PETA, Sea Kittens, And The Pets It Kills

To follow up on the ludicrous "re-branding" effort by PETA to call fish "Sea Kittens" (not a joke) I did a little research on these alleged animal rights activists. What I found was not all that surprising.

PETA exists to raise money. Like many non-profit organizations they survive on funds contributed by ordinary folks. It would be one thing if they really believed what they sell, but according to information released by the State of Virginia, a PETA facility there killed almost 90% of the animals in its care from 1997 to 2007. The local SPCA manages to get almost 70% of its animals adopted.

Now that doesn't sound very ethical to me, especially from a group who does not even want people eating fish!

Next time you see a PETA protester, ask them about these figures and look at their wardrobe. If they are wearing leather shoes or a leather belt, point out that it came from a cuddly bovine. Ask if they ever eat meat or fish. I'll bet few are really ethical vegans and most are just confused.

Sure I love animals, I have two delightful "land fish" (cats) at home and I care for them like they were my children. I do not support needless cruelty toward animals, but I also love a good steak and occasional sushi. I wear leather not just because it is my fetish, but also because it is ethical. People slaughter cows for food, why should the animal's skin be wasted. The world will never go vegan, meat is too efficient a source of protein and it's been part of our diet forever. Granted we probably eat too much of it, but that is a healt issue not one for animal rights.

My message to PETA: Spend some of that money on a "no kill" shelter. We have them here in my home town in Texas and surely you , a big organizatino that raises millions a year can do that!

Miracle On The Hudson And Basic Human Nature

Our soon to be ex-president is always a big one to highlight heroes in his speeches. He often uses them as props and human shields to mask his agenda of scamming the country's wealth and invading our privacy. It is puzzling that he didn't even mention the heroes in New York yesterday afternoon who without a second thought sprang into action to rescue the passengers of the US Airways flight that had crash landed in the Hudson River.

Ferry pilots, small craft owners and their passengers and crew headed toward the downed jet and immediately began taking aboard the stranded passengers on the wings of the plane. That act reminded me of how basically good people are. That goodness shined through and it betrays the basic political tennent of the conservatives.

Leave it to me to find political significance in this event, but it was so obvious I couldn't avoid it.

Here is the deal. Conservatives believe that the basic of human nature is to turn toward evil. Therefore people always need a strong paternal hand to keep the populous law abiding. It's the "strong father" model of government, and though the GOP rails against big government they love the paternalistic approach to governing. Father always knows best whether its Uncle Sam or big business, its a top down approach.

Liberals believe in the basic goodness of people. Government is there to create a safe place for them to thrive and grow. A nurturing parent model wold be the best analogy. If a populace is free from oppression and has its basic needs met, the good human nature of the people will make it a great country.

Both those definitions are very simplistic, but the underlying premise is true. What happened on the Hudson yesterday shows that basic goodness. It was not just a display of how New Yorker's pull together, but a display of how people care for each other even if they are strangers.

It is that basic goodness that makes us a great country.

Surviving the Great Digression

From the day of the Supreme Court ruling that put George W. Bush in office until today, I had the distinct impression that somehow the universe’s time line was interrupted. It seemed as if suddenly we were living in the “Bizarro World” where everything I had taken for granted suddenly changed. That got even stranger after September 11, 2001 and I have lived with that feeling of disorientation until the latest election.

So what does this mean for today and the past year for me and my friends? Well, the past year has brought some interesting asides but little major change. Oh yes, you can get married in Massachusetts and Connecticut and for a short time in California, but other than that, no major strides forward have been made in fundamental LGBT rights. It’s almost as if we were still where we were at the end of the Clinton Presidency in 2000.

The Bush years have been one long digression for LGBT Americans and it’s time that came to an end. Now with the new Obama administration poised to take office I have higher hopes, but I know nothing is set in stone and I suspect nothing will be handed to us on a plate.

LGBT people still lack some of the fundamental rights of being an American citizen, and now that we have exited the Bizarro World, perhaps we can get a few things done. First would be getting rid of the weird double-speak rule of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in the military. It was intended as a compromise for LGBT service people, but instead it has become a Catch-22 that makes it even more difficult to serve the country in the Armed Forces. My hope for the New Year is that DADT will be more closely examined and tossed into the dust bin of history as a “really bad idea” and one that was instituted by a previous Democratic President. (Bush has no lock on Bizarro!)

Next, eliminating the whole “State’s Rights” canard and making our country a more homogeneous place when it comes to having a relationship recognized and having legal rights. The DOMA, Defense of Marriage Act, must go. Ooops! Another Clinton ear hold over!

More fundamentally, we need a Civil Rights act for LGBT people. The struggle for ENDA, the Employment Non-discrimination Act was a start, but ultimately it failed to produce results. It’s time we started getting back to the real “gay agenda”, full citizenship with all the rights and responsibilities that entails. Now that we have a more sympathetic administration coming to Washington, perhaps it’s time for another mass civil action, like the previous Marches on Washington. This time, there will be a Democratically controlled Congress and a Democratic President and just maybe someone will take us seriously.

Whether by design or by accident, LGBT issues have been thrust into the news this year, and the stunning win for Proposition 8 in California might just have finally awakened the spirit that was embodied by the “Girls of Stonewall” and Harvey Milk. I find it inspiring that the wonderful movie about Harvey Milk’s life opened just after the election. Perhaps his life can inspire another generation of LGBT activists to get some changes made.

It’s time we got back to the real time-line and out of the Great Regression of the Bush years. Economically, we have been thrust back to almost the same point we were at when Bush took office. Spiritually, we have been distracted by divisive policies and manipulated by religious bigots using fear and outright lies to divert our journey. Diplomatically, we have squandered the once good name of our country in a profit motivated series of unjust wars. Politically, we have been diverted from our march toward democracy and justice for all that American ideal of “building a more perfect union.”

Perhaps, just perhaps, with continued work and the occasional gentle nudging, LGBT people can realize the full benefits of American Citizenship we were marching closer to prior to the Bush years. I harbor no illusions that the Obama administration will wave a magic wand and magically make everything better. I do believe things will change, but only if we help guide them.

Now, let’s put the Great Regression behind us and get out there and let our voices be heard. It may be time to once again carry the message to our lawmakers in person. Millions of LGBT voices all speaking for the same goal, all insisting on equality and justice. With luck, maybe someone in Washington will take us seriously for a change.