I usually try to stay away from politics on my site--that's one of the advantages of writing about creatures that have been dead for 65 million years--but I have to admit that the tiny, reptilian portion of my brain was activated by this Michael Ramirez cartoon posted on the website of the ultra-conservative publication The Week. Under the headline "How Dinosaurs Became Extinct," Ramirez depicts a T. Rex, Triceratops and various other reptiles in business suits. Says dinosaur #1: "Let's destroy our economy!" Says dinosaur #2: "Let's redistribute our wealth!" Says dinosaur #3: "Let's not use our abundant energy resources!" Says dinosaur #4...well, you get the idea.
As something of a dinosaur expert, I think I know a little more about what causes extinctions (local and global) than the average person, or even the average political cartoonist. It's very apparent to me--though clearly not to everyone else--that conserving our natural resources and trying to slow global warming is a good (i.e., likely to forestall complete human extinction) thing, not a bad thing. I believe this is a matter of objective science, not partisan politics, but feel free to post a message here if you feel otherwise (or had a similar hindbrain reaction to Ramirez's cartoon).
Comments
It is easy for political cartoonists to use animals perceived as small brained and slow instead of the characters representing the real object of their criticism. Lately it has been common to see the use of a sauropod symbol to identify an out of favor political party. Leave it alone and it will go away until the next round of political discourse.
i agree with the above comment, and personally, i think that if they are going to criticize political party, they should criticize them directly. animals do not run for president, or hold senate seats, or become state rep. therefore, just leave them out of it. unfortunately, that will never happen, so, conclusively, i agree with florida53’s last sentence, “Leave it alone and it will go away until the next round of political discourse.”