The Dentist And The Lion

Close-up of a lion in Zimbabwe. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Right now, there are millions of people around the world--most of whose exposure to wild animals is limited to zoos, nature videos and displays in outdoor superstores--who would like to get their hands on a man who killed a protected research lion.  They'd like to strip off his clothes, drop him off somewhere in the African jungle and let him fend for himself in front of man-eating lions and tigers.

The person in question is someone we will call The Dentist (you probably know his name already, but we don't need to repeat it).  He is accused of spending $50,000 of his own money for the privilege of taking a bow and arrow to an apparently beloved lion named Cecil, who was lured outside his domain at a national park in Zimbabwe, killing him.

Once word got out, protesters and media trucks descended upon The Dentist's practice in the Minneapolis suburbs, forcing his patients to either cancel appointments or get their teeth cleaned elsewhere.  They also found out where The Dentist and his family lives (in the same city where this blog is based.  Gee, thanks.), which is why they're reportedly in hiding.  U.S. officials are currently investigating the matter, and Zimbabwe is asking for The Dentist's extradition so he could stand trial in that country.

Before we send The Dentist on his own personal (non-televised) episode of "Naked and Afraid", you should know that poaching is a real problem that's depleting endangered animals around the world.  It's tolerated in certain unscrupulous countries for the money that big game hunters like The Dentist provide, and for the valuable jewelry and cuisine that can be found in countries that haven't already banned them.

Big game hunting is quite the pastime among individuals like The Dentist with too much money and time on their hands.  Once upon a time, that type of hunter was celebrated.  When the European colonist, big businessmen or President Theodore Roosevelt came back from their African safaris, they usually showed off their kills or bragged about them to anyone who'll listen with awe.

Here in the age of social media and PETA, however, it is no longer a good idea to publish selfies of yourself with the magnificent beast you just shot on Facebook.  That would be stupid.

It's interesting that the furor over an unfortunate lion is dominating the news at a time when other forms of big game hunting--wars, terrorism, mass shootings, police and racial profiling, drone strikes, etc.--deserve more attention.  Then again, all we cared about at this time last year were those stupid  bucket challenges.

The Dentist, no matter how his fate shakes out, is a relic from a time gone by.  We no longer marvel at the giant stuffed animal that was once living and breathing, only to see it put on display in someone's private collection.   We do what we can to make sure that future generations will be able to enjoy lions, tigers, elephants and all the others in their natural habitat.  As Katy Perry might put it, you might still be able to hear them roar.

Politics 2016: The Other Guys

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are (as of 7/22/15) a total of 21 presidential candidates--16 of them Republicans--all vying for the chance to take over Barack Obama's job come 2017.  Some of them are serious contenders and are in it for the long haul, while the others are there to draw attention to issues they consider important, whether they admit it or not.

For the GOP, these are the names we have so far:  Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum.

For the Democrats:  Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Jim Webb, Martin O'Malley and Lincoln Chafee.

With all those people in the running, and primary season yet to get under way, it's hard to stand out and explain to the voters why you want the job when all you're getting in return are meager sound bites and money worries.

It's also harder if you're behind the eight-ball from the very beginning, recognition-wise, while candidates more familiar to the voters suck up the media oxygen.  Trump gets headlines for dissing Senator John McCain's war record and broadcasting Senator Graham's phone number on live TV.  Clinton has been the Democrats' presumptive nominee almost since the last election.  Jeb Bush, whose father and brother were previously Presidents, must be seeing the White House as his birthright.

Until Trump came along, the biggest flakes in the campaign were Senators Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky.  They could always be counted on to make outrageous statements intended to fire up their conservative bases, particularly the Tea Party set.  To everybody else, they were indicative of what was wrong with the Republicans.

Besides Bush, a number of present and former state governors such as Christie of New Jersey and Jindal of Louisiana are in this campaign.  Scott Walker of Wisconsin, whose labor and economic policies have alienated almost everyone there, reminds those of us on the Minnesota side of the border of the reign of Tim Pawlenty.  He ran for President too.  Oh, and doesn't Christie also have a bridge scandal to live down?

