaders of the sect and the community and asking them about how Mark can be represented without breaking religious rules, if indeed there is a way. Has this been attempted yet?
This appears to be the case with the govt entities. Look at what happened in CA. and those who didn’t show up to discuss the matters at hand.
There is much to be learned from the Amish, since their apparently frustrating ways (not wanting to sue, not wanting to be photographed) are highly principled aspects of religious beliefs centering on the tension between being in the world, but not of the world. These beliefs, founded in earliest years of persecution in the Reformation (when they were considered radically liberal), are powerfully illustrated in cases like Mark’s.
This is a much similar effect as to how the scare campaign of recalls and press releases seems to only help business for raw milk producers.
An independent lab test found no traces of any pathogens from the farm’s milk.
http://www.hendricksfarmsanddairy.com/
gov’t can run over citizens if they do it one at a time, americans are too busy or too lazy or too scared to take a personal risk to stand up and say "NO" if mark is eventually hung out to dry by pda then i think you could look at his customers as being sheeple for "allowing" it to happen.
hugh
The SHEOPLE Marks customers have [as those running the worlds police force would say] leave nothing off the table. It is a very hard task for the SHEOPLE to overcome the barb wire fences and the whips of the evil shepards, but we are not going to the slaughter willingly.
Belatedly happy CONSTITUTION DAY
if everything we do is under the UCC code of commerce, then where there is no contract, there is no case. It doesn’t have anything to do with right or wrong, and as long as we keep approaching it like children with no power, they will keep fooling us.
So where can the people get accountability from the courts? Maybe the judge’s oath of office is a bilateral contract? He has sworn to uphold the constitution, but has the oath been accepted by the defendant? If not, there’s no contract. Accept his oath of office, his offer to contract, telling him it includes but is not limited to the Bill of Rights. According to the Constitution, government was formed for one purpose, to protect and maintain individual rights. So if he doesn’t do that, he is breaching his oath.
Government is by consent of the governed. We have unwittingly entered into contracts through permits and licensing and then have to accept the so-called benefits of being policed. But a license is just permission to do something that would otherwise be perfectly legal. So why do we bother to get a license for it? Because "they" say we "must." But "must" means "MAY" in legalese. Think about it. Can you ever get a license for something that’s illegal? Can you get a license to steal? No.
The following is from an book by Jonathan Bechtle, and Michael Reitz called To Protect and Maintain Individual Rights.:
All political power is inherent in the people, and
governments derive their just powers from the consent of the
governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual
rights (Art. I 1). The constitution, then, is a delegation
of authority from the states sovereignsthe citizensto
the separate branches of government. Theodore L. Stiles, a
convention delegate and original justice of the Supreme Court of
Washington, once wrote that the constitution is an instrument of
limitation. That is, the constitution serves to limit the branches
of government, rather than conferring unlimited power.
The first article in the constitution is the Declaration of Rights,
which catalogs the fundamental liberties granted by the
inTroducTion ix
Supreme Ruler of the Universe. The constitution does not
grant these rights to citizens, but recognizes the rights with the
goal of protecting them from government encroachment. These
fundamental rights, however, cannot be exercised or preserved
if the sovereigns lose sight of them. A recent study showed that
Americans were more familiar with the characters of a popular
television cartoon than with the freedoms identified in the First
Amendment. If familiarity with the U.S. Constitution is lacking,
awareness of the provisions of the state constitution is deplorable.
This is unfortunate. "