Is Ashley Judd’s wolf ad about more than wildlife?


Ashley Judd is the narrator of an ad for the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund which portrays Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as a heartless enemy of warm, furry critters. Actually, the ad is not a new one, but simply a refresh of a video which has long been used to attack Gov. Palin:

Defenders of Wildlife launched similar attacks against Palin soon after she was selected as former GOP presidential nominee John McCain’s running mate, but until Judd’s appearance the spots garnered little attention.

The governor has released a statement in which calls the ad campaign “reprehensible and hypocritical.” It is that… and much more.

If you’re not familiar with the issue of predator control in the 49th state, read Lynette Long’s post of the FactCheck.org analysis here. The Cliff Notes version is that in Alaska, wolves are such efficient predators that they had nearly decimated the moose and caribou populations in parts of the nation’s largest state. That’s important because most of the small villages in Alaska have no large grocery stores, and in those which do have mom and pop stores, the price of meat is very expensive. Native populations in these small communities rely on hunting to feed their families, and the herd animals are what they hunt. Unfortunately for the natives, wolves and bears are much more efficient hunters than they are. When the wolves drive down the moose and caribou populations, the Eskimos can’t catch enough fish to make up the difference. If they can’t afford to buy the meat, their kids will go hungry.

Noel Sheppard has a post up with a video of the ad embedded. Not only is the ad generally misleading, but it also tells some specific lies. In just one expample, Ashley Judd’s somber voice tells us, “Now back in Alaska, Palin is againcasting aside science and championing the slaughter of wildlife.” In truth, Alaska Game & Fish Deptartment biologists, using scientific principles, are responsible for the design and implementation of the predator control plan.

The script, as read by Judd, also tells us that the wolves “die a brutal death” as video footage of one of the animals is shown. Take a look at this BBC video. It only shows the chase as a wolf runs down a caribou calf. It doesn’t depict the grisly scene as the predator shreds and eats its prey. Such fare is considered too gruesome for our sensibilities, but footage of wolf control is not.

The ad would also have you believe that Sarah Palin alone is responsible for the harvesting of wolves, when in the real world predator control policies are determined by the legislature and also by Alaskan citizens in ballot initiatives. The group which pays for the ad has clearly made Palin the focus of evil in the furry world, and Sheppard observes that the ad seems to be more about damaging the governor politically than helping Canis lupus:

More recently, the Alaska legislature expanded the practice in March 2000, and reinstated it in 2003 with the signature of then Gov. Frank Murkowski. As such, given the history — and the wildlife preservation component — Judd’s hysteria is rather preposterous.

Yet, that shouldn’t be surprising, for the attack on Palin might be much more political than animal protection oriented given the following posted at the Action Fund’s website Monday concerning this issue (emphasis added):

Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund today launched a national campaign to expose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s renewed anti-conservation agenda. The Action Fund first highlighted Palin’s record in Alaska during last fall’s presidential campaign when it ran TV ads across battleground states, highlighting Palin’s championing of the brutal and unnecessary aerial killing of wolves and other carnivores.

“Sarah Palin isn’t fading into the background, so neither are we,” commented Defenders Action Fund President Rodger Schlickeisen. “Given her known political aspirations, the American public deserves to know what she’s doing in Alaska, and about her extreme anti-conservation policies. The list is long, and we will document it all, from her continued promotion of the aerial slaughter of wolves and bears, to her lawsuit to remove the polar bear from the endangered species list, even as the sea ice melts beneath it.”

Fascinating. So, if Palin faded into the background and didn’t have national political aspirations, this group wouldn’t consider it necessary to inform the public about this? Doesn’t that imply the entire campaign is about bashing the Governor and NOT saving wolves?

A visit to the group’s Palin-bashing website tends to support that implication.

Doug Powers makes a related point:

I’m glad Ashley has taken time out from fighting for a woman’s “right” to kill her unborn child and celebrating the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade in order to protect the wolves

Nice to know that the Left and its celebrity activists still have their priorities straight.

