Robert Mugabe Eats A Zoo

 

No, that is not hyperbole, but from an actual headline at The Independent (UK) dated March 1, 2015. From the article:

Robert Mugabe isn’t known for his subdued taste, and his million-dollar birthday was just as extravagant as people have come to expect.

The ZANU-PF leader saw in his 92nd year with the slaughter of wild animals, including an elephant, which were cooked and served to his guests. …

His guests were fed a young elephant, and two buffaloes, two sables and five impalas were also donated to the president by a local landowner. He also threw in a lion and a crocodile to be stuffed as an extra gift for Mugabe. On top of this, 40 cows were offered to the president by two members of his government. A second elephant is going to be shot and given to the Victoria Falls community.

I suppose those who are freaking out over Cecil the Lion will soon be travelling to Harare to leave stuffed animals and placards at Mr. Mugabe’s residence, calling him a coward and a murderer. And no doubt Jimmy Kimmel will follow up with another tearful monologue.

No? Of course not. For what l’affaire Cecil is really about, read John Derbyshire’s take on the matter. It’s yet another battle in the ongoing Cold Civil War.

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  1. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    For a second there, I thought you were announcing the discovery of a lost Dr. Seuss book, Robbie Eats a Zoo.

    I meant what I said
    And I said what I meant.
    An elephant’s delicious
    One hundred percent.

    • #1
  2. Susan in Seattle Member
    Susan in Seattle
    @SusaninSeattle

    Most excellent.  Thanks!

    • #2
  3. Sandy Member
    Sandy
    @Sandy

    Brilliant!  I’m going to find a way to work this into every possible conversation. “How ’bout that Mugabe, eh?”  I’ll stress the elephant murders, because everyone of any sense will find that appalling,  and just throw in the lion bit as an afterthought.  Can’t wait.

    • #3
  4. Kay of MT Inactive
    Kay of MT
    @KayofMT

    Thank you Mike for posting this. The Mugabe is something else again. So much evil in this world, and they are celebrated.

    • #4
  5. DocJay Inactive
    DocJay
    @DocJay

    Loved Derbs good white bad white comedy. This whole thing is comedy now.

    • #5
  6. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    And to think Mugabe didn’t invite any Ricochetti to the Party. cheapskate.

    • #6
  7. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    DocJay:Loved Derbs good white bad white comedy.This whole thing is comedy now.

    Derb is classic.  And I’m glad that his podcast has found a new home.  Looking forward to hearing more of the adventures of Mandy, Candy, and Brandy. ;-)

    TalkDerby

    • #7
  8. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    Jules PA:And to think Mugabe didn’t invite any Ricochetti to the Party. cheapskate.

    Indeed.  How can you have a party without the Chix?

    • #8
  9. Ryan M Inactive
    Ryan M
    @RyanM

    Where is derb’s new home?

    • #9
  10. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    Ryan M:Where is derb’s new home?

    Vdare.com.  He moved there because he wants to work on some book projects, but his commitments to TakiMag were preventing him from doing so.  I hope this means that Radio Derb will return to iTunes.  TakiMag pulled Derb Radio off of iTunes last fall in order to put it behind a paywall.

    • #10
  11. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    Mike LaRoche:

    Ryan M:Where is derb’s new home?

    Vdare.com. He moved there because he wants to work on some book projects, but his commitments to TakiMag were preventing him from doing so. I hope this means that Radio Derb will return to iTunes. TakiMag pulled Derb Radio off of iTunes last fall in order to put it behind a paywall.

    I followed the link you provided. VDare says Radio Derb is there now and free once again.  There is a link in the top header tool bar on the page.

    • #11
  12. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    Judge Mental:

    Mike LaRoche:

    Ryan M:Where is derb’s new home?

    Vdare.com. He moved there because he wants to work on some book projects, but his commitments to TakiMag were preventing him from doing so. I hope this means that Radio Derb will return to iTunes. TakiMag pulled Derb Radio off of iTunes last fall in order to put it behind a paywall.

    I followed the link you provided. VDare says Radio Derb is there now and free once again. There is a link in the top header tool bar on the page.

    Yes, but right now it’s only in mp3 format.  I listened to the podcast last night. But I’m hoping they’ll put back in iTunes format as well.

