MAGA Farm Owners Are Finally Seeing the Consequences of Voting for a Deranged President Who Wants to Deport Their Workforce

5 min readThis Week in the Laboratories of Democracy(Permanent Musical Accompaniment to This Post)Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what's goin' down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin' gets done, and where they bring them to the factory where the heart attack machine is strapped across their shoulders.We begin this week by complimenting the state of Tennessee for its boldness in committing an act of state-sponsored medievalism. From the Tennessean:Media witnesses stood in front of a podium and recounted what they saw and heard as the state of Tennessee attempted to execute Christa Pike. After hours of legal delays, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the stay of execution just before 6 p.m.Media witnesses were eventually led into the witness chamber outside the death chamber at 6:41 p.m. At 7:26 p.m. the blinds into the death chamber opened for witnesses to see Pike strapped to the gurney. Media witnesses reported hearing Christa Pike speak multiple full sentences throughout the process. “My arm feels like it’s about to bust. One spot is really throbbing,” said Tori Gessner, a WKRN reporter and media witness. The blinds closed at 7:46 p.m. Witnesses said they could still hear her breathing when the blinds were closed.Just 3 minutes later, the blinds were opened again. Pike was still breathing and began snoring, witnesses said.The blinds closed again at 8:05 p.m.Witnesses said the breathing continued while the microphone was still on. Prison officials removed the witnesses from the room at 8:53 p.m. When the microphone cut off, witnesses could still hear her breathing.Tori Gessner, a journalist at WKRN who has witnessed several executions, said, “Nothing about today was normal, typical, at all.” Gessner said she heard Pike say, “My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.” Just as media witnesses exited the prison, emergency vehicles pulled up outside the prison.As of Thursday morning, Christa Pike is believed to still be alive and receiving medical care at an undisclosed facility. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, scrambling to mitigate a horror show, has paused another execution scheduled for later in the year. And let us not let the carefully manufactured conservative majority on the Supreme Court off the hook here, either. They threw out a lower court ruling that the execution be delayed pending ongoing litigation and they did so with little more than a judicial hand wave. From CNN:Later in the day, the high court cleared the way for the execution to proceed. The conservative majority did not explain their order, while the three liberal members signed a dissent that said Pike’s claims deserved a closer look. Pike did not deny committing the killing, but her supporters argued that the state should consider her age at the time, her mental illness, and her allegations of severe sexual abuse.I hope all members of that carefully manufactured conservative majority made their dinner reservations on time.We move on to Nebraska, where the governor has managed to give the Democrats something of an opening in advance of the midterm elections. The issue concerns pork. Not new highway funds or reconditioning an Air Force base. Actual pork. From The New York Times:Days after Mr. Trump’s return to the White House, the governor directed the Nebraska State Patrol to partner with ICE on immigration enforcement. He allowed the federal agency to use a former state prison, now referred to as Cornhusker Clink, to hold hundreds of detainees caught up in the administration’s mass deportation sweep. He has echoed Mr. Trump’s rhetoric about “criminal illegal aliens” who have “invaded our country” and decried “the worst of the worst” immigrants he has claimed are hiding out in Nebraska.You know what's coming, don't you?His company, Pillen Family Farms, has taken on undocumented workers as it has grown into one of the nation’s largest hog producers, according to a review of state and federal court records and interviews with more than 40 current and former employees, prosecutors, immigration lawyers and community organizers. Many farms in Nebraska and other states rely on immigrants because of labor shortages. While the scale of undocumented workers in the Pillen farm labor force—which has about 1,200 employees in four states and Canada—is not clear, the fact that the company has used them is an open secret at some of its Nebraska farms.It's finally dawning on people in solidly red areas that they'd rather make money than keep some trans boy off a high-school badminton team. From the Texas Tribune:The Texas Cattle Feeders Association, Kansas Livestock Association, and Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association said they are closely monitoring ICE’s activity and the impacts it’s creating. They described hearing reports of delays in shipping thousands of cattle to processors and workforce disruptions in important links of the supply chains such as dairies, feedyards, transportation hubs as well as feed and grain companies. “These ICE operations are having a massive chilling effect on the legal, documented, skilled workers that put beef on the table and keep the supply chain moving,” the groups said. “Additionally, these types of disruptions will lead to higher beef prices for consumers.”I don't know how much this sudden burst of sanity will affect the polls next month, but losing a lot of money is an effective means of deprogramming.And we conclude, as is our custom, in the great state of Oklahoma whence Blog Official Espumante Sampler Friedman of the Algarve brings us the tale of unsuccessful government multi-tasking. Three years ago, a marijuana-extraction facility exploded in flames. The safety inspection system in the small town had broken down completely. From Oklahoma Watch:Fire marshals inspect facilities before they can begin operating, but subsequent inspections fall under other agencies, such as the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, and they don’t specifically focus on fire safety. The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority did not respond to multiple requests for information. Fire marshals inspect for fire and life safety compliance. They look for things such as fire suppression systems, gas and smoke detectors and proper ventilation. Once a facility passes inspection, it’s issued a certificate of occupancy. Fire marshals are not required to return to a processing facility once they’ve issued that certificate, unless the business changes location or use, such as a dispensary also becoming a grow farm.Apologies for referring to the inspection process in these places as a "system."Sand Springs Fire Marshal Mike Nobles told the owner of Solos Extracts to shut down his marijuana processing booth in January because of an outdated sprinkler system. The facility exploded Aug. 27 around 1 a.m.Nobles said he had no reason to believe they were still operating. The explosion destroyed the building and killed two employees. “When we were in that area for any other reason, there were no signs they were operating,” Nobles said. “We never saw any issues there, or were notified of any issues by neighboring units.” In towns with fewer than 10,000 people, a certified inspector does not have to conduct fire safety inspections, Beebe said. In small towns, the dog catcher or water meter inspector could be reviewing facilities.Unless there is a beagle running an incinerator or something, this impresses me as a bad idea.This is your democracy, America. Cherish it.