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The Social-Media Mob Bags Another Trophy
I don’t hunt and — at the risk of losing my conservative bona fides — I also don’t own a firearm and have never pulled the trigger on anything more powerful than a pellet gun. Furthermore, I agree that a distinction can be drawn between hunting animal populations that pose a threat when their numbers get too great and hunting rare or exotic animals purely for sport.
But even with no vested interest in the topic, I found myself rushing to the defense of Cecil the Lion’s “murderer,” Dr. Walter Palmer, a Minnesota dentist. Not because I agree with what he did, but because I disagree with what happened to him as a result of the story going viral.
For those of you who missed it, the short version is that Palmer enjoys big-game trophy hunting and paid more than $50,000 for what he believed to be a legal and properly-permitted expedition in Africa. As it turned out, there is significant doubt about whether Palmer and his guides acted legally, having allegedly lured Cecil off of a protected preserve in order to hunt him.
The bone of contention for critics actually isn’t the legality, but the death of a beautiful animal at the hands of an evil hunter. I saw comment after comment on all forms of social media calling for karmic justice to befall Palmer, with many going as far as to encourage others to do whatever they could to shut his business down.
The Yelp! page for his dental practice was flooded by terrible reviews based on his killing of this lion. Multiple articles from the heroes at Gawker Media and a few other lefty sites openly cheered the pitchfork-and-torch routine. Reports now indicate that his business is on hold (and the future of his practice is in doubt) and that Palmer has gone into hiding.
Several of the folks I saw commenting today openly rooted for Palmer’s death, while one person — who is actually a friend of mine — literally said that Palmer should be raped for killing this animal.
Raped.
Naturally, I told my friend that this was not only insane, but also that anyone who thinks someone should lose his business or his life for trophy hunting is more barbaric than trophy hunters are. Although my friend and I remain so, most of the people with whom I tried to engage — civilly and thoughtfully — were content to name-call and block when confronted with even a hint of an idea that didn’t mesh with their own view on the topic.
Again, I think being anti-trophy-hunting is an entirely reasonable position to take. However, the point where I jump off that train is when the anti-hunting folks think that someone who engages in this activity should not be able to make a living anymore, to say nothing of those who think he should be physically harmed.
In our fits of vengeance, we are far too quick to destroy people we’ve never met because they offend our sensibilities. Here, Palmer did something that many people find objectionable, but we’ve certainly seen similar things done to other folks who have done far less. The goal for most isn’t really “justice” in a traditional sense. Rather, despite their high-minded moralizing, they actually seek the brief, primitive euphoria of power coupled with feelings of superiority.
No regard is given to the life that may have been destroyed by these actions. And why should there be, after all? What is the life of this man compared to the life of a beautiful animal? Never mind that few even knew this animal existed before today. And never mind as well that many, many people get far more agitated over the death of a single lion than they do over — I don’t know, let me pull one example at random — the collection and sale of fetal body parts.
Thus, for the millionth time during the era of social media, the edges of what we might call “humanity” look just a bit more frayed tonight, and I am left to stick up for someone with whom I wouldn’t normally side.
Why? Because, even if I might otherwise oppose to trophy hunting, I’m much more strongly opposed to social-media mobs getting to decide who has the right to exist without fear of losing his job… or more.
Published in General
I killed him, did a dance around him, high fived my friend, carved him up, and I’ve eaten him. I also rode his dead body for photo ops.
Options for a 7×6 elk are me killing him one fall or being eaten by wolves that winter or the next.. Ten seconds of whiskey tango foxtrot or the agony of the wolf pack. nature is a tough thing and humans would do well to understand the violent nature of our world.
Well they will not allow you to hunt people so you have to go with what you can get. Personally I think bagging liberal Democrats would be a fun sport. I can just see Harry Reid’s stuffed head hanging from my wall. I would treasure that sight for a long time.
Did you lure it off of a protected game preserve first?
