Ingrid Newkirk.... Bill, really?
"Thank you for everything you do..."
Bill Maher to Ingrid Newkirk, leader of PETA (Real Time with Bill Maher, Last Friday Night.)
I tend to agree with Bill Maher a lot... in fact, it's a very rare occasion that we stand on opposite ends. When I saw that she was on I hoped that Bill might get a little critical about PETA, for instance... starting with how their ideology is completely irrational.
So let's talk about why PETA is not a respectable organization, and why it's essential that no democratic candidate treat them as if they are.
Bill has really pushed health issues for a long time, discussing a wide range of topics on his show. Obesity is one of the most popular topics discussed on Real Time, so I can see why he'd want to talk about how bad the cattle farms are... especially if he can tie it into what I suppose is the biggest issue of our time - Global Warming. But as soon as he brought on Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA, immediately I thought "Bull Shit Someone Shut This Woman the Fuck Up, Why The Hell is She Being Taken Seriously?!?!"
And let me tell you, I wouldn't have been the only one - it doesn't even matter if she was making a serious, thoughtful point. What matters is the stupid, hideous, INSANE things she has said in the past and the STUPID, HIDEOUS, INSANE things PETA and all of its supporters are doing TODAY!
Not until black demonstrators resorted to violence did the national government work seriously for civil rights legislation ... In 1850 white abolitionists, having given up on peaceful means, began to encourage and engage in actions that disrupted plantation operations and liberated slaves. Was that all wrong? — Ingrid Newkirk
This speaks for itself... now, let's move on to what the basic PETA philosophy appears to be, from the PETA website...
* Animals Are Not Ours to Eat
* Animals Are Not Ours to Wear
* Animals Are Not Ours to Experiment On
* Animals Are Not Ours to Use for Entertainment
* Animals Are Not Ours to Abuse in Any Way
Now this is fine, a person can take this view if they so wish... but if you are going to take such a view, and be so extreme about it to the point where you're going to use VIOLENCE to make your point, then you had better adhere to that ideology to a fucking T. This means using absolutely NO PRODUCTS that came about through the testing of animals... which, as i'm sure all you fine readers realize, is quite a lot to cut yourself away from - especially in the medical world. In fact, new medications are basically impossible to create without testing on animals.
Beth Sweetland, the Vice President of PETA, is a type II Diabetic who regularly uses Insulin that is made from animals. She would not be alive today if animals had not perished to save her life. The majority of rational Americans can easily come to the conclusion that testing on animals is absolutely vital to the evolution of modern medicine. There's no way around it, you HAVE to test on animals.
Obviously, given the stated views above, along with the hideous quotation where Newkirk actually has the audacity to compare the plight of animals today with what black slaves endured during the United States brutal, disgusting, early history, these people believe that animals deserve complete and equal rights with humans. They do not believe that anyone ever has to eat an animal at all, and that it should be illegal to do so. It is "cruel" to keep animals caged up, so we'd have to let them all roam free - because who are we to tell other 'beings' what to do?
So, when we allow the cattle to roam free and we all decide to start living off plants and protein supplements... what are we going to do about the cow shit that will undoubtedly fill the streets? Can we arrest a cow for shitting on the sidewalk? And if we completely write off all products that only exist today because of the testing on animals in the past, how can we live without practically every single procedure and medication known to modern medicine?
Also, how do we stop the animals from eating EACH OTHER? What about insects, do they get the same fair treatment ... I really don't know where they draw the line, because by all accounts they are LIVING creatures and therefore deserve the same protection as everyone else... but are you going to be able to convince all the mosquito's to stop sucking blood? Can you stop the red ants from eating baby alligators alive as they hatch from their eggs? Hell, what are the Alligators and Crocs going to eat? Obviously, they can't possibly think we could live peacefully amongst the animals... So I don't really know what they are trying to get at.
PETA even understands that it's impossible to just let all animals roam free. Between the years 1998 - 2003 PETA has killed thousands of dogs... about 14,000 more than Michael Vick. In fact, every time PETA busts in all high and mighty to save animals from shelters they inevitably end up killing them...
In 1991, PETA killed 18 rabbits and 14 roosters it had previously "rescued" from a research facility. "We just don't have the money" to care for them, then PETA-Chairman Alex Pacheco told the Washington Times. The PETA animal shelter had run out of room.
-San Francisco Chronicle
And in June of 2005...
...two PETA employees were charged with 31 felony counts of animal cruelty each, after authorities found them dumping the dead bodies of 18 animals they had just picked up from a North Carolina animal shelter into a Dumpster.
-San Francisco Chronicle
They also purchased a Walk-In Freezer that they threw a bunch of animals that they were supposedly going to find homes for into, because... well, what else where they going to do with them? Fucking cunts.
I'm not going to continue pointing out why PETA is an incredibly stupid and pointless organization that will never be taken seriously by any reasonable human being... other than, of course, Bill Maher. Ahh, Bill - can I just assume you've not been paying any attention? You break my heart, Bill. Really.
As liberals, we have to shake off these kinds of organizations because they are bringing us down... Any democratic candidate that would pander to them, and obviously no mainstream candidate would, is an automatic loser. We have to seriously distance ourselves from these awful people, because they are just as bad as the George Bush's of the world who are willing to violently pursue their ends, because they feel that they have the higher moral authority.
And I didn't even get into why I think they are a terrorist organization... but for anyone who wants to rip into me for giving them that label, just look into the Animal Liberation Front and how PETA has supported them in the past...