Palin’s War on Polar Bears
It’s a little bit unusual to put someone on the national ticket who nobody’s ever heard of or knows anything about. Normally you want someone who has some kind of national profile, or at least is well-known to political professionals or something. Sarah Palin is more of a “hey did you know Alaska has a super-young woman as its governor?” kind of person — noteworthy for who she is, but totally unknown as an actual politician. Hence a lot of Googling this morning.
It turns out, for example, that she’s been leading on odd crusade to deny Endangered Species Act protection to polar bears. I have some friends who think polar bears are actually cuter than pandas, which is absurd, but I think we can all agree that this is a pretty cute animal — it’s not like we’re talking about a snail darter or something.
60 Responses to “Palin’s War on Polar Bears”
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August 29th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Guess you haven’t heard that it’s a big talking point among the right that polar bears are not endangered and that it’s just a liberal conspiracy to hurt business and jobs and Jesus and what not. You’ll hear this every few days as you tune past Rush Limbaugh.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Anybody ever seen a polar bear up close? Pretty formidable animal, and quite a set of claws.
Even if cute isn’t the right word, they’re obviously an endangered species.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:28 am
McCain-polar bears ‘08!
August 29th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Well, I’m for saving endangered species and polar bears do look kind of cute, but if you live in Alaska, you know that a polar bear will eat you and quickly, if given a chance. That knowledge frames the issue a bit.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Here in Worcester, MA, we have a polar bear. In fact, I was just watching it this past Sunday.
Fuck you, Sarah Palin, for trying to kill Kenda.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Don’t go after the charismatic megafauna.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:33 am
polar bears at play:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE-Nyt4Bmi8
August 29th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Polar bears are one of very few animals which are known to deliberately stalk, kill and eat human beings. Which is not to say that they shouldn’t be protected, of course – but they’ve never struck me as being particularly cute.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Please stop harshing on polar bears. Not as cute as panda bears, but definitely cute.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Polar bears are one of very few animals which are known to deliberately stalk, kill and eat human beings.
Well, I don’t see why they can’t still be cute while doing that.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:42 am
but if you live in Alaska, you know that a polar bear will eat you and quickly, if given a chance.
Another reason not to live in fucking Alaska.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:43 am
succinct assessment of Palin of a blog commenter at another site: Dan Qayle with Tits.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:44 am
More grist for the mill, to add to her anti-Panda, pro-nepotism agenda:
http://www.adn.com/626/story/382864.html
August 29th, 2008 at 11:45 am
succinct assessment of Palin of a blog commenter at another site: Dan Qayle with Tits.
McCain’s so senile he picked the branch manager of his Bank of America to be his running mate.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:52 am
“Superyoung”? She’s 3 years younger than Obama.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:56 am
C’mon, this post is just silly. The Endangered Species Act has nothing to do with protecting “cute” animals. It’s about preserving biodiversity, which is why environmentalist made an effort to protect the utterly unattractive snail darter. The ESA has no practical application with respect to pandas anyway, as there is no natural population in the United States. Nevertheless, you are right, the panda is way cuter than the polar bear.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:59 am
This pick scares me. I believe that America, in its heart of hearts, even in this day and age, will not vote for the black guy and will pull the lever for the MILF.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
At least someone’s taking a sensible position on these psychopaths.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
A.) I can’t wait for Colbert to comment on this
B.) i hope Obama runs an ad like this:
the narrator runs down the laundry list of reasons we need to get off our addiction to oil, maybe include the Bush quote for good measure.
then put up the Upton Sinclair quote ‘It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.’ And have the Narrator recite her and her husband’s resumes.
C.) Can we call her a welfare queen? Do Alaskans get higher payouts per kid?
August 29th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Harumph! Polar bears are much cuter than pandas.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Let’s save the polar bears so they can stalk, kill and eat Republicans.
Oh, wait…they stalk humans
August 29th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Sounds like she’s one of those Republicans who’s in denial about global warming. Admitting the polar bears are endangered would be admitting global warming is real and their homes are MELTING! total non-issue, in the grand scheme of things, I know. Ther’ll be a lot of googling over the next few months!
August 29th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Polar bears are not “cute.” They are GORGEOUS. (Okay, of course their cubs are cute.) They are magnificent, stirring predators. They are also living creatures who have no choice about where they will live, unlike humans. They share this planet and have every right to do so. We have no right to make decisions that affect the lives of other species. It’s not just our planet – it’s every living creature’s planet.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I think this one’s easy. If the polar bear is endangered due to our use of fossil fuel (& that’s going to be the conclusion if it’s acknowledged that polar bears are endangered), then Alaska sooner rather than later will lose its single largest income stream – the one coming from drilling oil in Alaska.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Sarah Palin hates Polar Bears.
Coca Cola uses polar bears in their holiday advertising and they invented the image of Santa Claus as we know him.
Therefore, Sarah Palin hates Christmas.
