Sunday, September 14, 2008

Musings: Wolf Killer

The stars were holding forth, having briefly reclaimed the sky upon the setting of the bright and bulbous moon, when Koko and I set out walking this morning.

Since it was very early, and a Sunday, the operative word was stealth, so as not to get any of the neighborhood dogs barking, although the hundred or so fighting roosters going off at the house down the street didn’t seem the least bit concerned about the racket they were making.

Mist hugged the contours and valleys of the pastures, reaching out to touch us, softly, as we passed by, and all the mountains were vivdly clear as the sky turned rosy behind the Sleeping Giant.

It was a day made for drying laundry, so I headed down the hill with my full basket, and as the clothes washed I sat in the sun outside the Laundromat and talked story with Jim Alalem and Jerry Ooka. You never know who you’re going to run into at the Kapaa laundry. Like me, they came early to avoid the rush.

I found out from Jerry why my homemade poi never turns sour — “you’re too clean in your preparation; it needs yeast from the skin to ferment” — and Jim confirmed a story I’d heard that one of the bullies who held him down in high school and forced him to swallow chicken feet — “You know, I’m still haunted by that,” said Jim, now 51 —went on to become a Kauai vice cop, where he apparently still bedevils those over whom he wields power.

It made me think of a comment from another friend who, upon hearing of my questioning by the cops, recounted his own experience of being held for seven hours by FBI agents. That must have been scary, I said, to be interrogated by the FBI, to which he replied: “Nah, they’re professionals. But the Kauai cops, you never know what they’re gonna do.”

Same is true with Sarah Palin, the GOP VP pick. In case you’re still looking for reasons to oppose this candidate, here’s a good one: she advocates killing wolves from helicopters. Apparently her “pro-life” stance doesn’t extend to other mammals, and last year she approved an initiative offering aerial hunters a $150 bounty for each left foreleg from a wolf that they brought in.

Seems she felt the wolves were giving Alaska hunters too much competition for game. A judge later ruled she didn’t have authority to offer the payments, but still, the scheme tells you a lot —none of it good — about what kind of person, and "sportsman,” she is.

The best anti-Palin bit I’ve read yet is a piece called ”Drill, Drill, Drill” by Eve Ensler, author of “The Vagina Monologues.” I like it because it’s both astute and beautifully written. Here’s one excerpt, but it’s really worthwhile to read the whole thing:

Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.

Finally, if you want a laugh, check out this clip from Saturday Night Live, where Tina Fey returns to do Sarah Palin, and does her well.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had not heard of the $150 Palin bounty on wolfs but I do know the State of Alaska has conducted aerial wold hunts since at least the 1970's to thin wolf herds (to reduce the wolfs "alleged" impact on big game hunters). This occurred under both damnocratic and repugnocratic regimes, and yes Alaskans have and continue to protest the practice.

A wolf pack on white snow in the dead of winter makes pretty easy pickings for a state DLNR official in a helicopter armed with a machine gun.

Perhaps the Palin Bounty is just her attempt to reduce the size of government by outsourcing this death from above state approved "sport".

Andy Parx said...

Palin puts elevates petty and vindictive politics to an art:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?em

Anonymous said...

True to form your pro-death author Eve Ensler is way off the mark. Apparently you two value the lives of wolves more than innocent babies that had no say in their conception. As with rape and incest, might as well make a horror even worse by adding a murder to it. Sounds about right for the left. But you all have a right to your personal beliefs. Palin is simply being up front with her personal beliefs which everyone wants to know. When it comes to the law, we all get a chance to vote. Winners, not whiners, take all. But Ensler is disingenuous when she blames the war and anti-abortion of religious beliefs. I’d love to have Ensler cite where God was invoked in our current wars or in the rights of women to murder. The abortion issue isn’t about God, it’s about the murder of innocents. I’ll vote for babies over wolves any day.

Joan Conrow said...

Thanks, Andy, that's a great read. I urge people tocheck it out.

I found this especially alarming:
Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records.

Anonymous said...

Why in the world would the things you state about Palin be considered negative? I think all the more of her for it.

Anonymous said...

Regardless, I still feel McCain/Palin are the better choice, given the alternatives.

And I'm far from alone.

What cha goin to do if they get in?

And Palin as Pres within 4 yrs or elected after these 4 yrs as VP?

Anonymous said...

"True to form your pro-death author Eve Ensler is way off the mark. Apparently you two value the lives of wolves more than innocent babies that had no say in their conception."
I'll vote for the wolves...

Anonymous said...

are those two legged or four legged wolves?

Anonymous said...

In this context, 4-legged. We shoot 2-legged wolves from helicopters in foreign countries.

Drawing a bead on the smaller ones is a bit different because you don't have to lead them as much.

Hoo Rah!

Anonymous said...

If Palin and McCain get in, the US is DOOMED. Josephine

Anonymous said...

I don't think that at all, but it rests on your dfn of "doomed". Not being one to support lib/dem positions on pretty much anything, I reject the "doom" scenario.