Palin's book sparks attack on vegetarians

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has never made any bones, if you will, about her culinary preferences. She's a carnivore, a hunter and proud of both.

So it's not really a surprise that her book, "Going Rogue," published today, extols the virtues of eating meat.

"If any vegans came over for dinner, I could whip them up a salad, then explain my philosophy on being a carnivore," she wrote. "If God had not intended for us to eat animals, how come He made them out of meat?”

But the former Republican vice presidential candidate did not stop there.

“I love meat," she writes. "I eat pork chops, thick bacon burgers, and the seared fatty edges of a medium-well-done steak. But I especially love moose and caribou. I always remind people from outside our state that there's plenty of room for all Alaska's animals -- right next to the mashed potatoes.”

A vegetarian from Cleveland took issue with Palin. In a blog on the Examiner, Daelyn Fourtney wrote that Palin's remarks "will surely receive a chuckle and thumbs up from many avid hunters and steak house patrons. It is a sad statement on our society when we applaud those who refer to animals as the centerpiece of their dinner plate."

Now, Fourtney is reporting that she has received a lot of hostile e-mails from conservatives assuming her to be a left-wing pinko. A sampling of her inbox:

* “The liberal/socialist media elites are terrified of America's new Reagan and it's so much fun to see their PDS (Palin Derangement Syndrome) on display...including this Fortney writer.” –freeperjim

“Politicizing Food now?...is nothing sacred? ... off, Alinksy Vegan Radicals.” – Tyler

“You liberals and militant vegs. apparently need a humor transplant.” –Keith

The Cleveland food writer -- in some quarters now known as the "Rogue Vegetarian" -- said her politics are separate from her eating habits.

"I have chosen to live a vegetarian lifestyle because I believe in the sanctity of life for all creatures," she said. "Assuming that one is left or right based on what they choose to eat is a dangerous road to travel."

Still, she said, she's not counting on a Christmas card from the Republican Party this year.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Sarah Palin with a caribou she shot in Alaska. Credit: Associated Press

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Comments

[Lea]

As an omnivore that enjoys animal and plant foods equally, I nevertheless frequently get preached to by vegans and vegetarians about the medical and moral superiority of their lifestyles. I don't care what they eat, and they shouldn't care what I eat -- but they sure do. But heaven forfend somebody express a dissenting opinion -- they must be attacking someone. And Palin is not responsible for emails sent by kooks, no more than Nancy Pelosi is responsible for the reprehensible and potty-mouthed comments on the Daily Kos. I always find it funny that people who proselytize the most are usually the most offended when they perceive (often wrongly) that someone is proselytizing them. Transference, much?

[Ted]

Palin's comment "If God had not intended for us to eat animals, how come He made them out of meat?” is a bit odd. Her logic implies she is ok with cannibalism.

[eray1]

Really? If God did not intend for us to eat animals, then why did he make them out of meat?? How about a little research on our countries' modern day practice of bringing that dead carcous to your dinner table. It's disgusting. How about getting on board with evolution? Things obviously can't stay the same forever, and reverting back to bible times for answers on topics such as these is just ignorant.

[Larry Buttrey]

So by extension, cats and dogs are made of meat. And ... paging Donner, party of 50.

[PCM]

What sort of self respecting carnivore enjoys her steak medium-well?

[Phillip Cohen]

Palin's comments about vegetarians is proof that her youngest child is very unfortunate to be brought up by a retard.

[Duke]

Someone should tell Palin she isn't a carnivore. Carnivores eat nothing but meat. If she is eating things like mashed potatoes she is most definitely an omnivore.

[Erin]

Omnivore/Herbivore debate aside, who literally devotes entire paragraphs and sections in a book called "Going Rogue" to her love of meat? That's like devoting an entire section to her love of clothing or carbonated beverages. Is her love of meat that central to her life? I just think it's funny because even though I thoroughly enjoy meat, that fact would probably not make it into my biography.

[Dianne Berg]

This woman is an idiot. By espousing hackneyed, bumpersticker bromides as a personal "philosophy on being a carnivore" - apparently on the assumption that readers will share her provincial outlook - Sarah Palin merely underscores the arrogance that has formed the traditional side-dish to her ignorance. If we were to follow her line of reasoning to its logical conclusion, it would be necessary to grapple with the question of why God chose to make her so full of crap.

[Jay]

I'm made out of meat. Is she advocating cannibalism?

