Whether you like her politics or not, whether you watch her show or not, you’ve got to hand it to Sarah Palin. The woman knows how to elicit a reaction. And she’s not afraid of getting a little blood on her hands in the process.
The video above shows a clip from “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” her new reality TV show airing on TLC. In this episode, we see the former governor of Alaska and potential candidate for President shoot and kill a caribou while on a hunting trip with her dad.
Anticipating a storm of protest, Palin posted a preemptive strike on her Facebook page the day the episode was scheduled to air:
“Tonight’s hunting episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska ‘controversial’? Really? Unless you’ve never worn leather shoes, sat upon a leather couch or eaten a piece of meat, save your condemnation of tonight’s episode. I remain proudly intolerant of anti-hunting hypocrisy.”
Predictably, PETA was quick to condemn Palin’s statement and actions:
PETA Vice President Dan Mathews has issued a statement saying, “Sarah seems to think that resorting to violence and blood and guts may lure people into watching her boring show, but the ratings remain as dead as the poor animals she shoots.”
But those who watch the shooting episode impartially will see that Palin does not glorify the blood and guts of hunting and she shoots animals only to put meat in her family’s freezer. She is correct in pointing out that anyone who eats meat or wears leather has no valid argument against her hunting hobby.
I think the Palin reality series has been a mostly successful ploy for attention so far. Critics can certainly accuse Palin of wanting attention and knowing how to get it, whether it be positive or negative.
But PETA knows how to do that too.
I’m not sure I even understand the recent PETA pope with condoms ad, for example, but it generated the flurry of media attention I am sure they were seeking.
Those who criticize Palin for her attention-seeking tactics should be prepared to recognize the fact that shameless attention-seeking happens on both ends of the political spectrum. And people only do it because it works.
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Go SARAH !!
I lived off of dear, moose, fish, and pheasant as a kid growing up in northern MN. There is nothing else like the bounty the Lord provides for us. To hunt and prepare your own food, gives you a much more appreciative understanding of what God does for us and how we are part of nature, not some foreigner to it. I really miss that connection now.
Really? Sarah only shoots animals to put food in her freezer? Come on!!! Shame, shame!
Killing an animal for survival is one thing… killing for the joy of the hunt and KILL is another. They are God’s creatures, not put on earth for Sarah’s entertainment and subsequent ratings. How can you all think this is OK and rationalize her actions?
Susan, how is Sarah Palin’s hunting caribou for food any different from someone who eats a turkey sandwich or a cheeseburger for lunch? Does it make it better in your mind if the animal is raised in confinement and killed in a slaughterhouse?
Danielle, my husband said something similar when we watched the episode. She is killing her own animal for her family’s winter food stock. How is this different from people who kill a cow or chicken on their family farm?
I am not a hunter; frankly, I don’t like being around guns, period. But I think that to kill an animal that has had a chance to live a life of animal dignity (not the same as human dignity) in the wild, rather than to go to a grocery store and buy cheap chicken, pork, beef, etc, that suffered and died on some CAFO never seeing the light of day, is a far more “humane” way of getting meat.
And you’re totally right about the attention seeking. But man, does it work on this preggo lady. Sarah has me hooked. And reaching for kleenex.
I applaud Sarah Palin for her guts and her bravado. I like the show and I appreciate the fact that TLC ran the hunting episode. I saw nothing wrong with pointing out the fact that food does not come from the grocery store and that she feels inclined to provide for her family as does her husband Todd. I also applaud other things I have seen on the show - her son Track’s work ethic and Willow going out on the fishing boat and gutting fish around her 16th birthday. Sure it may have been for show but when my 9 year old daughter saw it she thought it was neat that she wanted to do that. Kudos to Sarah!
Sarah I’m sure, has a freezer load of meat, and I’m quite sure Sarah and her family don’t need to kill caribou to survive. So, there is a big difference. She is doing this for her own entertainment… not because she needs the meat! Animals and poultry are slaughtered by the second for public consumption so we can have our turkey sandwiches and cheeseburgers… people have to eat. Going out to kill for the heck of it is different, or, is the attitude one more dead animal, so what! And in Sarah’s case, look at the ratings and attention it will get her.
