cram it into the governments' face

[kjc0123]

What's the meaning of "cram it into the governments' face" in the following sentence?

This is the first time the federal government aggressively prosecuted someone who claimed to be growing pot for medical purposes in California. Some say Smith was looking for a fight by growing his plants on federal land.

(Mary Smith says of her husband's work,) "He's done this out of compassion, not to cram it into the governments' face but because he believes in it with all his heart."

[mrs.pudding]

In this context I think he means that he's not doing it in order to embarrass or show up the government.  Hope this helps.

[Peter Pedant]

cram has its normal meaning of force in

(cramming for an examination is to force knowledge in to the pupil in a short time)

face is used for mouth - and there is a word for this type of phrase (miosis or litotes)

alternatives are

as a rag to a bull...

rubbing the govt's nose in it (just as one rubs a dog's nose into a mess to show it not to do it again)

trailing one's coat

[Peter Pedant]

cram has its normal meaning of force in

(cramming for an examination is to force knowledge in to the pupil in a short time)

face is used for mouth - and there is a word for this type of phrase (miosis or litotes)

alternatives are

as a rag to a bull...

rubbing the govt's nose in it (just as one rubs a dog's nose into a mess to show it not to do it again)

trailing one's coat

[jocook17]

Hi kjc0123, just curious, but is english not your first language? I only ask because I have noticed many posts from you asking questions on fairly simply word usage, context and meaning, in what looks like fairly complicated text.

If so, you should state this, so people will word their answers so as not to end up giving you more questions than you started with :o)