What President Bush Did to Piss Me Off Today
In all of his shallow, shallow wisdom, Bush is removing the wolves of the far northern Northwest from the protection they enjoy under the Endangered Species Act. This will make it easier for ranchers to kill them. Keep in mind that these wolves were just re-introduced to Montana and Idaho after decades of an indiscriminate predator holocaust.
As of now, ranchers can't kill a wolf unless it is actually attacking livestock--an event that is not unheard of, but much rarer than you are led to believe by the likes of Republicans and Disney movies.
Now, ranchers will be able to blow away wolves who are merely "threatening" to attack livestock. Hmmm . . . preemptive strikes . . . against bad, bad creatures . . . whom the ranchers (isn't Georgie a Ralph Lauren-ish "rancher?") merely believe to be a threat. No, no similarity to foreign policy at all. No similarity to W's INCREDIBLY SELFISH AND STUPID world view.
Remember please, intelligent reader, that most western ranchers are raising their incredibly-bad-for-the-environment sheep (not as bad) and cows (really bad) on federal land--our collective land--that they lease from the government--from us--for incredibly cheap, WAY under the market rate prices. They then expect the government--funded by our money--to "dispatch" any pesky native creatures that may--may-- threaten their livestock. (For God's sake, let's NOT try any natural deterrents, such as dogs, or environmentally-sound choices, such as bison.) They profit, we get a pound of beef for every 16 to 20 pounds of vegetation that their cows rip out of the ground, and the native animals get shot, trapped, and poisoned.
Fuck it. I don't want to care anymore. I'm going to become a Christian Republican today.
As of now, ranchers can't kill a wolf unless it is actually attacking livestock--an event that is not unheard of, but much rarer than you are led to believe by the likes of Republicans and Disney movies.
Now, ranchers will be able to blow away wolves who are merely "threatening" to attack livestock. Hmmm . . . preemptive strikes . . . against bad, bad creatures . . . whom the ranchers (isn't Georgie a Ralph Lauren-ish "rancher?") merely believe to be a threat. No, no similarity to foreign policy at all. No similarity to W's INCREDIBLY SELFISH AND STUPID world view.
Remember please, intelligent reader, that most western ranchers are raising their incredibly-bad-for-the-environment sheep (not as bad) and cows (really bad) on federal land--our collective land--that they lease from the government--from us--for incredibly cheap, WAY under the market rate prices. They then expect the government--funded by our money--to "dispatch" any pesky native creatures that may--may-- threaten their livestock. (For God's sake, let's NOT try any natural deterrents, such as dogs, or environmentally-sound choices, such as bison.) They profit, we get a pound of beef for every 16 to 20 pounds of vegetation that their cows rip out of the ground, and the native animals get shot, trapped, and poisoned.
Fuck it. I don't want to care anymore. I'm going to become a Christian Republican today.
posted by lulu | 6:31 AM
2 Comments:
While you're becoming a Xian Republican, you can proudly quote the Enlightenment (can we please retire that term?) prophet John Locke on the Natural Rights of "life, liberty, and property" on which our ownership society is based. Property that endows the owner (or lease-holder?) with the liberty to do whatever he or she damn well pleases with it - in this case dispose of whatever encroaches onto the monoculture of livestock, corn, wheat, whatever.
Which reminds me of our drive home from the ranch the other day. Gven Golly and I decide to take a different road, so we go south through Hartford toward Johnstown and find ourselves in factory egg farm hell, going past one humungous barn after another. I don't even want to think about what it's like inside those long buildings, and it was an ironic turn after spending a few days with the 14 friendly creatures Gven took to calling "the girls." Agriculture today is like William Irwin Thompson's book, Darkness and Scattered Light, all the more reason to do what you and Kevin are doing.
PS: So ROCK ON!
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