Posted on 09/06/2006 4:01:58 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
STEVE Irwin had embarrassed millions of Australians, Germaine Greer said last night.
And those who had mourned him with their tributes at the Irwin family's Australia Zoo in what the British had labelled "a Princess Diana moment" were idiots, she said.
British-based Greer wrote in The Guardian newspaper after Irwin's death that the animal world had taken revenge on "self-deluded animal tormentor Steve Irwin".
Last night, she went even further.
She told Channel 9's A Current Affair she did not understand Australians' feelings of loss for Irwin.
She said he had exploited animals by telling the world how dangerous they were and then treating them disrespectfully.
"I find the whole Steve Irwin phenomenon (embarrassing) -- and I'm not the only person who did," Greer said.
But when pushed, she was unable to name anyone who had publicly agreed with her.
She rejected claims her sentiments were "un-Australian".
"I don't care what I'm being called," Greer said.
"I just hope I'm out of touch with what idiots are thinking."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Very true, however I am a big believer in personal responsibility. For instance if I want to reduce my chances of being run over by a car I can avoid such by staying away from where the travel. I still may get hit by some nut ball who drives through my living room, but I have reduced my chances significantly by not walking back and forth across a busy highway.
Mr. Irwin took it to the edge every time he got close to one of those critters. He may have enjoyed it and he certainly got famous and probably very wealthy doing it, however he played against the odds and finally lost.
It is a shame that he left such a young family behind, I hope they can get some comfort in that he died doing what he enjoyed, but I still think it is a dumb way to live your life, especially when you have young children. If he had been single and not a parent then it makes more sense.
When I was a kid I did spectacularly stupid things some to even rival Mr Irwin's, but when I became a Husband and a Father I put the craziness aside and remember every day I have a duty to my family to provide for and to protect them which is really hard to do when you die by doing needlessly dangerous stunts.
I think they will notice... you will have a bunch of dwarves running around singing 'ding dong the b*tch is gone'...
I would definately notice something like that especially in the land of OZ.
(I know I know, stupid humor, puns and all)
Does the name "Cindy Sheehan" ring a bell?
the infowarrior
Local radio host compared him to Tim Tredwell, the guy who was eaten by a bear - and Tim *was* a total lunatic.
You know what's embarassing? There are at least 100 Freepers who've been saying the same stuff as Greer for the last three days.
Perhaps, but there is still that pesky "law of averages" to consider. Mr. Irwin *did* rather consistently push his luck as far as he could, although his skill at handling wild land animals helped. He was, unfortunately less cognizant and skilled with marine wildlife, which may well have contributed to his demise.
Mr. Irwin *did* several things of note in his lifetime, chief among them bringaing an appreciation of nature to people who had little, if any contact with it on a regular basis. For that, I commend him and consider him far more worthy than Ms. Greer who, it can be truthfully said, had little relevance when she actually *had* some signifigance to boast about(outside her own circle, she has become a rather obscure figure at best...)
the infowarrior
Germaine Greer, is that you?
You should be beaten for posting that. I think my contacts are fused to my corneas. The emergency room will be billing you.
No flames here. It was tough explaining it to my kids though.
Ahhh I see logic is not your strong point.
Irwin died doing something that thousands of divers and snorkelers do without incident every year. Get a grip on the facts.
Well that does not necessarily prove that Irwin was smart, I would surmise it just proves lots of divers are dumb and lucky.
i guess the batteries in her vibrator ran out...
It must not be. I don't see the logic in bashing a guy who was doing something thousands of divers and snorkelers do every year without incident. I don't see why anyone would chime in with a hateful Marxist shrew and then consider themselves "logical."
Man, you are really darn proud of your ignorance, aren't you? The reason thousands of divers and snorkelers do this without incident every year is because getting stung by a ray is a freak accident. Only 17 people have ever been killed by them. More people get killed falling down stairs in a major city every year than have died from stingrays in recorded history, but you keep gassing on like the guy was getting between a grizzly and her cubs.
You did ten things today that were more dangerous than what Irwin died doing. Get a grip on facts.
Well my logic is based on his family his little girl is now without a daddy. He did stunts with animals that were dangerous including one in which he used his daughter. He pushed the edge and finally lost. I wonder if his daughter can be convinced his death was "logical."
BTW if you have read the full account you will notice that the incident occurred because Steve and the cameraman got the Ray between them and it was surmised by the crew the ray felt trapped and defended itself (fight or flight instinct in action) I wonder if all of these "thousands of divers and snorkelers" that do this "every year without incident" use the same technique that Steve and his crew did?
I am gonna go out on a limb here and say no.
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