Reflections From a Murky Pond

Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-AR) response to ever-so-woke Kroger’s Chair and CEO, Rodney McMullen’s hopes for the GOP to intervene and protect them from the ant-corporate Democrats’ attacks upon their planned merger with Albertsons was perfect and perfectly harsh and dismissive.

ROFLMAO Now that would be a hilarious mashup! The Rocky & Bullwinkle Horror Picture Show just sounds snarkily awesome. Or, it would if I wasn’t afraid that it’d be made as “Learning Television” for Democrat groomers to show in elementary schools.

I’m not really a fan of Glenn Beck and never was one. But, right is right and the truth is always the truth. And, Mr. Beck’s statement about how the Left within our nation’s borders twists and mangles our language in order to further their agenda and to villainize our people, our culture, and our nation. The definitions within the Liberalexicon are ever-changing, born upon the chaotic, angry winds of the Left’s failures.

Whenever anything on the Left doesn’t like an outcome it simply misdefines terms in order to change the argument and to place blame where it wants it to be. The Left and their hangers-on truly believe that words mean whatever they want them to mean.

That’s a sad truth of, at least, American politics. In the war between Democrats vs. Republicans, both sides are the same – blame is the only game and any actual good or bad that our elected – or installed in the case of Dems – politicians do is largely and most often a secondary effect.

I tend to both sarcastically and ironically describe anything either side actually does as examples of “Trickle Down Socioeconomic in that it works, but not to great effect in the near-term

The only real, tangible, meaningful difference between Democrat and Republican politicians is who they blame and for what. The Dems blame Whites, Men, Heterosexuals, Christians, and successful, productive citizens for being such, and Republicans blame those that are drains upon- or threats to our nation, society, and culture that was created for and by those that the Dems blame for being and doing exactly that.

And, honestly, who can really blame them? The vast majority of elected politicians want to keep their jobs and the feeling of importance and power that it, along with a paycheck and normally a lot perks, it provides far more than they want to do anything or actually enact any meaningful changes. Hence, they all – or almost all – talk a great game and blame the enemy and the enemy’s constituents, but don’t do much of anything to back that blame up with actions. And why would they? Indeed, how could they do so without risking their jobs? After all, the Law of Unintended Consequences is very real in the realm of Legislation. And, even worse of elected politicians, voters in America are easier to mobilize against a candidate than for them.

So Democrats vs. Republicans? It’s pretty much all the same except who each blames and for what. And, these days, that’s just about enough for me, especially at the federal level. Then again, these days, I’m close to believing that the Constitution should have stopped with, “Congress shall enact no law.“

As with all regulatory agencies when left unchecked, the FDA causes great harm through its hyper-authoritarian stances and rules as well as preventing harm through other rules. It’s why such agencies, operating outside of legislation but having the force of law, need to be regularly checked and forced to defend their actions by properly elected officials.

A perfect case in point is the FDA’s lethal regulations that categorically and absolutely forbid drug manufacturers engaging in any form of speech which can be construed as describing or promoting a use of their drug(s) for any use other than an the FDA approved on-label use, even if the information about this other use is entirely truthful, totally non-misleading, and could help physicians better treat their patients.

As a result of the FDA’s interpretation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), manufacturers of pharmaceuticals may face severe penalties for disseminating truthful and non-misleading information about off-label uses before those uses are approved by the FDA. Indeed, some companies have paid settlements of hundreds of millions or billions of dollars in the face of threatened prosecution or trial in civil false claims cases. Governments and other private actors do not suffer the same burdens on their speech, even though the pharmaceutical manufacturer likely has the most complete, up-to-date, and useful information about the product. Moreover, even when it makes economic sense for a pharmaceutical manufacturer to seek FDA approval for a new use, the FDA can take many months or even years to approve such new uses. Patients — especially those with life-threatening conditions — cannot wait for the agency to act. Even with recent changes in the FDCA, if a new use concerns a rare disease — or the drug is off-patent — it may not be economical for the pharmaceutical manufacturer to seek approval of a new use.

— Regulatory Transparency Project

And, sadly, this is lethal regulatory intransigence and tyranny. It has killed, is killing, and will continue to kill people. And all for no valid purposes other than keeping the manufacturers of pharmaceuticals on their proverbial knees before the Deep State and maintaining the perceived relevance – and budget appropriations – of the FDA.

With the FDA censoring what drug makers can publish – even when it’s true, simply presented, and efficacious – many doctors aren’t able to know that there are alternative, off-label, treatment options available for their patients. Similarly, this censorship makes it functionally and legally impossible for health insurance providers to cover the costs of those prescriptions. That has, can, and will kill people – all for the sake of the powermongers of the FDA.

This seems to be no longer be true, but in my day, if you wanted to try CHANTIX to aid you in stopping smoking, insurance wouldn’t cover it because it was an off-label use of the medication.

And, if we’re to even begin to believe the current, #Woke sorts, this is systemic racism since non-Whites, especially the Blacks, are less likely to be able to afford medications that aren’t covered by health insurance. Hence, they’re “disproportionately impacted” by the FDA’s lethal regulations upon free speech involving medicines’ uses.

Honestly, American or Democrat, everyone should be calling for a end to the FDA’s lethal regulation and censorship and calling upon the organization to account for and defend its regulations – which aren’t laws but carry the weight thereof without Legislative oversight – or be forced to abandon them.