Those Red Legged Frogs and "Earth Day"

by Al Benson Jr.

Several years ago author Thomas Sowell wrote an interesting article entitled "Green Bigots Versus Human Beings." It appeared on http://townhall.com back in May of 2001.

I have enjoyed Mr. Sowell's commentary over the years. Like Walter Williams, he possesses a clarity of thought seldom seen in newspaper or Internet commentary. A good deal of what you get from most "news commentators" nowadays resembles much of what you find in cow pastures, and it smells the same, whether it is served up hot or cold.

At any rate, Mr. Sowell did this particular column on how the "environmentalists were supposedly all in a tizzy over a "species" of frog--the red-legged frog. They tell us this particular frog was on the endangered species list, and therefore, anyplace it inhabited was automatically off limits to ordinary folks. Of course that didn't mean that the "watermelon gang" (environmentalists) couldn't go there. After all, if they couldn't go in, who, pray tell, would check on the endangerment to the red-legged frog? In referring to these environmentalists, Mr. Sowell labeled them as "green bigots." He said: "The essence of bigotry is claiming for yourself rights that you would deny to others. The green bigots who call themselves environmentalists do this all the time. They also lie a lot, as self-anointed idealists often do..." Does anyone remember the global warming scam of several months ago where the "scientists" decided to "cook the figures" to prove their point? Same worldview, same mindset. They are kissin' cousins. Sowell continued: "A new cult of pagan nature worship has sprung up, in which the slightest inconvenience to any toad or bug is enough to call a halt to even the most urgent human needs. A new mythology has been created, in which wildlife can only survive in their original habitats."

Anyone who has traveled around the country knows that such rantings are pure hogwash. Coyotes, who were known in my growing-up years as a primarily Western species can now be found prowling within the city limits of Chicago as well as many other places in the Midwest, and we've seen them here in Louisiana. Birds nest in all manner of man-made habitats--houses, barns, bird houses, etc.  If you think birds cannot adapt, watch swallows sometime building a nest on the inside of a metal window awning. Watch them as they raise their young there, year after year, in the same nest--and if someone comes along and knocks it down they rebuild it.

The real deal with this environmental crowd seems to be to keep lots of people off lots of land because of the "endangered species" that live there. This ties up the land so no one gets to use it, except the federal government and its "environmentalist' friends.

I have watched this movement on and off for awhile. I remember, back in April of 1970, the environmentalists promoted what they called "Earth Day." Some people still celebrate it and there are the usual obligatory promotions of it via a compliant lapdog media.

What few folks have taken note of, though, was the fact that the first annual celebration of Earth Day just conveniently happened to fall on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lenin. They just "happened" to pick that particular day among all the others they could have chosen to begin their annual celebration of this event. So I guess you could say that Earth Day is really "birthday" (Lenin's, that is). So, every year now we commemorate Lenin's birthday and we call it Earth Day. I'm sure Comrade Lenin would be pleased.

A few years ago I read an article by some enviro-whacko in which he advocated the bizarre idea that we should take all the land west of the Mississippi River and convert it into a gigantic buffalo range. He never dealt with what you would do with all the people living in that area. They were beneath his benign concern. After all, that was before the era of FEMA camps. Maybe he thought they should all have been summarily executed for daring to settle on land he thought should be reserved for the American Bison.

In Holy Scripture, in Genesis, there is a passage where God tells man to subdue and have dominion over the earth. Man is to have dominion over the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. These environmental types would turn God's command on its ear and give the animal kingdom dominion over much of the earth while keeping man out--except for themselves naturally. It seems that many in the environmental movement want to assume the place of Deity so they can get to decide who goes where, and when, and who does what. Since this is a rather Marxist concept, you can see why those people have a day of observation yearly on Lenin's birthday. It's sort of like their inside joke on the rest of us. We're not supposed to know.

Awhile back, a friend in Tennessee wrote an article called "The Watermelon Gang" an expression to which I alluded earlier in this article. In referring to the environmentalist crowd, that was what he called them, because, like a watermelon, they were green on the outside, but Red on the inside.

Please understand, I think we ought to be good stewards of the creation the Lord has given us. We need to use it responsibly and carefully and not abuse it. I consider myself a conservationist. My family and I have camped and hiked in many places all around the country over the years as we have enjoyed God's beautiful creation. Having said that, I think it is wrong to turn God's command around when He says to have dominion over the earth, and instead turn half of it into some grand wildlife refuge, open only to the government and its environmentalist friends, while no one else is allowed in.

So, on the basis of commentators like Mr. Sowell and some others, you can see why my family and I choose each year not to celebrate Mr. Lenin's birthday.