- JP


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40 Comments Leave a comment

Naomi's daughters...

azaeroprof (Diary) Wednesday, February 4th at 10:48PM EST (link)

Ashley clearly inherited the good looks in the family, but Wynona must have gotten all the brains (unless the brains skipped a generation, I really don’t know anything about Wynona’s politics!).

Keep it coming, Josh! Those of us who can’t seem to get enough news re:Sarah really enjoy your frequent posts. Don’t let the negative responses by achance (& others) on your AK supplemental budget post deter you!

If I recall

Rapunzel46 Wednesday, February 4th at 11:35PM EST (link)

Several years ago Wynona was undergoing treatment for her eating disorder and if I recall the story correctly Ashley ended up seeking treatment at the same facility for anger management issues,.. it would seem to me they should both ask for their money back,

 
 

Ashley Judd is going after Palin because who HEARTS Obama

AHALgal Wednesday, February 4th at 10:53PM EST (link)

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/ilGWBHc0S1t/Ashley+Judd+Valerie+Biden+Owens+Campaign+Barack/IcjmzWYDNVA/Valerie+Biden+Owens
Campaigning for BO

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2008/0826/20080826_043827_ashleyjudd_500.jpg

Ashley Judd on the Obama campaign trail.

As Dennis Miller said – Palin is in his melon…

 

We should be hunting brainless celebrities

Tbone (Diary) Wednesday, February 4th at 10:58PM EST (link)

from helicopters, take them to Alaska and let them run with the wolves.

Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.

Dynomite the Fault line

JLenardDetroit (Diary) Wednesday, February 4th at 11:22PM EST (link)

anyone know where we can place charges to help hasten CA falling off into the Sea??

Regards from NoMoTown (the MOTORlessCITY)
“Liberals, looking to do for? America what they’ve done for? Detroit! which is DESTROY IT!”
“I think, therefore I am Conservative”
“Conservative by choice, Republican by necessity”
“You can lead a Liberal to the Truth/Facts, but you cannot make them THINK!”
“Romney [No, not my first choice] does NOT have a MORMON problem. He has a, far too many Americans; these days; are MORONS problem!”


(RS:Help) (JLD) (Hollyweird) (Brain-deads) (SPIN-cycle) (Obamaocare) (Party of kNOw) (Conservatism) (TEApeats) (respectful) (message) (Warning: Children Will Die!!)
Heil “O” Hell No Obamao is NOT MY PRESIDENT! “No U won’t”
I want “O” to FAIL (here, here, & whole Diary (Ofail) here, is why)
The first Liberal was Satan” – a Rush caller (other Quotes)

Just Elimate the (Coastal) Residents And Start Over (nt)

IJB Wednesday, February 4th at 11:34PM EST (link)

If that were to happen - Obama and his band of angry liberals...

Elizabeth Christian (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 1:09AM EST (link)

and all their wisdom would create their 4 million jobs – they would get sandbuckets (like kids play with at the beach) and probably try and rebuild the land that fell into the ocean – it would only take FOREVER and they would waste more trillions upon trillions – it would be Katrina on steroids.

If they think they can control the weather and climate then you know they think they can rebuild land that falls into the ocean.

; )

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
~Benjamin Franklin

 
 

Hey

red4ever (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 12:01AM EST (link)

What did the wolves ever do to you that you would inflict the twitlets on them?

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
Dante

 
 

Given all the scary unethical scientific things going on today

bk (Diary) Wednesday, February 4th at 10:59PM EST (link)

I have to wonder – If someone crafted a human/wolf embryo in Alaska, would it be okay to kill it or not?

 

Isn't Ashley a common thief?

Josh Painter (Diary) Wednesday, February 4th at 11:20PM EST (link)

I remember something about her getting caught shoplifting a few years ago and then saying in an interview that she didn’t feel any sense of guilt about stealing because she “didn’t hurt anyone.” This is the person who is “morally” outraged of the killing of wolves so that more herd animals can live?

- JP

“An armed society is a polite society” – Robert A. Heinlein, “Beyond This Horizon” (1942)

Think that was Winona Ryder

azaeroprof (Diary) Wednesday, February 4th at 11:24PM EST (link)

You're right.

