AR-News: (US) American presidents often drawn to hunting

[Animalconcerns]

[opinion from Fort Wayne News Sentinel]

PHILADELPHIA - (KRT) - The man now in the Oval Office hunts. Next year's
occupant almost certainly will. There's a better-than-even chance that his
successor will stalk game with a gun - probably quail or duck, maybe deer.

Chances are, you don't. Fewer than 6 percent of Americans are hunters. But
we love to put them in the White House. Eisenhower, Johnson, Carter,
Bushes father and son - half the presidents of the last 50 years have been
avid hunters (photo-op sportsmen factored out).

At an hour when a good many Americans were still in bed, George W. Bush
celebrated New Year's with a father-son quail hunt in Texas; W. killed
about five.

Presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry hunts every chance he can get.
He can talk in detail about duck, deer, dove - shooting and gutting them,
roasting and eating them.

It's more than the macho thing. All over the world, masculinity is a
prerequisite for power, but few hunters are in residence in presidential
palaces from Italy to France to Japan. Like cowboys, hunters are
quintessentially American.
...
In times of national crisis, voters have a gut-level attraction to the
biggest of the big-T's. They are our frontier heroes, able to shoot the
bear between the eyes and destroy the savage enemy we don't understand.

This year's presidential election takes place during one of the most
uncertain periods in modern American history. So it is no surprise that we
have narrowed the battle to two men - George W. Bush and John Kerry - who
love to hunt and are adept at presenting themselves as heroic warriors.

It is the first time in 40 years that two hunters fought it out for the
presidency, and only a victory by vegetarian Ralph Nader - particularly
unlikely in a time of war - would prevent the inauguration of a hunter
president in January.

full story:
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/8543292.htm

***(Some of the) NEWS recently added on Animalconcerns!  [Newslinks added
throughout the day!]  (Looking for something to post to your e-mail
lists?)  Look for other News Headlines added today to AnimalConcerns.org
(http://www.animalconcerns.org/):

Losing group says Sierra Club election unfair - Malibu Times
American presidents often drawn to hunting - Fort Wayne News Sentinel
Ready or not, here comes Petland; protests likely at opening - Athens News
Alleged Beagle Beater Receiving Death Threats - TheDenverChannel.com
Rescued dogs could be adopted soon - Winfield Daily Courier
Breed-Specific Legislation Considered in Boston - AKC Gazette


----------
Your Portal to Animal Concerns Forum (discussion board), More News
Headlines, AR-News on the Web, Events, E-Mail Lists, Jobs, and
Organizations! Try searching for the news item on Animalconcerns!
http://www.animalconcerns.org/





-------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/