I have no objection to hunting. I don’t even (necessarily) object to hunting lions, if done in compliance with the appropriate legal requirements.
I have very strong objections to what this guy is accused of doing – 1: Luring the animal off of a game preserve, and 2: Shooting a collared animal.
As stated previously, the guy is pretty much indistinguishable from a poacher, and could have (should have) been shot on sight. The sign I posted earlier (from a game preserve in Zimbabwe) warns that you can be shot without warning just for being out of your vehicle in an unauthorized spot within the preserve.
I am still trying to figure out what Walter Palmer did that was so wrong. He paid to and hunted on private land hiring professional hunters and with the permission of the land owner. The lion was not in the preserve but was on private property. It does look like the land owner and the professional hunters are in some trouble because they did not follow all the laws and get the proper government to hunt on their private land according to that country’s laws but that still does not seem to reflect poorly on Palmer. So why the flack? And why the flack in this country since this all seemed to happened on the other side of the planet.
I’m with you, Doc.
If this guy hunted in a way that is unethical and illegal, there are ways to address that issue other than to have him tweeted to death by people who don’t know what they’re talking about.
Miffed, I’m positive the guides did horribly violate the law. I have no clue about the hunter, who I am sure couldn’t see the collar at night but may or may not have been a party to the poaching ( we dont know). What I do know are about 100 Safari club members of which this dentist is one of tens of thousands. They would shun him forever if he did that.
As far as killing poachers, of course that’s what should be done as it lessens poaching but that sign is primarily meant for the impoverished natives or more specifically the poaching gangs with AK 47’s. Taken to that conclusion, I passed on the story ( very ambiguous) of my friend who hunted and killed elephant poachers. Not the law mind you, but a vigilante taking lives of those who take his livelihood.
Without hunting lions there will be only poaching and the population will be gone in a few decades. The locals are poor and consider western laws and ideas to be lunacy. If eco tourism can better the finances then the Africans will do it instead. The animals are their resource. Maybe they should charge 50K photo op?
I still cannot discern how much he knew or participated in this poaching. The issue of trophy hunting is now front and center yet if this man did this deed, he is now unwelcome in the society he craves the most. Hunters despise cheaters and those who give the sport a bad name.
The issue should be about poaching. There’s many a Chinese dude that thinks nothing of poaching a near extinct rhino for it’s horn yet this story gets legs for other reasons.
White American Capitalist Male. Beautiful loved lion. Poaching.
Perfect to extrapolate.
There is a really good reason why hunting is fun—especially though not exclusively for men. It’s because being good at hunting meant the difference between plenty of protein, and not enough protein for human families for many thousands of years. We get better at doing something when we enjoy doing it. Men who enjoyed hunting and practiced it a lot tended to eat better, and provide more meat for their families.
I work with (and think very highly of) a lot of guys who think hunting is really fun. I think lots of much stranger things are really fun, and I eat meat (including that given to me by my hunter friends!) and wear leather boots.
DocJay—I want you to read Here If You Need Me. I know, I know—shameless self-promotion, but I think you’d like it.
We pinch ’em for poaching bears for their gall bladders, too. Whenever anyone gets all excited about the superiority of Chinese Medicine, I bring that up.
Sounds like it might have been a physician-assisted suicide.
So my understanding is that there are many, many safaris in Zimbabwe with hundreds of lions killed annually.
Is the issue here that this dentist killed a lion period? That he is a suspected poacher? Is it that he used a crossbow? That he shot Cecil and not some other lion? That the hunt was not sporting? All of the above, none of the above?
What if the hunter had been a Zimbabwe native, same outrage? Any outrage?
Can’t follow the link. Glad you wear leather boots and tolerate the grunting crowd. Some of us are good folks.
I made a new one. Let’s see if it works. Nope. It didn’t. Dang.
