Civilization isn't quite there yet
This year�s award for the most
blatantly defiant act of betrayal by elected politicians against the will
of the public goes to a handful of Washington State Legislators for
plotting to repeal or undermine a voter approved Initiative. I-655, which
bans the unfair sports of hound hunting and bear baiting, is under attack
by politicos like Representatives Pam Roach and Bob Sump. Apparently their
attitude is: �Never mind the voters, they don�t know what�s good for
them--We�ll call it a public safety issue!�
Roach also sponsored a new bill to
criminalize body-piercing. Another pressing public-safety issue worthy of
our valuable legislative time?.
Growing hype would have you believe
that Washington�s cougars learned that voters passed a bill in their favor
and, in celebration, have begun reproducing like crazed rabbits.
Representative Sump alone claims to have seen 9 cougars in the 2 years
since the inception of I-655. Far be it from me to suggest that an
esteemed politician might be guilty of distorting the truth. Sump probably
just had a bit too much to drink that night. Or maybe he was mistaken
about what he saw, as were alarmed citizens last week in Albany, Oregon.
Police there responded to a report of an alleged cougar near a school
yard. After careful observation, at a safe distance through binoculars,
they determined the fearsome feline was merely an oversized calico cat.
Folks in Forks recently had an
opportunity to voice their opinions against the reintroduction of wolves
to the Olympic National Park. Again, it was a public safety issue. One
gentleman boldly stated: �..civilization has come a long way�� suggesting
that wolves have no place in today�s world. But is a society truly
civilized when it has not yet learned to live alongside the rest of the
creatures of this Earth?
Jim Robertson