So much for the "Man of the People" effect. A hunter scolds "elite" Cheney

[BurtWorm]

Of course the hunter is a college professor, so he ain't no moran...

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/opinion/13866143.htm

We in the Piedmont have some of the best bird hunting around, though development has taken a profound toll on open space and Piedmont farmland. Rocky Holmsley runs his modest Rock-Haven Farm as a small hunting preserve in Gaston County with some of the best English Setters and English Pointers in the country. He trains them himself and has several champion lines in his kennels.

This is only one example. There are several dozen private preserves in North Carolina and thousands of acres of public game lands -- the kind of place where there are only two-gun hunts, on foot, with eager, well-trained dogs, knowledgeable guides, good birds and an attitude of safety and respect for tradition, for the dogs, for the environment. No cars, no shooting at low birds, no accidents. And any hunter can take part, not just the elites.

It is unfortunate that upland bird hunting has gotten this kind of bad press because of irresponsible hunting practices by a prominent member of the upper class. Hunting preserves open spaces for use by all; hunting connects younger generations with the land and with traditions; hunting is about conservation. As a hunter and conservationist, I feel misrepresented by Cheney and his ilk. They portray hunting as a sport for the rich, carried out on vast private lands, where pulling the trigger takes priority over everything else.

Scott Denham is professor of German at Davidson College and a member of the Rowan County Wildlife Association. He is an avid hunter and occasionally teaches a course on skeet and trap shooting through Davidson's outdoors education program.

[LizW]

1. He hits the nail on the head.

Of course, in truth, Cheney has never gone for the "man of the people" thing -- that's the Boy King's schtick. Cheney is and always has been part of the ultra-elite, and makes little effort to hide it.

Shakespears's Sister did a lovely short rant on this subject yesterday (at the end of an item about Rumsfeld drooling over some Saudi's million-dollar Arabian horses):

Is it just me, or is anyone else sick to fucking death of hearing about the leaders of our government parading around palatial estates talking about million-dollar animals, or flouncing about in private fields shooting animals, or taking lavish international golf trips, or shoe-shopping while NOLA drowns, or spending egregious amounts of leisure time clearing brush outside a mansion-cum-ranch? I never thought I’d miss news reports about the president making trips to McDonald’s.

Fuck every last one of these hillbilly Gatsbys and their Lollipop Gilded Age.

:thumbsup:

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Who knew that Bush and Cheney, who portrayed themselves as

Washington outsiders, actually had a backdoor to the place? Who knew?

[BurtWorm]

4. What's truly astonishing is that these guys have been in government

for thirty years and they're still incompetent at it. Thirty years to practice!

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Amazingly sloppy, aren't they?

I think the difference between today, and twenty years ago, (when it was like shooting fish out of a barrel when it came to stealing from the government), is us inertnuts on the internet. I mean, the day you can buy a government official for $25,000 and it would last you for twenty years of silence until you, yourself, decided to write the memoirs of your escapade, are over.

Now, if someone in Washington decides to squeeze off a fart and someone with access to a computer hears it, it's just a matter of hours before it gets posted to a message board.

[theHandpuppet]

2. Good points

I never thought of hunting as driving around in your big-ass Escalade, getting out only long enough to blow away some pen-raised birds on a canned hunt. "Wild game picnic" my ass. Might as well have gone to KFC, Dick, and saved this country the gas. But I think Dick just likes to kill things. What he does is NOT hunting.