At least this false syllogism passes for logic in Republican circles.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
You all should check it out from a scientific perspective instead of political. There’s a debate in biologist circles. The polar bear is quite an amazing animal. If it’s true that the undeniable shrinking ice pack will provide less habitat and worse seal hunting for the bear than I’d say they will only survive in zoos. If they adapt to the warmer environment they could thrive.
In any case whatever happens will, as global warming is hard to reverse in the short term.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
some of whom can’t even remember how many houses they live in.
Maybe we could use McCain’s spare houses for polar bears?
August 29th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
let’s not forget she advocates shooting wolves from helicopters – a single image of that and a drowning polar bear and there goes the mommy votet
August 29th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
if you live in Alaska, you know that a polar bear will eat you and quickly, if given a chance.
All things being equal, polar bears would rather have a nice, fat, tasty seal than a puny though similarly obese human, I reckon. Except that with receding ice, hunting seals is becoming less feasible for bears and so hey, Usain Bolt aside, we don’t run very fast!
“Polar bears are kyuuut!” advocates are clearly in the pocket of the His Dark Materials lobby.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Polar bears are great to look at but they got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn’t seem to be living… until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then… ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin’.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
From my understanding of family that lives in Alaska, the polar bear issue comes down much more on the side of who pays to fund the programs to save polar bears. Alaskans say not us, because we aren’t the sole cause of global warming and can’t stop global warming ourselves – we want someone else to pay for it. Not a real “we hate polar bears” argument. Global warming is not a states issue. Not understanding that states rights are huge in these more rural (for the lack of a better word) areas – is really a downfall for Democrats. Of course, watching your environmentalist brother & sister-in-law support drilling in ANWR and be against saving the polar bears is interesting to say the least. At least they were against the big mine to set up around the rivers for salmon spawning.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
It’s one more part of McCain’s war against the bears. He’s been using an anecdote on the stump about how the federal government funded research to study grizzly bear DNA by collecting hairs. It’s actually really innovative and effective research that saved a lot of money and gives us a much better sense of how grizzly populations are doing. But hey, if it makes a good anecdote, McCain will use regardless of the consequences.
August 29th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
If they adapt to the warmer environment they could thrive.
Evolution is an amazing thing. But the idea that polar bears, which have evolved over millions of years, are going to dramatically adapt to no ice (or any of the prey they hunt off it) in 20-50 years is a bit daft.
August 29th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
“To me, there is no such thing as a secret world of the bears, and this blank stare speaks only of a half-bored interest in food.” –Werner Herzog
August 29th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Evolution is an amazing thing. But the idea that polar bears, which have evolved over millions of years, are going to dramatically adapt to no ice (or any of the prey they hunt off it) in 20-50 years is a bit daft.
Their behaviors might be a bit more plastic than that.
August 29th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Like tigers, polar bears fall into the aesthetic category of “sublime” — no? Incidentally, a scientific-minded friend told me that they evolved rather recently from ordinary American black bears.
August 29th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
The effort to prevent polar bears from being ut on the endangered species list is a lot more reasonable than Matt is making it out to be.
When a species is endangered primarily by encroachment on its habitat, that is fairly easy to remedy by reducing encroachment in their habitat, which is usually a relatively small area. So perhaps two or three streams are affected.
With the polar bears, on the other hand, the supposed endangerment is due to global warming, which is presumed to be due to the use of fossil fuels. This means that in theory, whatever agency enforces the ESA could use the endangerment of the polar bears to unilaterally impose restrictions on the use of fossil fuel. In other words, they could bypass the political debate over our greenhouse gas policy and start imposing regulations without a mechanism for direct feedback (as the regulators would not be elected officials). Whether this would actually happen or not, a lot of people are convinced that it is a possibility, and it is understandable that this would put them against the listing of the polar bear as endangered.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
They’re cute until they rip your liver out and eat it.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Maybe if her brother-in-law had shot a Polar Bear instead of a Moose he’d still be married to her sister.
August 30th, 2008 at 3:47 am
Has anyone followed-up on the May 25th Anchorage Daily News’ report that Palin may have misled the public (and govt agencies) regarding Alaska’s internal review of studies on climate change threats to polar bears?
http://www.adn.com/news/environment/story/416432.html
(or see here)
September 8th, 2008 at 9:06 am
http://www.brightcecilia.com/pictures/watchforpalin.jpg
September 20th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
I don’t think a polar bear will just specifically go looking for a human to eat. If they do its because humans have invaded their areas and have contributed to decreasing their source of food. And if you are one of those humans that are involved in invadeing the polar bears territory you should be eaten by a polar bear.
Are humans that stupid to think we can pick and choose which species of animals should exsist and where they should live. What the hell is wrong with people. Live and let live.
October 25th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I guess you could say nobody ever heard of B.O. until a year ago. Obama was only in congress 143 days before he ran for president.
Why would you want a socialist who is favored by Fidel Castro?
America is headed for worse trouble than we’re in if this non-American wins.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyspCRmJv7w
November 27th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
As temperatures drop and snow flurries begin to fly in November, some Wisconsin wildlife animals begin looking for spots where they can avoid the cold by either hibernating or enter a long winter’s sleep. State wildlife officials say that
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