Progressives who are unhappy with or unsure of the seeming inevitability of another Clinton administration have been flocking to Bernie Sanders' side.  The independent Senator from Vermont has made himself an alternative by hammering away at his contention that (a) the rich are getting richer, and (b) the poor and middle class are so screwed.  Familiar arguments, yes, but there's little evidence so far that any of this is making a dent against Clinton.  If you believe the polls, she leaves  everyone including Trump in the dust.

It's only a matter of time before the wheat is separated from the chaff, so to speak, and some of these candidates go back to their day jobs.  Until then, we can only imagine what it must be like to be a voter in a major primary state, about to be bombarded with TV and Internet commercials from 21 different presidential candidates spending their time and (somebody else's) money chasing a dream.  We don't envy you at all.

Southern Discomfort

Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun (19th-century daguerreotype) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A few weeks ago, we asked "Is there anything new to add after the latest mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina that hasn't already been said before?  Or will likely be done about it?".  (6/22/15)

We have our answer.  Instead of more debates about gun control and the mentality of the alleged shooter, we get flag controversies and the church patrons' naive decision to forgive him before the investigation ends and his trial begins.  Anything to avoid talking about the elephant in the room, and we don't mean the one that represents the Republican Party.


Because of this, the Confederate flag and all those who pledged allegiance to it are getting the cold shoulder from African-Americans and others who think it belongs in the trash heap of history, 150 years after the end of the Civil War.  It has gone from the profound to the ridiculous.  Some examples:

• The battle flag that was used during the Civil War, and has been flown at South Carolina's state capitol for more than 50 years in reaction to the Civil Rights Movement, was taken down to cheering crowds at an otherwise solemn ceremony in Columbia.  Similar flags across the South have also been taken down.
• Cities and states across the country are taking a second look at their founders, some of whom may have been racists and/or slaveholders, and considering whether or not to keep honoring them.  Minneapolis, for one, is thinking about removing John C. Calhoun's name from a popular lake.  He was a 19th Century Vice President and Senator who often spoke in favor of slavery and states' rights.
• The cable channel TV Land (also known as TV Commercial Land, but that's another story) yanked reruns of the 1980s CBS series "The Dukes of Hazzard", because the car used on the show happened to have its roof bedecked with the Stars and Bars.  To TV Land, that must have represented more of a threat to impressionable young minds than reckless driving, moonshine or stereotyped characters.

You might say this is all political correctness running amok, an attempt to whitewash the negative aspects of American history.  Well, the Confederate flag does mean different things to different people.  To the Southern man and woman whose ancestors came here to escape the British Empire, the Stars and Bars represented loyalty, courage, and the upholding of a certain way of life.  To the African American man and woman, whose ancestors came here in chains, the flag meant slavery, lynchings and Jim Crow laws.  To everyone else, it just meant that the South was on the wrong side of history.

The American flag represents many of the same things the Confederate flag stood for, and then some.  How come no one ever talks about taking Old Glory down (not that we advocate it)?  Oh, that's right.  The Union won the war.  We still have the legal right to use the Stars and Stripes as an excuse to go to war anywhere we want, discriminate against anyone we want, and do anything else that makes patriotic Americans no different than your average Rebel.

The Confederate flag has had its day, and that day was between 1861 and 1865.  It belongs in the history books, museums and Ken Burns documentaries as a reminder that one of the bloodiest and costliest wars in human existence was fought right here, not in some faraway land.

You can take down the statues, place names and symbols of every Confederate war hero and sympathizer if it makes you feel better.  Unfortunately, you're also going to have a harder time changing people's attitudes about racial discrimination, no matter what flag they're saluting.  Or whether the alleged Charleston shooter should have had access to guns at all.  To some people, the Civil War never ended.

