Style
The man lacks style. I mean honestly. Compare Cheney's delivery with Lord Voldemort's far more deliciously sinister cover-up.
And really. The whole excess of killing far more than you need is slightly repulsive even as they remind one of the old Edwardian hunting parties:
There were shooting parties at which thousands of birds were slaughtered in bizarre anticipation of what would soon happen to millions of men on the Western Front. There were stalking parties in the Scottish Highlands, where middle-aged millionaires put on funny clothes to bag a stag.
But the elegance of those old parties was undeniable. 
Drinks were fine wines and whiskey served in crystal, not beers served in cans.
And the funny clothes? The rich went out in the most stylish dress. Stiff collars and frock coats instead of bright orange. You can see the whole elegant crew here.
I say if you're going to imitate the excesses of the gilded or Edwardian ages, you should go whole hog.
AND the birds were better Back Then. I mean the canned hunts ("guaranteed kills!") Cheney goes on provide birds that are not exactly a big challenge. Yes, the Edwardians hired local lads to flush out the birds, but at least the creatures had lived in the wild. **
This is a story--biased, I know--about a previous hunt Cheney enjoyed. This one was in Pennsylvania. from 12/9/03
Vice President Cheney reportedly shot more than 70 stocked pheasants and an unknown number of mallard ducks at an exclusive private club places a spotlight on an increasingly popular and deplorable form of hunting, in which birds are pen-reared and released to be shot in large numbers by patrons. The ethics of these hunts are called into question by rank-and-file sportsmen, who hunt animals in their native habitat and do not shoot confined or pen-raised animals that cannot escape.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported today that 500 farm-raised pheasants were released yesterday morning at the Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier Township for the benefit of Cheney's 10-person hunting party. The group killed at least 417 of the birds, illustrating the unsporting nature of canned hunts. The party also shot an unknown number of captive mallards in the afternoon.
"This wasn't a hunting ground. It was an open-air abattoir, and the vice president should be ashamed to have patronized this operation and then slaughtered so many animals," states Wayne Pacelle, a senior vice president of The Humane Society of the United States. "If the Vice President and his friends wanted to sharpen their shooting skills, they could have shot skeet or clay, not resorted to the slaughter of more than 400 creatures planted right in front of them as animated targets."
The Humane Society of the United States deplores the shooting of captive birds and animals where traditional "fair chase" hunting ethics are discarded and kills are guaranteed.
Yeah, the bolds are mine. But I mean. Yuck. Words fail me now, so read Lord Voldemort's post instead.
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** and the concept of danger and flying away from danger wasn't brand new to them. (That's the point I meant to get across, mapletree. Or it might be, anyway. I have no idea if those Edwardian birds feared humans or not.)
Ehn. It's not what I'd choose to do for fun, and it's not exactly sporting, but isn't it better to kill purpose-bred birds than to kill birds in the wild? Isn't it like wearing cage-raised fur as opposed to fur off of endangered wild populations? I mean, no-one cares that Cheney ate chicken for dinner.... that chicken had to die too.
ReplyDeleteeh, I kind of get what you mean but it's not the dead birds that get me as much as the enjoyment of slaughtering them like that.
ReplyDeleteI thought the point of hunting was being outdoors, actually having to do some work at finding the prey, or waiting quietly for it, or SOMETHING--not just pointing and aiming.
I mean if a guy got off on wringing chickens' necks for fun and not food, it would gross me out. This kind of activity seems closer to that than real hunting..
THANK you, my dear. I cherish your blogwhoring ways, did you know that?
ReplyDeleteHunting is something that I've always wanted to take up, but probably never will. No, I'd get no enjoyment from killing a bunch of birds. I think I'd rather wrangle a tiger with nothing but my bare hands and a bayonette.
ReplyDeleteBut, since that will probably never happen either, I'll just have to contend myself with kicking over old people in the street.
Oh my god modern life is dull.
The problem isn't so much that they hunt the animals as they don't DO anything with them afterward. Trust me, if Dick or the Missus, had to pluck, gut, remove the pellets from, bag, and freeze those suckers, the beak/bill count would have been a lot less than 417.
ReplyDeleteTis why I no longer fish, and made a new rule; the rule is you, catch 'em, you clean 'em.. strange how no one wants to fish much anymore.
PS all cleaning must be done at the lake, not brought home and cleaned in MY DAMN SINK!
X
reese--add some excitement to your urban games. I mean you're doing Cheney hunting! You need to knock over skateboarders.
ReplyDeleteX--when I was a kid, I sort of enjoyed scaling and gutting dead fish. Worried my parents a bit. bwhahahahaha. The worms as bait though. Those guys were moving.
Cheryl--huh. missed that. it would have bugged me too.