I don’t want to watch a show where live is being snuffed out for the sake of a reality show. Obviously there are others who feel the same or why would she post a pre-show disclaimer? Come on. She enjoys the controversy. It’s obvious all of you will rationalize anything Sarah does or says. So, Danielle, when is your next hunting trip?
Susan, I don’t understand why you are pretending to know the contents of Sarah Palin’s freezer. Not that it matters anyway. You think it’s only justifiable to kill an animal for food if you are lost in the woods and it’s a life or death situation? And yet it’s okay to buy and eat commercially raised and processed meat any old time? That doesn’t make any sense.
Hunting and processing your own meat for your family is the most humane way to consume meat in our society. Ask any vegan you know or animal rights activist. They would much prefer that people hunt their own meat than support “farms” and “food factories” that house and slaughter animals in inhumane conditions. Being further removed from the source of your food, by putting a factory and a grocery store between you and the live animal, doesn’t change the morality of consuming meat.
I really recommend watching “Food Inc”, a documentary about the food industry in the U.S. that is a real eye-opener. You can watch it for free if you have a Netflix account:
http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Food_Inc./70108783?trkid=2361637
And thanks for asking about my next hunting trip. I don’t hunt, but I have raised and slaughtered my own chickens. Our family has also raised our own pigs for meat. Raising your own animals gives you a freezer full of organic, hormone-free meat from humanely raised animals. You can’t beat that.
So only if you hunt for basic survival it’s OK as long as you don’t enjoy it? I do pest control and sometimes I find a certain enjoyment in “the hunt”. Am I bad? Is it OK to kill bed bugs but not cute baby mice? Darwin had it wrong… it’s survival of the cutest. -Go Sarah!
To those who do not understand hunting as a “sport”, it is not about just putting food on the table in the way the Lord intended. The fresh natural meat free from hormones, chemicals an the inhumanity of mass production slaughter houses is certainly a blessing. But more importantly, it is also about being a responsible steward of the environment. With the decline of large predators in the wild of North America, harvesting a small percentage of wild herds every year during a regulated hunting season is not only logical, it is humane.
Sarah may be a politician but she is staunchly pro-life and a good steward of God’s green earth. That is more than can be said about about 90% of the other politicians out there (including ones claiming to be Catholic; Pelosi, Biden, Kennedy’s). Bless her and her family. May the Lord grant this nation a future president more like her than not!
Danielle,
You are not addressing the reason of my responding to your editorial. This is about Sarah Palin’s reality show and the extremes she would go to get attention. As I said earlier, why would she have to post a disclaimer before her show even aired? She knew it would not go down well with so many people. I would like you to address the fact that she would kill animals for sport in front of the world. Why?
This isn’t about meat consumption. This is about Sarah Palin’s attempts to promote Sarah, which so many of you seem to buy into.
In response to ‘Tomb’: In the case of an animal {not a bug}, does the enjoyment come from pulling the trigger and watching an animal die or is it in the sport of the hunt. Or both?
I live on a “hobby farm” in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We raise our own steers, pigs, sheep, and chickens. My kid’s use their animals for their 4-H Market projects every year at the County Fair. (Steer, hog, sheep.)
In Northern Michigan, EVERYONE hunts. People come from all over the country to hunt our woodlands. It’s a way of life, and we like it that way!
I enjoyed the fact that Sarah was out hunting with her Dad (not on some expensive tour guide hunt,) and after the thrill of the hunt, Sarah was in there with her knife processing the meat.
She’s no diva!
PETA stands for People Eating Tasty Animals
In response to Susan; you state
“This is about Sarah Palin’s reality show and the extremes she would go to get attention. As I said earlier, why would she have to post a disclaimer before her show even aired? She knew it would not go down well with so many people. I would like you to address the fact that she would kill animals for sport in front of the world. Why?”
Susan,
Sarah Palin has hunted every year of her life since she was old enough to hold a rifle with the exception of a few years when she was campaigning. How is it a stunt to do what you’ve done all your life? How is it a stunt that she does what is common to a majority of the population in rural areas? The warning are posted on the tv show that same as they would be for any show that has blood and guts, cleaning out and skinning an animal (or gutting fish on previous episodes) can be a little much for genteel city dwellers. To me, its a beautiful, natural way of life.
