Liz Payne’s letter (Herald, Mar. 7) begs response.
Payne is Scott Tipton’s communication director, so it is expected that she defend her boss. And in defending her boss, she refers readers to two Tipton newsletters; she should also have referred folks to an earlier January missive, the one that was the clarion call to “#CUTtheCODE.”
I was fortunate enough to get that newsletter which outlined what Tipton has identified as pressing issues on which he is going to work to free up our freedoms. The broader context was that we have too many rules and regulations, and something has to be done about that.
On that we agree: nothing wrong with a review.
But what is disturbing is that Tipton is concentrating on two things that, by golly, stand as screaming examples of the federal government’s relentless drive to deprive us of our liberties, and these examples have emboldened Scott to say “Enough is enough.”
First, he points to the onus placed on the consumable nut industry’s having to accurately portray on its labels what is actually in the container the consumer is purchasing. If the container consists mostly of filberts, then that is what should be on the label, mostly filberts.
Even though this sounds a lot like truth-in-advertising, evidently the requirement has placed unjustifiable strain on the consumable nut industry, and has cost Scott some sleep.
Second, and I was not aware of this until Scott told me: It evidently is illegal for anyone to carry more than $25 in nickels in one’s pocket(s). I am the first to admit I cannot fathom what threat to national security doing this would pose, or why the feds would care about someone carrying $25 in nickels, unless as a referral point for one of the National Institute of Mental Health’s many programs... but I also cannot fathom why our “Sentinel-Of-Freedom” Scott is worried about this.
So, it comes down to nuts and nickels. Of all the challenges that face our country, this is what “Guardian-of-Liberty” Scott Tipton has identified as priorities: nuts and nickels.
And for this we pay him $174,000 per year. In nickels?
Josh Joswick
Bayfield
