Was it Stalin who called naive dupes in capitalist countries that worked for
him useful fools? Anyway, that’s what the Times is practicing when they
publicize as legitimate the two letters in Monday's paper.
In the first letter, Ingrid Newkirk defends a suspected animal thief and
informs us of pet owners who "have no business possessing them" (i.e.
pets). In the second letter Heidi Prescott tells us, "Hunters try to
convince the public that they care about wildlife - but that caring stops if it
does not include an opportunity to kill."
Both letters take the classic propaganda approach by starting with reasonable
premises, pet welfare and urban wild animal control, to spread their ideology of
a society with no pets or hunters. Other animal uses to be eliminated include
drug testing, fur, rodeos, fishing, circuses, meat, eggs, leather, and on and
on. Oh yes, gun control is also high on their list so they can intimidate
opponents as they do in England today with physical threats and force. The end
of the game they are playing is political control for their own purposes. Those
purposes are much broader than is apparent.
When the Times gives their propaganda a legitimate feature, the Times is a
useful fool. It doesn’t‚t take a history major to know that if they obtain
the power they seek, PETA and the Fund for Animals will treat conservative
values and papers like the Times just as Stalin treated useful fools.
Jim Beers
6 August 2001
