PeTA Takes Aim At Sarah Palin (Of Course)

I don't agree with her on a lot of things, but I  like Sarah Palin.  I don't know her personally, of course, but from what I see and hear of her, I generally like the woman.

I don't necessarily think she should be president.  I don't think she has the experience or cleverness  it would take, nor do I think she has the leadership ability.  (But then, I don't think either our current president nor the president before him have the cleverness or the leadership ability to be president. )  I did love watching her rally the Republican troops last year to try to get support for presidential candidate John McCain.  It was moving to see a woman with such persuasive abilities.

I love the fact that she champions the outdoors, hunting and shooting.  I hate the fact that she is anti-choice when it comes to allowing women to make their own decisions about private matters.  But my views about hunting and gun ownership juxtaposed to the rights of women not to be forced to become legal equivalents of barn-yard animals owned and controlled by the state just because they become pregnant have always kept me from aligning with either political party.  There have been years where I actually donated both to the NRA and to NARAL.  And the fact that Sarah Palin is willing to set an example for other women who want to follow her philosophy makes me respect her for not being a hypocrite over the matter.

With her high-profile enthusiasm for hunting, of course, it was only a matter of time before PeTA, the notorious animal rights group (which is not really an animal rights group at all) would start making snarky remarks about Sarah Palin. 

Dan Matthews, president of PeTA, recently made this statement regarding the airing of her segment on caribou hunting during her new reality show, Sarah Palin's Alaska:

“Sarah seems to think that resorting to violence and blood and guts may lure people into watching her boring show, but the ratings remain as dead as the poor animals she shoots.”

I love the plucky response from Sarah Palin:"Tonight’s hunting episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska ‘controversial’? Really? Unless you’ve never worn leather shoes, sat upon a leather couch or eaten a piece of meat, save your condemnation of tonight’s episode. I remain proudly intolerant of anti-hunting hypocrisy.”

"Proudly intolerant of anti-hunting hypocrisy."  That is a great statement. 

My husband is anti-hunting.  Yet he gets cranky if he can't have his steaks, pork chops and bacon.  My dad was anti-gun and anti-hunting but between his double Manhattens, Martinis, drunk driving arrests and accidents he always wanted his ham, steak and chops.

And there are my vegetarian friends who believe they are guiltless since they don't eat meat.  Hmmm.  How many animals are killed to preserve the crops grown for us?  They forget that in order to grow crops, animal habitat has to be destroyed and "pest" animals controlled, ( or exterminated.)

So while I certainly don't agree with all of Sarah Palin's politics, I continue to like and admire her as a person and for sharing some of her hunting adventures with us.