Another famous vegan:
Posted on 10/28/2008 5:05:16 AM PDT by Calpernia
In a speech this afternoon in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Senator Barack Obama made a groundbreaking announcement:
I have long been an advocate of the less fortunate among us, of those who life has handed a crooked deck, the short end of the stick, an unfair deal. There are no Americans for who this is more true than the populations of our feedlots and industrial farms. It is time to end the exploitation of farmed animals on American soil. It is time to give up hamburgers as we have given up slave-holding. It is time for us to end our dependence on milkshakes as we must end our dependence on foreign oil. It is time to acknowledge that the fishing industry does damage to our oceans far beyond that of emissions from our coal burning power plants. I invite all Americans to join me in a bright future free of cruelty and exploitation, free of the blood of innocents killed only for our pleasure.
While details of his animal liberation agenda were vague, he obviously doesn't lack conviction. When questioned directly by a reporter after the speech, Obama stated "Yes, I am now a vegan. From a personal perspective, it doesn't hurt that people of African descent are invariably lactose intolerant."
Longtime vegan and perennial presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich was supportive, saying "It's wonderful to see a young politician like Barack taking a stand on such an important, under-discussed issue." Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean was less enthusiastic: "While we support Mr. Obama's right to stand up for his principles, this decision takes him so far away from mainstream American belief that it's difficult to regard his candidacy as viable. The corn and soy lobby think they've pulled off a coup here, but he's just lost his Super Delegates." (It's worth noting that the Vermont dairy lobby is especially strong.)
(snip)
Look at post 39. Seems they are code speaking. These are all from hard core lefty sites. Not the Onion or anything. The left doesn’t joke about this stuff.
Great. But did he quit cigarettes?
I doubt it:
http://vegetarianstar.com/2008/08/05/obama-can-pronounce-vegan-wants-more-veggies-for-the-children/
Nikki Benoit, Outreach Coordinator for Florida Voices for Animals, attended an Obama speech at St. Pete Gibbs High last week and was delighted to hear him discuss the environment, factory farming, and children getting more nutritious food in schools. She was also ecstatic that he could pronounce “vegan.”
“As I was being handed the mic, Obama read my shirt out loud - “Vegan Outreach” . . . . .YES!!! HE DID!!! AND…he pronounced it RIGHT!!!”
Give me a break. I am a vegetarian, and am not a “Hitler”.
Geez.
http://www.vegan.com/blog/2008/08/01/obamas-vegan-moment/
Obama’s Vegan Moment
Here’s a report from the campaign trail by Nikki Benoit, Outreach Coordinator for Florida Voices for Animals:
Wearing my “Vegan Outreach” t-shirt, and accompanied by fellow animal activist Deb Greery, we secured front row seats at the entrance to the stadium of St. Pete Gibbs High this morning, awaiting Senator Barack Obama for a Town Hall meeting.
Out he came, a hand shake we got…but I needed a hug - so he obliged [well, I kinda had to pull him in...much to the chagrin of Secret Service, who peeled Deb and I off after 5 seconds]
After his speech, he opened up the floor for Q & A. I was the 6th person he called on - yay!
As I was being handed the mic, Obama read my shirt out loud - “Vegan Outreach” . . . . .YES!!! HE DID!!! AND…he pronounced it RIGHT!!!
So, though it’s mostly a blur, I first thanked him for his strong position for helping our environment, which segwayed nicely into my factory farming question.
I stated how the UN’s reporting that animal agriculture contributes more to greenhouse gas emissions than all of transportation. I mentioned that over 10 billion land animals are funneled through egregious conditions in factory farms and that it requires an obscene amount of water and resources to maintain them [70% of all our grain goes through them]. I reiterated that our health epidemic is only compounded by our environmental crises and resource depletion, and what, as the leader of the most amazing nation, would he do about this [again, this is all a blur...I believe the media picked this up, too - I hope it made more sense at the time.]
His response included an admission that our infrastructure needs fixing, and that subsidies need to be taken away from large scale animal ag, helping small family farms. He acknowledged that our health care crises needs to incorporate preventative measures, including more fresh vegetables and fruit. He also said schools need more of these items versus pre-packaged food and meat products. And of course, he pointed the finger at China and India and that their new diet [which is mimicking ours] needs to be changed.
There were a lot of claps and hoots during my question from the crowd, even a Secret Service agent gave me a wink and a thumbs up!
Received a lot of praise afterwards, and was interviewed by Rollins College and TampaBay.com, so here’s hoping they run it!
YES WE CAN!
YES WE CAN? Gee, just like Ahmadinejad!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2117117/posts
Agree. This is NOT news and what’s worse is the fact that it is not listed as satie.
Please pull.
satie=satire
http://vegansofcolor.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/humane-society-endorses-obama/
Humane Society Endorses Obama
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has been a solid supporter of animal protection at both the state and federal levels. As an Illinois state senator, he backed at least a dozen animal protection laws, including those to strengthen the penalties for animal cruelty, to help animal shelters, to promote spaying and neutering, and to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption. In the U.S. Senate, he has consistently co-sponsored multiple bills to combat animal fighting and horse slaughter, and has supported efforts to increase funding for adequate enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, and federal laws to combat animal fighting and puppy mills.
In his response to the HSLF questionnaire, he pledged support for nearly every animal protection bill currently pending in Congress, and said he will work with executive agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior to make their policies more humane. He wrote of the important role animals play in our lives, as companions in our homes, as wildlife in their own environments, and as service animals working with law enforcement and assisting persons with disabilities. He also commented on the broader links between animal cruelty and violence in society.
Does this mean he can’t have any of Michelle’s Iranian caviar and lobster?
Yes, but your motivation is different, it is not your religion. Twisted people make it their religion. That is what I am talking about.
The poster did select humor as a topic.
Howard Dean gets it right for once?
I believe it is ethically and morally wrong. Not sure I consider it my religion, but it is one of my top beliefs in this life.
A Blue Giant — very, very bad sunburn!
Actually I didn’t. Someone else added that.
I also just had the YouTube of Obama speaking with Kucinich. My computer froze and the clipped disappeared.
It was posted on April 1 as an April Fools joke. Do you want ‘satire’ added to the header or do you want any other action taken?
But but but Michelle said they are “bacon people”.
I guess it’s been too hard to find halal meat on the road.
IF he really wanted to speak out for animal rights, he’d lecture the Islamic community about the depravity of slitting the throats of EVERY animal killed so that it deliberately drowns on its own bleeding throat as a blood sacrifice to Allah.
Hitler was also a vegetarian. But he was against smoking unlike Barack Obama Junior.
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