    • #12
  13. Douglas Inactive
    Douglas
    @Douglas

    Mike LaRoche:

    Judge Mental:

    Mike LaRoche:

    Ryan M:Where is derb’s new home?

    Vdare.com. He moved there because he wants to work on some book projects, but his commitments to TakiMag were preventing him from doing so. I hope this means that Radio Derb will return to iTunes. TakiMag pulled Derb Radio off of iTunes last fall in order to put it behind a paywall.

    I followed the link you provided. VDare says Radio Derb is there now and free once again. There is a link in the top header tool bar on the page.

    Yes, but right now it’s only in mp3 format. I listened to the podcast last night. But I’m hoping they’ll put back in iTunes format as well.

    I’ll settle for an RSS feed (which iTunes relies on anyway… Apple just tacks on their own server redirector address). I’ve emailed Vdare asking them about it.

    • #13
  14. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    What a great column. Thanks!

    • #14
  15. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Mike,

    Oh boy Mike. Where to we begin here. The absurdities abound. Ignoring Mugabe’s tyrannical regime. Kimmel’s abuse of his undeserved audience. The media’s capacity for triviality hyper-following the lion story. Derb who is great and never should have lost his spot at NR.

    A field day for foolishness.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #15
  16. Claire Berlinski, Ed. Member
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.
    @Claire

    Handing it to you, Mike. I swore I would not even look at another post or article anywhere about Cecil, but I was unaware of that article in the Independent, and my, that is one mighty strong point.

    I register — as a cat lover — my sadness for both lions. I’m on the side of those who firmly think we should let the cats be, so long as they’re at a safe distance. But the Sturm und Drang over this is a sign of a culture so frighteningly divorced from reality — and so easily turned into a dangerous mob — that I’m wondering how we can ever recover.

    There is a point about this that’s important, though, and puts us all in a dilemma. Part of the problem with hysterias like this is that once they get rolling, they have a momentum driven by the economics of the Internet. Past a certain ignition point, it’s a guaranteed money-maker to put yet another reaction to the story (pro-Cecil or against-Cecil-hysterics) on the front page. Because people will click on it. And you can show those numbers to your advertisers, who like that.

    And that feeds further interest in it.

    Tom and I were chatting about this backstage: It’s a real dilemma, because every minute people spend thinking about or reading this story is a minute they’re not spending thinking about or reading a new story — or a much more important one. But newspapers/Internet sites that have to stay in business can’t ignore the fact that they’ll be creamed by any tabloid with a Cecil headline right now. So what to do, if you’re a responsible news/discussion site?

    Anyone have any ideas?

    I’d sworn “no more Cecil posts on Main, it feeds the mob by giving this story prominence, even as we rail against that mob,” but I overruled myself when I read this, because the point about Mugabe is really so worth making. That was my justification.

    Was I right? Wrong?

    • #16
  17. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    Claire Berlinski, Ed.: I’d sworn “no more Cecil posts on Main, it feeds the mob by giving this story prominence, even as we rail against that mob,”

    Wait you know “Cecil” isn’t Trump’s nickname right??  :)

    • #17
  18. Claire Berlinski, Ed. Member
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.
    @Claire

    Concretevol:

    Claire Berlinski, Ed.: I’d sworn “no more Cecil posts on Main, it feeds the mob by giving this story prominence, even as we rail against that mob,”

    Wait you know “Cecil” isn’t Trump’s nickname right?? :)

    Cecil even managed to push him off the news.

    While I don’t usually treat reporting from al Jazeera as unimpeachable in its commitment to accuracy (although since they bought all the Western journalists, it’s sure become better), this sounds as if it could be true, doesn’t it?

    Cecil who?’ Zimbabweans ask

    … Cecil’s tragedy has catapulted Zimbabwe in the news cycle; this time the villain is a dentist from Minnesota, not the usual characters from the political tribe. Reading about a “famous” and “much-loved” Zimbabwean lion in the international news, I was surprised that I did not know Cecil or that he was famous. I remembered Maswerasei, a lion that caused terror in Hurungwe, a rural area in the northwest of Zimbabwe, in the late 1980s. Myths were built around Maswerasei; legend has it that the notorious lion appeared only close to sunset, when people typically ask “Maswerasei” when they meet, meaning “How has your day been?”

    Cecil was new to me. So I did a quick poll in my friends and family in Zimbabwe and around the world. None of them knew Cecil, who was supposedly “a symbol of Zimbabwe,” as one British paper put it.