[sfvrealestate]

I just hope that Sarah keeps on eating all that bacon and all those mashed potatoes.

[bellagrazi]

God, Todd, and meat. What more can you ask for? Sounds like the perfect life.

[Stella]

When can we talk about Americans' lack of access to decent, affordable healthcare again?

[Radha Rajan]

For a lady who aspired for a high constitutional post in her country, Sarah Palin is woefully deficient in self-restraint and reciprocal logic. If Ms. Palin wants to know why God made animals of meat if he didnt intend for Americans to eat them, she should meet up with the big cats in the nearest zoo. They are asking the same question too and want to know why, if Sarah Palin was not meant to be eaten by them, did God make her out of meat. I shudder to think that had the Republicans won the elections, this lady would have been just one step away from the Oval Room in the White House. She reminds me of our own Mani Shankar Aiyer, Congress MP and minister who boasted to the world that he was a beef-eater. Who cares what corpses you all eat dearie?

[aw]

The sub-text is the reason Ms. Palin feels compelled to tout her "carnivorous" diet. She behaves like an adolescent that "acts out" when feeling insecure. Why does she feel that she needs to stick it in everyone's faces? Is she guilty? Repressed? Or simply tactless?

The custom in Alaska is to disembowel a caribou and immediately eat the contents of its stomach in order to gain the nutritional value of the vegetable matter gathered by the animal.

Bad shooting, bad sportsmanship. The animal in the photo appears to have been shot in the neck which leads to a slow and painful death. Every hunter knows to take the animal with a shot to the shoulder/heart to minimize suffering.

[Strict_veg]

I'm going to agree to disagree, with great respect for Ms. Palin, on this point. It's a civil liberty to choose what to eat, or not eat.

[AKB]

With this "mashed potatoes" quote, I don't believe "she's always reminds people". She probably stole the quote from Saskatoon Restaurant in Greenville SC back in October 7, 2008.

The Saskatoon restaurant sells T-Shirts with the saying about the mashed potatoes. I wouldn't be surprised if someone at the rally gave her a T-shirt or a bumper sticker.
Their quote as printed on their "world famous T-shirts" says: "There's plenty of room for all God's creatures... Right next to the mashed potatoes."

Not surprised here that she stole the saying and modified it slightly without giving credit. She's done it before.

Also interesting, at the rally was good old Dick Army. I Guess her connection with Freedomworks goes back quite some time.

Story: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6436133

Pictures: http://www.reflector.com/news/sarah-palin-visits-greenville-171996.html

Saskatoon restaurant T-Shirt with sayings: http://www.saskatoonrestaurant.com.php5-12.websitetestlink.com/merchandise.html

[steve rodriguez]

So what she killed a moose! This women can lead our country out of darkness!!!

[steve rodriguez]

She has better people around her than Barrack does!

[Sol Aponte]

I'll never understand why people in this country always have to be so black aand white on every issue. I am a vegetarian and I firmly believe it is a personal choice if you wish to eat meat or not, live in NY, Kansas or Alaska, or wear white after Labor Day, so why the personal attacks against those of us who wish to eat without meat products on our plates? If Palin is proud to kill what she eats, oh well... what I am totally against, and DO think is a political issue that we need to remedy, is factory farming where animals are mistreated just to satisfy someone's cravings and line someone else's pockets! So my problem with whatever idiocy Palin said about vegetarianism in her book is because I am sure she has no clue what she's talking about, due to her strange habit of talking and saying nothing. She is just not bright enough to understand how this industry is a problem for the economy, the environment and health.

[Obama]

Palin will be the next President. The Dems are being hunted and will be taken out.

[Ted]

"Palin's book sparks attack on vegetarians"--stupid title in view of the article. The verbal attacks quoted--mild indeed compared to many attacks on Palin--are not her responsibility. The attitude "He/she disagrees with me, so he hates me or makes others hate me" is the refuge of the intellectually-challenged who want to intimidate others and shut down their comments.

[Wondering]

Someone said it is a civil liberty to choose what to eat? Know that you are taking another creatures liberty to act away ( humans call it murder), Yet she flaunts it and then wants to govern and teach others laws of life???

[DAMIEN MALICK]

Isn't that just a joke she stole from John Cleese? But that she missed the whole point of?

[Saptarshi]

Eat as you please. Stop being preachy and holy about it. I eat everything I like to eat. It just so happens that I do not like eating human beings. Like you might not like spinach. Popeye on the other hand loves spinach!