Guest guest Posted August 25, 2007 Report Share Posted August 25, 2007 The following column is printed on page 1B of the San Jose Mercury News, Friday 8/24/07. It is by the Mercury's columnist Mike Cassidy. To post your comment on this disgraceful article, go to http://www.mercurynews.com/columns/ci_6706294 and scroll to the bottom where it says " Post Your Comment " . To submit a Letter To The Editor of the San Jose Mercury News, e-mail it to letters . Requirements: 125 words or less; no attachments; include your name, address and daytime phone. Your street address and phone number will not be published. -- Mike Sage =================================================== [from http://www.mercurynews.com/columns/ci_6706294] Cassidy: Not evolved enough to oppose circus By Mike Cassidy Mercury News Columnist San Jose Mercury News 8/24/2007 The circus is in town and I love the circus. Yes. I'm a bad person. We are not supposed to love the circus these days. The circus - Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus in this case - has animal acts and therefore it is to be relegated to the list of cruel and unusual spectacles. Britney Spears' public parenting comes to mind. I have always loved the circus. The clowns, the Wheel of Steel, the Flying Wallendas, the human cannon ball. The lights, the noise, the kitsch, the bad-for-you food. And even the elephant parade. Which makes me a very bad person. No doubt People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will be at HP Pavilion this weekend making the point that the Greatest Show on Earth is not that great for the earth. They'll wave signs as I walk past them on my way to my circus seat. I won't ignore them. I'll think about what they have to say: Circus animals are miserable and mistreated. The circus life - the travel, the grueling schedule, the performance pressure - is no life for an animal. And I'll think, well, it's no life for a human either. But the guilt will pass. Animals as people? My problem: I haven't evolved to the point where I think of elephants as people, just with bigger noses. I am a weak and horrible person. There are so many things that we must be against these days that it's hard to oppose them all. We must be against things for the good of the planet or the good of our children or the good of our nation. Maybe we can only pour our minds, hearts and souls into so many issues and come up with the right answers. No doubt when this column appears, some of you will write and call. " How could you? How could you support the circus? " To be honest, I'll have a hard time explaining myself in an intellectually satisfying way. I could say that an elephant's life is no great shakes no matter where he or she lives it. Or that it seems counterintuitive that Ringling Bros. would risk damaging one of its key assets through mistreatment. But my circus connection is emotional. I've been going since I was a little kid. I've got memories. For instance, at my very first circus the enormity of the elephants scared the pants off me. (Note to PETA: This is in no way meant to compare a circus elephants' trauma to my own pre-school, human version.) Some things hard to shake In the end, my love for the circus is something I can live with better than I can explain. It's like so many of the things that we must be against - and that I haven't found the resolve to oppose. The circus is only the beginning. I am also a bad person because: • I like camp fires. Big ones. That can't be good for the ozone layer. • I have no clue as to the size of my carbon footprint. Am I a 13EEE boot? A dainty Manolo? No idea. • My kids watch too much TV. Stupid stuff, too. • I watch too much TV. See above. • I like pizza and beer. And mayonnaise - but not on my pizza or beer. • I cheer for Barry Bonds. • I don't read enough books. The one in four adults who polls say didn't read a book last year? I didn't do much better. I read at bedtime, which consists of reading a page before dropping the book on my slumbering head. • I don't leave tips at restaurants where you pick up your own food. • Paper or plastic? I go for plastic. Hey, I bring the bags back for recycling. Then again, I suspect they get shipped off to a landfill in China. • I drive 70 in 65 mph zones. • I have ripped music tracks from library CDs. Note to copyright cops: Maybe once. OK, maybe a few times. I'd like to say I'll do better, that I promise now to be against many more things. But honestly? That's just not an idea I can get behind. Read Mike Cassidy's Loose Ends blog at http://blogs.mercextra.com/cassidy/ . Contact him at mcassidy or (408) 920-5536. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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