    The Zimbabwean reaction on social media was mixed and reflected conflicting sentiments. Many were outraged. Others were skeptical about the international media coverage of the story. Zimbabwe is going through serious economic challenges. Most people have pressing needs — food, shelter and employment. Thousands of workers have been laid off after a Supreme Court judgment earlier this month that allows companies to terminate workers without offering severance packages. Itai Dzamara, a Zimbabwean democracy activist, has been missing for more than four months. His family, friends and sympathizers are worried about his safety and whereabouts. Unlike Cecil’s story, Dzamara’s has not received much international coverage.

    So forgive us ordinary Zimbabweans if our attention appears not so focused on Cecil.

    • #18
  19. Jimmy Carter Member
    Jimmy Carter
    @JimmyCarter

    The Crass Menagerie

    I’m not surprised at all by the public’s reaction over Cecil’s demise. This is the exact same reaction We get when a politician talks of stopping public funding for Sesame Street.

    I say We elect Dr. Palmer just for that purpose. We know He will pull the trigger on Big Bird.

    • #19
  20. Nick Stuart Inactive
    Nick Stuart
    @NickStuart

    Claire Berlinski, Ed.:

    While I don’t usually treat reporting from al Jazeera as unimpeachable in its commitment to accuracy (although since they bought all the Western journalists, it’s sure become better), this sounds as if it could be true, doesn’t it?

    Of course. This would put al Jazeera among the New York Times and MSNBC in its commitment to accuracy.

    • #20
  21. Aaron Miller Inactive
    Aaron Miller
    @AaronMiller

    The last time I watched a documentary about lions, a male lion ate his own cub. Ahh, the unspoiled beauty of nature!

    A couple years ago, Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, released another game in their Far Cry action series. This one was set in a fictional land similar to the Himalayas and included elephants. Far Cry games are open world adventures that combine the dangers of men (warlords) with the dangers of wildlife. In Far Cry 4, players are tasked with killing deer, bears, tigers, rhinos, wild dogs, badgers, eagles, and other animals. It’s fun.

    Note that rhinos and tigers are endangered species. But “the Internet” only cared about elephants. Before the game’s launch, gamers and journalists heaped scorn on the developers for allowing killing of virtual elephants. Nevermind that half the game is killing virtual humans.

    Nearly every animal in the game can be skinned (without a realistic graphic) so that skin can be sold to traders; not so with elephants. Players can ride elephants into battle. But Mugabe forbid a fictional elephant kill should be profitable!

    • #21
  22. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Don’t get me started on pandas.

    • #22
  23. Brian Clendinen Inactive
    Brian Clendinen
    @BrianClendinen

    My brother has told me BBQ Hippo is really good. He spent quite a few summers just out side of Victoria on the sane side of the river.

    • #23
  24. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    Brian Clendinen:My brother has told me BBQ Hippo is really good. He spent quite a few summers just out side of Victoria on the sane side of the river.

    Looks like it would be kindof rubbery…..was it a dry rub or tomato base bbq?  :-)

    • #24
  25. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Claire Berlinski, Ed.:
    I’d sworn “no more Cecil posts on Main, it feeds the mob by giving this story prominence, even as we rail against that mob,” but I overruled myself when I read this, because the point about Mugabe is really so worth making. That was my justification.

    Was I right? Wrong?

    You were Right.

    Isn’t the fact that Mugabe the human-hunter parallels Palmer’s lion-hunting even more important than all of the Cecil-Stuff?

    • #25
  26. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    Isn’t Vdare a White Nationalist affiliate website?

    • #26
  27. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Jamie Lockett:Isn’t Vdare a White Nationalist affiliate website?

    Only if you believe the leftist smear merchants at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

    • #27
  28. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Did someone mention Zoo.

    https://vid.me/MhnX

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #28
  29. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    Basil Fawlty: Only if you believe the leftist smear merchants at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

    Is that the source? I don’t frequent SPLC stuff so I must have read it elsewhere.

    • #29
  30. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Jamie Lockett:

    Basil Fawlty: Only if you believe the leftist smear merchants at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

    Is that the source? I don’t frequent SPLC stuff so I must have read it elsewhere.

    Parroted, it would appear, by the fine folks as Right-Wing Watch and Salon.

    • #30
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