The Backlash Roars

What happened with Cecil the Lion was a horrible thing.  People are rightfully upset about it.  I'm not a huge fan of hunting (particularly that type that is organized around the thrill of the kill), so I'm not inclined towards it, anyways.  But this case was especially egregious as the American Dentist involved found out what he done, tried to cover it up, and even took pictures of himself with his kill knowing what it is he had done.

The reaction was swift and huge, and it came from all over the country, from people who were not fans of hunting, to those who like the sport but realized that what Dr. Walter Palmer did was callous and cruel.  And the response came from all over the political spectrum.

I was experimenting with Internet radio a few days ago, trying to find something that could accommodate some of the most boring and rote part of my job, when I came across a site that contained hundreds of stations to try.  Me being me, I just went down the line in order of popularity, and spent at least a few minutes with each one.

I came across a talk station from New York City,  I had no idea what focus the talk would have, whether it would be about politics, sports or basket weaving, whether it would be left or right.  The host of the show I was listening to was quite angry about the killing of Cecil, and talked in very violent terms as to what he would like to do with the American dentist that killed him.  I thought, wow, I had successfully stumbled on to a left wing progressive talker!  Woohoo!

No.  No, I hadn't.  It was Michael Savage, one of the nastiest of the right wing extremists, the man who wears immigrant hating like a badge, and spends inordinate amount of time bashing that Kenyan socialist President of ours.  Even Michael Savage was up in arms about the Cecil slaughter.

And then the backlash began.

People began posting protesting the extent to which people cared about this incident.  Why, there were so many other problems in the world, so many other things to be worried and upset about, why were we over-focused on this?

The odd thing was that the objections came from the right and the left.  My liberal friends wondered why we were so intense on this when there was so much poverty in this country, with children not getting enough to eat and people increasingly being exploited for their labors.  The right wing complains about how it means we're not more upset over terrorism or Benghazi or abortion or whatever.

Me?  I got enough in me to be upset about many things.  So yeah, I can accommodate what happened to Cecil.  I do wonder why we're not upset more in  the area that I live in over the rampart animal cruelty that occurs right here.  We have fostered dogs that have been shot, choked, stabbed, abandoned and abused.  We live in an area that believes it is better to let animals breed without control than it is to neuter or spay.  We have people around us who make sport of dog fights.

But that doesn't mean I can't be upset about Cecil the Lion.

Chill.  We're capable of multi-tasking our cries for justice.