Sarah Palin has a documentary running on cable television about life in Alaska—or more accurately, creating a myth of her. All ambitious politicians try to weave such narratives. No big deal.
I admire Palin in many ways, but am not obsessed with her. I have never watched the show. Apparently, in a recent episode she hunted and shot a caribou, and then field dressed it to bring home for food. That’s what many Alaskans do—like hunters throughout the country. As do fisher folk. And when one catches a fish or bags game, one is happy. It is called the thrill of the hunt.
But Aaron Sorkin—of West Wing fame (of course!)—has a hissy fit, calling it a “snuff film.” This, even though he states that he “happily” eats meat! From his rant in the Huffington Post (warning; like many on the Left, he can’t express himself without using profanity):
I eat meat, chicken and fish, have shoes and furniture made of leather, and PETA is not ever going to put me on the cover of their brochure and for these reasons Palin thinks it’s hypocritical of me to find what she did heart-stoppingly disgusting. I don’t think it is, and here’s why.
Like 95% of the people I know, I don’t have a visceral (look it up) problem eating meat or wearing a belt. But like absolutely everybody I know, I don’t relish the idea of torturing animals. I don’t enjoy the fact that they’re dead and I certainly don’t want to volunteer to be the one to kill them and if I were picked to be the one to kill them in some kind of Lottery-from-Hell, I wouldn’t do a little dance of joy while I was slicing the animal apart. I’m able to make a distinction between you and me without feeling the least bit hypocritical. I don’t watch snuff films and you make them. You weren’t killing that animal for food or shelter or even fashion, you were killing it for fun. You enjoy killing animals. I can make the distinction between the two of us but I’ve tried and tried and for the life of me, I can’t make a distinction between what you get paid to do and what Michael Vick went to prison for doing. I’m able to make the distinction with no pangs of hypocrisy even though I get happy every time one of you faux-macho [explitive deleted] accidentally shoots another one of you in the face.
I have fished, but never hunted. I don’t want to shoot an animal. And I no longer want to hook fish. But killing a caribou for food isn’t a snuff film, a vile and illegal recording of the actual murder (and often torture) of a human being—usually a woman—for a pornographic thrill. Second, Sorkin’s rage is so visceral that it really isn’t about the hunt. It is her and also, I think, a visceral hatred for that part of American culture often called “Red State,” in which hunting is a way of life, where pro life may be more popular than pro choice, and where people are perceived to believe in moral absolutes rather than relativism. (Interestingly, from a psychological POV, Terri Schiavo’s blood family and Michael both were on the receiving ends of Sorkin-like hatred.) Third, the man is too removed from his food. Finally, the tantrum, I think, is also about how most parts of the country rejected his politics in the last election.
Toward the end, Sorkin really goes off the rails—well, the entire column was never on the rails:
That was the first moose ever murdered for political gain.
Has he never heard of Teddy Roosevelt? Besides, it was a caribou, not a moose. Jeez. More to the point, animals can’t be murdered. If they could, as a meat eater, Sorkin would be a conspirator in the crime.
Seriously, this growing derangement over Palin is unhealthy for the haters and for the country. People who don’t want her empowered, should ignore her. Rants like this don’t ding her a bit. In fact, she’s an expert at jujitsu politics. She will happily absorb Sorkin’s hatred and use it to boost herself even higher.
But think about the unhinged bile expressed in the piece and what it is doing to the writer’s soul. If Palin were attacked, became seriously ill, or suffered a serious accident, would Sorkin (and his ilk) cheer? Based on this rant, I fear he would. I recommend counseling. Soon.
