The following was my response to a lame call for a truce by a PETA member with whom Snave has friendly relations, though for the record, he's the type of guy who can still be friends with someone whose views he detests. I'm not saying that's the case in this instance. I'm merely saying that I don't know his stance, and that his stance should not be inferred from his correspondence with this individual. Once again, I have redacted the name of PETA member.
"I think I actually managed to both provide compelling arguments and be snippy at the same time. Their "Holocaust On Your Plate" ad campaign was one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen, and was quickly pulled after complaints from Jewish groups.
"I thoroughly detest the leadership of PETA, and with good reason. I furthermore have serious ethical concerns with the way they go about achieving their stated mission, as well as their actions and statements that often are in direct contrast with that which they claim to believe. I truly wish they lacked wit and ability. Instead, I find myself echoing the words of William Butler Yeats in one of my favorite poems, The Second Coming: "The best lack all conviction, while the worst/ Are full of passionate intensity."
"I find myself unsurprised that you failed to address my rebuttal of your interpretation of the Silver Springs monkey case or the other links I provided that addressed concerns with PETA and other "animal rights" groups. It is, after all, difficult to defend the indefensible.
"In closing, you asked my opinion of Paul McCartney, Ed Asner, Bill Maher, Oliver Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, Alec Baldwin Loretta Lynn, Trent Reznor, James Cromwell, and the late Richard Pryor. Well, in order, I hated the Beatles; Ed Asner hasn't been funny in decades; Bill Maher is someone who routinely substitutes wit for substance, and has very little of either; Oliver Stone is a paranoid director of questionable talent who confuses shock with valid points and logic, and would make an excellent case study of several personality disorders; Joaquin Phoenix, I honestly don't know much about, but at least he can act; Alec Baldwin, I wish he'd've followed through on his threat to leave America if Bush were elected; Loretta Lynn has an extremely annoying voice that gets in the way of my evaluation of her talent; Trent Reznor, great musician who's better when he lays off the antidepressants; James Cromwell is an excellent actor; and Richard Pryor was a great comedian and actor. I hope the way they got sucked into PETA was akin to the same way other celebrities get sucked into Scientology, and I would not be surprised if at least one parallel holds true: That celebrities' experience with PETA is very different from that which the average member sees. But if you want a celebrity, I find it interesting that Melissa Etheridge made the decision to distance herself from them years ago. I wonder what she saw that you don't, or at least, I would wonder if I didn't already have a decent idea."
And later, after a half-hearted attempt at a truce when the PETA member continued to press on Silver Springs, I responded thusly. In this, I have redacted the PETA member's name and a paragraph about music preferences defending my distaste/hatred of the Beatles, the latter of which because it really adds nothing to the debate.
"I agree to disagree with organizations I find abhorrent and choose to exercise my right to express that abhorrence and the reasoning behind it. I support the concept of animals being treated more humanely, but rather than re-cover the same ground, will stand on my previous comments. But if I were to join any such group, it would probably be the National Animal Interest Alliance.
"Finally, in re Silver Springs and Dr. Edward Taub, exactly how many of the 119 charges stuck, and what was the reasoning behind that outcome? Please feel free to trust Mr. Pacheco and Ms. Newkirk. That is your right. However, I choose to trust our legal system, the National Institutes of Health, various peer-review organizations, and the thousands of people whose lives have been dramatically improved as a result of Dr. Taub's work. Your opinion of Dr. Taub is that he's a villain of the lowest order. My opinion is that he's one of a huge number of heroes whose names few know but whose work has improved the lives of their fellow man, and I proudly salute him."
The debate, warts and all, is available here.
1 comment:
Thanks for the kind comments, MC. Like I mentioned on Sheryl's blog, I sometimes find myself wishing we could have beers together. What kind do you like, and if we someday get to meet in person, it will be on my tab!
Some groups are fine in principle, but as you mentioned in your above post, sometimes over time, groups don't end up representing what they originally did, or a person's views change and thus a group no longer represents them for that reason. The NRA is that way for me. I could be a member if it was still a sportsmen's organization like it was when I was a kid, but I feel it turned into a right-wing political organization a while back, supporting candidates I couldn't support nowadays... if they ever get back to their roots and stop being such paranoids, I might consider membership!
I'm not a PETA member, as I have mixed opinions about the group. Reading your comments and checking out the links you provided, along with checking out what my blogbuddy provided, reinforced the mixed feeling. I do like animals, and if I'm going to do anything to support animals, I'm most likely going to donate annually to our local humane society. It's the old adage "think globally, act locally" at work!
As for the Baldwins, I thought they met their deserved fate at the hands of the Canadian Air Force in the South Park Movie ("Bigger, Longer and Uncut"). Heh... gawd, that was a funny film. That's one of the things I love about South Park and the Parker/Stone movies: they are out to offend EVERYBODY and they don't care if offense is taken. National Lampoon magazine used to be that way in the mid-70's... as a teenager, I spent many hours studying the magazines and the methods within. Being an OCD hoarder of "stuff", I actually still have a bunch of those old magazines around, and once in a while I still like to get them out for a good look. For a long time their tag line was "Is nothing sacred?" My favorite use of that line was with a cartoon that showed someone walking in on a guy with his pants down, humping a huge pie.
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