The Cocklebur Wants to Hear From You.

Tell us your pick for the Secretaries of Agriculture, Department of Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency. No matter who wins the White House. And John Russell.

A Note From The Cocklebur:

Hello Cocklebur Friends. Bryce here.

Today, I am doing a little “crowdsourcing” experiment. Jake Davis and me are writing a piece evaluating potential candidates for Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), Secretary of Interior, and Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). All three agencies are critical to rural America. And Cocklebur readers include some of the finest minds in rural politics and policy. That’s why we’re asking.

This election isn’t a done deal by any means. I’d say it’s a coin clip at this point.

So we’ll be taking input and advice from all the potential outcomes. Do you want to see Tom Vilsack win the 16-year ring? If Trump wins, who are you scared of (or maybe support). Do you think Deb Haaland should stay on the job? Is someone out there organizing against factory farms and pollution that could and should head up the EPA. Everything goes.

And neither of use social media, so we really thank you for using this publication to help us do our jobs.

Bring the heat.

—Bryce

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Another reason I’m writing today is you gotta stop what you’re doing and go watch the Democratic National Convention speech by friend of The Cocklebur, John Russell. John is a true blue and perceptive working class kid from Appalachia who does all the things. He bashes billionaires and the ruling class who constantly screw us over at

The Holler

Substack.

The Nation published an excellent write-up of John’s DNC speech, “The Speech That Brought the Class War to DC,” today where you can read quotes or watch the full speech.

This is the kind of thing you’ll hear:

“Across the country, working-class people are looking for a political home, after years of both parties putting profit above people,” Russell proclaimed, as cheers rose from the arena, which packed to the rafters in anticipation of Harris’s acceptance speech. “Now Trump, a billionaire, says that he’ll take on the elites. But then he promises handouts to Big Oil and he punches down at anyone with the guts to be different. But populism that insists we are too different to get along is just divide-and-conquer by a different name.”

Good work, John. Keep going!

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