Thursday, February 5, 2009

A call to arms!

My pal Lucy mentioned Sarah Palin in a comment on my entry yesterday, and just like Beetlejuice, she has conjured up the woman. AAGGGHHH! O the humanity!

Way back during the election (doesn't that seem like a lifetime ago?) I sent an email out to some of my compadres about the Defenders of Wildlife video that showed how the Governor has allowed aerial killing of wolves in Alaska. The video was so horrid it made me cry and shake with anger. There wasn't a whole lot about it on the news, but that has now changed. The Defenders of Wildlife has enlisted Ashley Judd to be the face of a national campaign to put a stop to this brutal practice, and there is a website dedicated to this campaign called Eye on Palin.

The governor's office issued a statement a statement from the Governor in response saying that Defenders of Wildlife is an "extreme fringe group" and that they are "twisting the truth." She said that the practice is scientifically based, and important to sustain the game population for Alaska's hunters. Palin continued in her statement, "It is reprehensible and hypocritical that the Defenders of Wildlife would use Alaska and my administration as a fundraising tool to deceive Americans into parting with their hard-earned money."

Y'all might want to step back.

First: To call the Defenders of Wildlife an "extreme fringe group" is ludicrous and insulting. They have been a leading group in conservation and protection of our wildlife and their habitats since 1947, and they are a nonprofit group that has been a staunch defender of the Endangered Species Act. Ken and I are proud supporters. I hardly think anyone would consider us "extreme" or some sort of "fringe" element. Her vilification of an established conservation group tells me a lot about her.

Second: Everything I read about aerial hunting from Alaska and national conservationists said that it was unnecessary and brutal, and not based on sound science. There are copious quantities of moose and elk for the hunting and consumption by native peoples. Most of us here in the lower 48 states understand (or should understand) that the absence of natural predators has resulted in an overrun of the deer population, so much so that they can devastate an ecosystem. State parks usually open to hunters for deer hunting at some point during the season because the population has to be controlled. The logic that aerial hunting somehow preserves and protects the game population is some of the faultiest, most illogical, stupidest conservation science I've ever heard. But then that shouldn't surprise me.

Third: The Defenders of Wildlife isn't twisting anyone's arm for contributions. You won't answer a knock on the door to see a Forest Ranger telling you to pony up or you might meet with a "little accident." Contributions are voluntary, and I don't blame them for highlighting such a reprehensible practice as aerial hunting. They aren't "deceiving" anyone. They are telling the truth about Palin's policies as Governor, and there is nothing hypocritical about that. Her statement that Defenders are deceiving Americans "into parting with their hard-earned money" is laughable. Charitable contributions are down across the board, and we're smart enough to choose wisely as to what we contribute to, if we can contribute.

Finally: Eye on Palin has a spot where you can click to "take action now." You can send a letter to the Governor's office AND you can do it without making a contribution. Imagine that! (They will ask for a contribution, but you don't need to make one to send a letter.) Their goal is a mere 100,000 letters, and I think it will be no problem whatsoever to reach that goal. If this horrible practice bothers you as much as it does me, I hope you'll take a moment to swing by and make your voice heard. Alaska is not a foreign country, and this practice is an embarrassment to America.

8 comments:

  1. I think you are on the "fringe" for some things, but not on protecting the critters :o)

    Defenders does good work.

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  2. I didn't know about the Eye on Palin site, but I plan to visit right now. Thanks for the heads-up. Aerial hunting isn't sporting at all, unless of course we give the wolves their own helicopters and even the playing field.

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  3. Okay, can you see the steam coming out of my ears and hear my little fingers tapping away! Defenders is NOT and never has been a radical or fringe group. Palin is an idiot.

    I have supported this organization for many, many years and they have always been responsible in their campaigns. I'm sorry it doesn't suit the gov to be called out on her reprehensible blood thirsty practices.

    I've seen the vids and they've made me sick to my stomache. How anyone can condone this is beyond my realm of comprehension. They can give their lame reasoning until the cows come home...I don't buy it and they are being called out on it now.

    You know this is so like the buffalo slaughter at Yellowstone. Those who want to kill them off keep yakking about brucelosis being transmitted to cattle. There has not been ONE documented case and it cannot be transmitted. It is another excuse to get the uninformed public on their side so they support the slaughter.

    It is the same kind of spin the govs office is putting on their lame reasoning for aerial hunting.

    I may sound like a radical but one day that "woman" is going to get what is coming to her. As they say, karmas a bitch.

    Thanks for bringing this issue up & out.

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  4. I am on my way over to check out that site about that MORON. I can NOT stand Palin.

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  5. Consider the source...to think that this woman COULD have been our VP is incomprehensible. Is she really that ignorant? I think everything she spewed before the election was all spoon fed to her by her party. Obviously during interviews she couldn't hold her own...she opened her mouth and said nothing!

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  6. I am glad that she isn't anywhere near Washington. Had she made it, she would have supplanted W as the most intellectually incurious person that was in Washington in my lifetime.

    She sounds like someone who says and does whatever is easiest, not what is smartest.

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  7. I agree with Ziggy. Palin needs to bury herself in Alaska and leave the wildlife alone. I can not stomach her , her voice, her attitude, guess what....I can't stomach any part of her. Going to those sites today!!! Lucy

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  8. I just hate that they fly in choppers and shoot the animals. It is cruel. They are terrified from the chopper, and then shot.
    It's just plain awful.
    Connie

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I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?