The Donald, Trumped

English: Donald Trump at a press conference announcing David Blaine's latest feat in New York City at the Trump Tower. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Right now, there are almost as many Republicans running for the White House in 2016 as there are in the entire roster of the World Cup-winning U.S. women's soccer team.

One of them (the candidates, not the soccer team) is Donald Trump, self-styled billionaire and TV personality who puts his name on almost everything he touches, whether it's hotels, golf courses or beauty pageants.  He's also been known to lose a lot of money, whether it's through bankruptcy, bad business decisions or costly divorces.

Trump is making another run at the presidency, focusing on America's immigration policy.  Only this time, instead of making a big deal out of President Barack Obama showing his birth certificate to prove he's a real American, Trump's been chastising Mexico for allegedly sending their 'criminals' and 'rapists' across the border.

Cue the backlash.  Thus far several companies, TV networks and other semi-notables have ended their business relationship with Trump because of his remarks.  The Miss USA Pageant, which was dropped by NBC, has been picked up by a small satellite network called Reelz Channel--which just happens to be owned by Minnesota-based Hubbard Broadcasting. 

Surprisingly, instead of sounding the death knell for his campaign, Trump has received enough support to put himself at or near the top of the GOP field.  He's even been praised in some quarters for putting the immigration issue front and center, while all the other candidates seem to be dancing around it.  Ever defiant in defense of his Mexico remarks, Trump told NBC News that he expects to win the Latino vote once he wins the nomination.

This isn't to say most political pundits are going to give Trump a snowball's chance of being President.  Not in a New York minute.  The experts point out that Trump's celebrity status, business track record and blunt talk will come back to bite him big time as primary and caucus season nears.  Voters are more likely to choose someone who doesn't rock the boat so much, or carries loads of baggage.  That doesn't bode well for Trump.

Which means that Donald Trump is more likely to mend fences with his former business partners, rather than to strengthen the ones that run across the U.S.-Mexico border.  Once people get tired of him, he'll be slinking back to his boardroom wondering why America "fired" him.

Love (and Obamacare) Is The Law Of The Land

United States Supreme Court building. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions on two days in June told us that (A) this isn't as conservative a court as we were led to believe, and (B) Republicans and all other right-thinking people are behaving  like Chicken Littles.  You know, the sky is falling and all that.

On June 25, the Affordable Health Care Act (also known as Obamacare) survived another challenge when the justices ruled 6-3 that federal subsidies can be used to help pay for the six million Americans who need affordable health insurance.

Republicans in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail have been hollering about getting rid of the ACA for years.  Trouble is, they don't seem to have a decent alternative--or at least we've never heard one--besides tweaking it to favor the big insurance companies.

Because of this ruling, some states are considering dumping their health insurance exchanges in favor of the federal one.  If they're as badly run as Minnesota's MNSure program, with technical and logistical snafus galore, then the Court just gave those states an out.

On June 26, the justices ruled 5-4 that same-sex marriage is now legal in all 50 states.  This includes the 13 or so states that had outright bans, or whose appeals were pending in their Supreme Courts.

As Americans who have seen positive portrayals of gays and lesbians on TV and/or in their own lives celebrate the decision, others are reacting in horror as the America they thought they knew and loved had turned into an alien culture in which Christianity isn't the only game in town any more.

Same-sex marriage is going to be the 21st century version of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion--an issue we'll still be fighting about decades from now.   Only instead of pitting
"life begins at conception" versus "a woman's right to choose", it will now be "homosexuality is a sin" versus "everybody's got the right to love".  And just like abortion, conservative states will keep passing laws to make it more difficult for gay and lesbian couples to get married, find employment or raise families.  No one wins.

These two rulings signify that the Supreme Court recognizes that America is changing with affordable health care and same sex couples becoming an accepted part of society, and the laws need to change with them.  What they have also done is to open a new can of worms that ultimately might do more harm than good to the country.