August 10, 2015 5:23 AM

Hi...we're from the Internet and we're here to destroy you because we can

The southwest Florida home of the Minnesota dentist who shot and killed a beloved lion during a big game hunt has been vandalized. Video from the Marco Island home of Dr. Walter Palmer shows graffiti painted on the garage and pigs feet scattered throughout the lawn. Palmer has been under fire following the shooting death in July of a well-known lion named Cecil. The lion was lured from a protected national park in Zimbabwe and killed in an illegal hunt, Zimbabwean authorities said. The hunter, a Minnesota dentist named Walter Palmer, is now sought for extradition by Zimbabwean authorities. Palmer has denied any wrongdoing.

I’m not going to argue the morality of hunting here (I’ll leave it to that paragon of reasoned, rational discourse, Ted Nugent). That’s neither my purpose, nor is there any real argument on that count. No, I’m here to call out the Internet for it’s usual gross overreaction when it comes to hot button issues. It’s silly, it’s dangerous, and it needs to stop.

There doesn’t appear to be anything in Dr. Palmer’s history that reveals him to be reckless, irresponsible, and/or dishonest, so when he says that he trusted the professional guides he was with to ensure the hunt was legal, I’m inclined to take him at his word. One can (and perhaps should) take issue with his habit of taking enjoyment out of the killing of animals for sport, but there’s nothing that indicates he deliberately set out to kill Cecil, in retrospect perhaps the world’s most revered lion…which no one knew until he was dead.

The fact that the Internet has collectively rushed to judgment and is acting as judge, jury, and executioner without having all the facts is hardly surprising. Neither is the current mob mentality tilted towards destroying Dr. Palmer utterly. There seem to be no lack of folks who’ve determined that Dr. Palmer is evil, without hope for redemption, and therefore worthy only of being punished in whatever form or fashion they deem appropriate. Death threats and destruction of property are merely the price to be paid for being judged summarily by the Internet and found wanting.

Except that the only reason Dr. Palmer is being vilified is because the lion he killed had a name and (who knew?) a fan base. He certainly isn’t the first rich dilettante to kill a lion for sport, nor will he be the last. Again, my purpose isn’t to excuse Dr. Palmer’s arguably morally reprehensible “sport;” it’s to point out the hypocrisy and double standard inherent in the Internet’s reaction. Kill a nameless lion out of the spotlight and no one says “boo.” Kill a lion with a name…and you’d best step away, lest the shitstorm leaves you soiled and in need of a bath.

Suddenly, we have things like an artist contributing a video tribute to Cecil the Lion. Not that this is a bad thing, because hunting as a sport is a truly reprehensible and morally indefensible activity. Humanity should be conscious of and universally condemn those who view killing as a sport. Big game trophy hunting should be outlawed.

That said, I find it odd- and rather distressing- that the world is thoroughly exercised over the murder of a lion, while hunger is rampant, and innocent people continue to be killed in Africa in periodic spasms of politically- and ethnically-charged violence. Children continue to starve and people continue to be slaughtered for all manner of reasons…and yet what we hear are crickets.

If Cecil had been just another unnamed lion, there likely would have been little if any outcry. Too bad the same theory doesn’t apply to starving children.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on August 10, 2015 5:23 AM.

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