I was disgusted today to see a PETA ad on the front page of DailyKos.
PETA is a tremendous embarrassment. They are to the left what the KKK is to the right: idiotic, emotionally driven radicals with no science or rationality behind their cause. Their ad will make any outdoorsman (the most influential environmentalist demographic) roll his eyes in disgust, and many will leave and never come back.
It reflects
very badly on this community to have the word "PETA" appear anywhere on the page unless it's followed immediately by "sucks." They embody the ultimate in negative liberal stereotypes: out-of-touch, over-sensitive, wimpy city kids with nothing better to do than protest idiotic causes they know nothing about with the support of airheaded celebrities like Pamela Anderson. Real liberals aren't like that at all, but every time somebody sees one of these PETA clowns on TV, that's what they think.
PETA thrives on merciless Rovian marketing techniques, like this comic book targeted to turn children against their fathers for fishing. It makes Bush's "wolves" ad look ethical. Their lies and distortion of science make the Discovery Institute's Intelligent Design charlatans look like Stephen Hawking. Their ratio of marketing to ethics would impress the Swift Boat Vets Against Kerry.
PETA doesn't just oppose hunting and fishing. They also oppose more life-saving medical research than even the most radical Christian fundamentalists. All medical research on any animals would be stopped if PETA got their way; this would be thousands of times more damaging than an all-out prohibition on stem cell research. Oh, and their goal is "total animal liberation." They've clarified that, yes, that means no pets. Got a beloved dog in your family? Set him free!
Besides conflicting with beloved sports, life-saving research, and your right to own a parakeet, PETA also conflicts with science. They completely ignore everything biologists understand about how animals sense and perceive pain. More importantly, they conflict with everything ecologists know about how to sustain healthy ecosystems through controlled harvest. It's not what you read in Nature that counts; it's what they saw in Bambi.
Furthermore, PETA has been associated with eco-terrorists like the Animal Liberation Front. Kos might as well run advertisements for al Qaeda. Well, perhaps that's going to far. But PETA is on the same level as the rightwingers who blow up abortion clinics. Please, raise your standards!