This is Finding Nemo, Bambi and The Lion King all rolled into one. Remember it was a dentist in FN who took Nemo, because he supposedly was “struggling for life out on the reef.” And then there’s the part where Marlin is explaining to the sharks that a diver took his son, and one shark says “probably American.” Dr. Palmer is a real-life P. Sherman, DDS. Blame Pixar and Disney.
A very cogent perspective from NRO’s “Human Exceptionalism” blog:
Source: http://www.nationalreview.com/human-exceptionalism/421765/jail-cecils-poaching-killer-wesley-j-smith
For me, the issue is that he killed a protected lion in a protected national park, contrary to the laws of the nation where he was a guest. This particular lion was elderly and so used to humans that it was almost tame, and the hunter needlessly did the deed in a very cruel and painful way.
It is akin to torturing a zoo or circus animal. It violates human dignity, let alone the laws of Zimbabwe.
Now, I do not agree with the SJW crowd that this man should be executed, but I do agree with those that say he should be charged and tried under Zimbabwe’s justice system.
Of course, some might say that he cannot expect to receive a fair trial in a country like Zimbabwe. I would counter that he should have thought of that before travelling there.
One is not immune to the laws of a country where one is a guest simply because one disagrees with those laws.
Had he killed a lion in a game preserve where hunting lions is a legal activity, then that would be a different story. Those
are notdo not appear to be the facts of this case.If it’s true that the man did not violate any laws, then he should have no qualms about facing the Zimbabwean justice system.
I have little patience for tourists who break other countries’ laws and then complain, “how was I to know?”
It’s the risk one takes when one travels to another country.
(I make some allowances for journalists, missionaries, aid workers, etc, who are not “in country” simply for their own pleasure, but only some.)
This is nonsense, of course. Zimbabwe does not have justice. Just ask any of the farmers whose land was stolen from them.
Zimbabwe is a kleptocracy.
In that case, one has only oneself to blame if one chooses that country as a holiday destination. A man that wealthy surely has no right to claim ignorance of how that country is run.
Once again, the argument boils down to, “it’s acceptable to violate Zimbabwe’s laws because I don’t like Zimbabwe’s laws.”
Bring it home.
If most Americans unknowingly commit a felony a day…. what is the conclusion?
So he’s guilty because some people on social media say so even though he denies it. We should also extradite him to Zimbabwe too, a country known for fair courts, private land laws, and fair currencies.
Our Americans in Iran faced their justice system. Served em right for going eh?
I don’t know. Has Zimbabwe asked for him to be extradited? Do we even have an extradition agreement with Zimbabwe?
And if he is extradited, could we in return get some of those good Zimbabwe coffee beans? The last time I had a cup of good Zimbabwe coffee was in September 2003, and it was one of the best cups of coffee my wife and I ever had. But the coffee infrastructure in Zimbabwe is a mess, and it’s hard for importers to get good quality beans from that country anymore.
They used to mix the beans with the blood of the endangered species. You could taste the life debt with every sip. Then the Eco nazis took over ….darn you Starbucks.
That’s a new twist on the relationship between large cats and coffee. Traditionally the cats defecate the beans before they are harvested. But that’s Kopi Luwak. You are correct in assuming that the animal rights crowd is not pleased.
Darn anti-dentites.
The facts as I understand them: (Isn’t it frustrating to spend 20 minutes reading news and still not know the key facts.) a Zimbabwe conservation group claims that the guides lured the lion from a (no hunting) park to a (open hunting) game preserve. The hunter probably didn’t know this.
The most reasonable result (in the absence of social justice warrior intervention) is that the guides will be charged, convicted and lose their livelihood for a couple of years, or longer. The hunter will lose his trophy (which he spent $50,000 on.)
It is right to be subject to the laws of the country you are visiting. It is not right to want laws punished out of proportion to precedent.
The best summary of the detail I’ve seen so far.
http://www.vdare.com/articles/john-derbyshire-cecil-the-lion-and-the-goodwhite-badwhite-cold-civil-war
by John Derbyshire, of course.