” shameless attention-seeking”?, I certainly wouldn’t put PETA and the Palin TV series in the same vein. PETA thrives on shameless attention-seeking but the Palin series is about Alaska and life in Alaska. It is informative, beautiful scenery and also gives some insight into former Gov Palin’s personality and values. I agree with Greg, above, (...Sarah may be a politician but she is staunchly pro-life and a good steward of God’s green earth. That is more than can be said about about 90% of the other politicians out there (including ones claiming to be Catholic; Pelosi, Biden, Kennedy’s). Bless her and her family. May the Lord grant this nation a future president more like her than not! ...).
If we paid more attention to who we are electing, our country would not be in the economic and moral mess it is in today. You people who wring your hands because of the caribou hunt, have no clue as to how we used to live before freezers and grocery chain stores nor what was intended by God when he gave Man dominion over the land and animals.
I do not like hunting (despite my grandmother being a Hunter-that was her maiden name). In fact, I probably would’ve pet the caribou/deer if I could.
Poor Blitzen.
Anyway, for people to screech about killing a helpless animal…for whatever reason…yet say it’s okay to destroy an unborn child in much the same manner is being a bit of a hypocrite.
Part time vegetarian
To Tomb:
Just this past Sunday, I had to let one ugly bug outside instead of squishing it. Okay so it’s probably frozen to death by now (27 degrees out), and it’s supposed to snow, but I didn’t kill it.
And I try to save field mice when possible because I can’t keep them for a pet with three cats. No way.
What is the “sport”?. You have a rifle. What does the animal have? Sport is offense/defense. In hunting the sides always never change - hunters’ offense, animals defense.
Dick Cheney is a good example. What was he shooting at? Quail? Pheasants? which were raised to be shot at, certainly not to eat. His goal was to see what a good shot he could be. He killed for the enjoyment of it. Killing anything should not be for the fun of it, but Dick and Sarah seem to derive pleasure from the kill.
In response to Greg O and his statement… With the decline of large predators in the wild of North America, harvesting a small percentage of wild herds every year during a regulated hunting season is not only logical, it is humane.
Mr. Greg O… Some day this world will be so overpopulated, there will not be enough food to feed us all, no water to keep us all alive. Should we then begin thinning the herd?
Enjoy watching the next installment of Sarah’s “blood and guts’ reality show.
Animal rights folks are so out of touch with reality! Bugs ARE animals. Squish them, hire someone else to squish them or send them off to a frozen death, you’re still responsible for their death. -like it or not. I fish for food and enjoyment. I’m not crazy about cleaning fish but it’s something I do before I eat them. Fish or bugs may not be as cute as furry mammals but they are still animals that are subject to humans. Animal welfare is morally responsible treatment of animals. But animal rights is plain silly. I only wish such wide-spread concern was offered to baby humans!
“What is the ‘sport’?. You have a rifle. What does the animal have? Sport is offense/defense. In hunting the sides always never change - hunters’ offense, animals defense.”
It’s not that simple. Animals have superior sense of smell, hearing, and sight. The hunter has to be aware of this and take care to conceal himself and his scent. Hunting actually takes a lot of careful planning and thought—scouting out areas where there might be game, picking the perfect spot for concealment, making sure you are upwind of prey and camouflaged. This often involves getting up in the wee hours of the morning and sitting motionless for hours, waiting. And after all this work often you don’t ever even see any game. It’s not simply a matter of walking out into an open meadow of flowers and blowing apart a frolicking Bambi. And even hunting in more open areas, like for caribou, the former points must be taken into consideration.
“Dick Cheney is a good example. What was he shooting at? Quail? Pheasants? which were raised to be shot at, certainly not to eat.”
Both are wild animals, my friend.
“Mr. Greg O… Some day this world will be so overpopulated, there will not be enough food to feed us all, no water to keep us all alive. Should we then begin thinning the herd?”
This is very, very easy opportunity for a joke but I will mercifully let it slide. Actually the rate of population has been in decline from the 1970s. The 1968 book “The Population Bomb” predicted that by 1985 there would be world-wide famine, empty oceans, and shortened life expentancy. Hmm, that doesn’t seem to have happened…
Gosh.. can’t stomach this.. not surprising I’m vegan and animal advocate
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