Ah, but before delving into this edition of "Looney Tunes" some introduction music is in order as always:
You see, right-wing looney tunes want to seize upon anything to prove that Obama and the Democrats are trying to do a wide array of ungodly things to our country. They soon seize upon anything to forward that message:
Following the lead of an ESPNOutdoors.com opinion writer, who provided no evidence for his claim that a federal strategy "could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing," right-wing blogs have advanced the outlandish charge that Obama "wants to ban sport fishing." These media outlets cited the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force's interim report on coastal and marine planning, but the task force has proposed nothing of the sort.
http://mediamatters.org/...
Then, the talking poisonous snakes on the lunatic right-wing media whip the looney tunes into a frenzy:
Hoft: "New Regulations Will Ban Sport Fishing." On March 9, Gateway Pundit blogger Jim Hoft posted a blog titled, "Obama's Latest Assault on Freedom-New regulations Will Ban Sport Fishing." Asserting that Obama "wants to ban sport fishing," Hoft quoted from the ESPN column and further stated, "Barack Obama has a message for America's 60,000,000 anglers- We don't need you."
No matter how proposterous the claim, they pound it home:
RedState: "Obama: The Will Of The People Be Damned - I'LL Decide Who Can Go Fishing." In a March 9 RedState post titled, "Obama: The Will Of The People Be Damned - I'LL Decide Who Can Go Fishing," Dave Poff quoted the ESPN column's claim that the Obama administration's plan "could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters." Poff also stated, "*Now* he means to ration recreational fishing and boating, folks," adding that Obama has been "[p]lotting a Federal takeover of all our bodies of water (freshwater...saltwater...doesn't matter), in an effort to set up MORE bureaucracies and circumvent the rights of the States to determine fair use and access rules amongst themselves based on the local interests of everyone involved."
Malkin: "Obama's war on fishing?!?!?!" In a March 9, post titled, "Obama's war on fishing?!?!?!" Michelle Malkin posted the ESPN column's claim that "[t]he Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters." Malkin added, "Longtime readers know I love to fish and have been at war with the anti-fishing nuts at PETA for years."
Ah, but as always in the twisted world of the paranoid, delusional, and downright dishonest Conservative media, the actual truth is always twisted into something sinister that mixes Socialism, Communism, Facism, and a one world govenment:
Task force plan seeks to "better manage," not ban recreational fishing alongside other uses of ocean, coasts, lakes. In its September 10, 2009, interim report, the Interagency Ocean Policy task force recommended that the administration implement "coastal and marine spatial planning," which has been described as ocean "zoning." The interim report states that such a system "will allow for the reduction of cumulative impacts from human uses on marine ecosystems, provide greater certainty for the public and private sector in planning new investments, and reduce conflicts among uses and, between using and preserving the environment to sustain critical ecological, economic, and cultural services for this and future generations." A December 9, 2009, task force report discussing coastal and marine spatial planning in more detail states that "CMSP provides an effective process to better manage a range of social, economic, and cultural uses, including" commerce and transportation, commercial fishing, conservation, mining, oil and gas exploration and development and recreational fishing, among many others. Nowhere in the September 10 or December 9 reports does the task force propose a ban on recreational fishing.
Marine biologist Larry Crowder: "It's not an environmentalist manifesto." The Christian Science Monitor reported on March 9 that marine biologist Larry Crowder, of Duke University, stated of the task force, "It's not an environmentalist manifesto. It's multiple-use planning for the environment, and making sure various uses ... are sustainable." CSM further reported that "Obama has said he will not override protections put in place by Presidents Clinton and Bush that established recreational fishermen as a special class" and that "nonpartisan experts say the task force has already made strides in better recognizing various stakeholder groups, including recreational fishermen, and that it doesn't intend to undermine the ability of states to manage their natural resources, as many fishermen fear."
In other words, the Obama Administration seeks to find ways to better use and preserve our natural resources, such as the fish in our waters. They seek ways to protect these areas where Americans enjoy fishing from pollutions and other activities such as overfishing, mining, and oil and gas exploration in recreational areas. Only in the twisted mind of the modern ultra-Conservative looney tune mind can this be taken as an assault on their rights to fish.
All this paranoia is destroying our country. When Progressives where paranoid about the Bush Administration stealing our rights, we actually had a leg to stand on with the propoganda campaign that was the "War on Terror" which brought us the Patriot Act and the FISA Bill, and caused anyone that question the Bush Administration policies to be branded as cowards, or worse yet traitors.
Progressives do not want anyone's fishing poles. We seek a more sustainable way of preserving recreational areas for all generations to enjoy fishing for decades to come. We want to keep guns only away from criminals and those to irresponsible to own them without putting other people's lives at risk.
So for now, I can assure all the looney tunes that their fishing poles are indeed quite safe.
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