Stay Free! | BushIsNotAChimp.org
Carrie McLaren
carrie at stayfreemagazine.org
Mon Jul 5 16:41:47 EDT 2004
Hello,
Although the press release below is unaffiliated with Stay F---!
(it's from Monkeywire, another project of mine), I thought some of
you might appreciate it regardless. It's a response to the news,
released over the weekend, that President Bush is succeeding in his
plans to water down the Endangered Species Act.
::::
For immediate release
CRITICS BLAST LIBERAL MEDIA FOR BUSH "CHIMP" REMARKS
http://www.bushisnotachimp.org/
http://www.monkeywire.org/
Leaders of a Brooklyn-based primate news service have called on
political activists and news media to cease from referring to U.S.
President George W. Bush as a chimp or monkey.
The heads of Monkeywire, which bills itself as the "number one source
for news about monkeys and apes," have called the Bush primate
references "misguided and demeaning."
Bush has been described as a "chimp," (Globe and Mail), a "grinning
chimp" (In These Times), a "smirking chimp," (SmirkingChimp.com),
"the Chimp in Charge," Democratic Underground, a "hairless chimp"
(The Columbian) [incorrect on both counts], and a "pretzel-eating
chimp" (AP) with a face that reveals "thin-lipped brow-furrowed
monkey confusion" (San Francisco Chronicle). The President's actions
have similarly been conveyed in simian terms: "Bush proposes to
monkey with the Constitution" (Slate).
Monkeywire cofounders Carrie McLaren and Joe Garden maintain that
such comparisons overemphasize physical similarities between Bush and
chimpanzees while downplaying important differences in genetics,
behavior, and natural habitat.
Humans share over 99 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees, our closest
genetic relative. However, that fraction of a percent accounts for
clear differences in mental capacities, physical dexterity, and body
hair.
Bush shares with lower primates the ability to make his desires clear
despite an inability to communicate in English. He also understands
and reacts to negative stimuli, and makes use of simple tools.
However, Bush's dental records -- which were used as evidence of the
President's service in the National Guard -- clearly demonstrate that
he is human.
The Monkeywire heads say the most marked distinctions between Bush
and chimpanzees are not physical characteristics, however, but
behavioral ones.
"Bush has proposed changing the Endangered Species Act to allow
imports of endangered species and body parts," says McLaren. "A chimp
would never do that."
Chimpanzees are an endangered species. The chimpanzee population has
dropped from 2 million to 150,000, due in part to the slaughter of
apes for "bush meat."
When changes to the Endangered Species Act were proposed last year,
renowned primatologist Jane Goodall predicted that bush meat trade
could eradicate all great apes within a couple of decades.
The Monkeywire heads also cite Bush's position on global warming as
evidence of his anti-chimp position. Bush withdrew from the Kyoto
Treaty and reversed his 2000 campaign pledge to regulate industrial
emissions of carbon dioxide. The Monkeywire founders argue that such
decisions may contribute to the devastation of chimps' natural
habitats.
"Obviously, Bush is not a chimp," said McLaren. "But we hope everyone
can come together to release him into the wild."
CONTACT
For more information on changes to the Endangered Species Act,
contact Brian Nowicki of the Center for Biological Diversity at (520)
623-5252
http://www.sw-center.org
For depressing news about the modern-day plight of primates, visit:
The Great Ape Project - http://www.greatapeproject.org
The Jane Goodall Institute - http://www.janegoodall.org
NOTE: The above organizations have no affiliation with Monkeywire.
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