Josh Painter (Diary) Wednesday, February 4th at 11:31PM EST (link)

I just Dogpiled it,and got this, LOL:

Shoplifting Hippie Comes Clean

Looks like Naomi is the only one with a lick of sense.

- JP

“An armed society is a polite society” – Robert A. Heinlein, “Beyond This Horizon” (1942)

 
 
 

We should definitely be helping expand wildlife in her neighborhood

JLenardDetroit (Diary) Wednesday, February 4th at 11:25PM EST (link)

Some more raccoons, black-bears, coyotes, etc….

Those clowns have no clue…. Same fools that won’t let us clean up the Forest to help prevent the countless acres from burning up to Fires…. Compete idiots….

Regards from NoMoTown (the MOTORlessCITY)
“Liberals, looking to do for? America what they’ve done for? Detroit! which is DESTROY IT!”
“I think, therefore I am Conservative”
“Conservative by choice, Republican by necessity”
“You can lead a Liberal to the Truth/Facts, but you cannot make them THINK!”
“Romney [No, not my first choice] does NOT have a MORMON problem. He has a, far too many Americans; these days; are MORONS problem!”


(RS:Help) (JLD) (Hollyweird) (Brain-deads) (SPIN-cycle) (Obamaocare) (Party of kNOw) (Conservatism) (TEApeats) (respectful) (message) (Warning: Children Will Die!!)
Heil “O” Hell No Obamao is NOT MY PRESIDENT! “No U won’t”
I want “O” to FAIL (here, here, & whole Diary (Ofail) here, is why)
The first Liberal was Satan” – a Rush caller (other Quotes)

 

Do like I do

MikeO Wednesday, February 4th at 11:30PM EST (link)

Send them fan-mail written in a respectful tone via the USPS, and wrap-it-up with this simple question:

“Since you are so concerned about [fill-in idiotic cause here], have you considered following Heath Ledger’s and Kurt Cobain’s lead in attracting attention to such a worthy cause?”

 

the positive out of this is

victor_cocchia (Diary) Wednesday, February 4th at 11:30PM EST (link)

that the left (and kooks like Judd) will only be able to fool the American public for so long, and then the backlash will begin. If you notice in the comments at the bottom of the Politico article you can see Dems pining for the 2010 elections.

Well, I believe after the fiasco with the Obama nominations, his naive behavior regarding our enemies intentions and his overall performance to date as President , combined with the ill fated stimulus package will have Americans pining for a return of the sensibilities of Conservatives.

What is ironic about the Judd position (which includes the ilk she associates with) is that the policy is a true conservationist policy. While unfortunate that wolves have to killed, its either they are or they decimate the environment that they live in. They will kill everything they can until there is nothing left to be killed and then move on.

Again, in another fit of irony, the weak wolves would die off eventually from lack of food, with only the strongest surviving. While the way they are killed is gruesome (and hard for me to watch), advocating a long term slow death through starvation that these animals would face after killing off the food stock is even worse, but then again being a hypocrite seems to come easy for Ms. Judd.

“It’s not tyranny we desire; it’s a just, limited, federal government.” -
Alexander Hamilton

 

Ashley Judd is a Beautiful Woman

Whitehorse (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 12:00AM EST (link)

The Judd sisters went to the same High School as I. Ashley is a couple of years younger – she was even more beautiful then than now, if you can believe it. Her politics aren’t, however.

As a hunter, I am amused by those who have a cartoonish view of wildlife. They decry hunting in general as cruel, but say nothing about how predators kill in the wild – much more painful. Not to mention predation by starvation & disease.

PETA's been around for a long time...

6eorge Jetson (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 12:18AM EST (link)

Predators Eating Tamer Animals

 
 

Does anyone know of a video

Josh Painter (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 12:04AM EST (link)

that depicts wolves actually in the process of killing a caribou or moose?

- JP

“An armed society is a polite society” – Robert A. Heinlein, “Beyond This Horizon” (1942)

You'd think the wolves would be grateful...

6eorge Jetson (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 12:26AM EST (link)

Here is a very graphic video - wolves vs. caribous, moose, etc...

Elizabeth Christian (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 1:16AM EST (link)

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
~Benjamin Franklin

Now we're getting somewhere...

Josh Painter (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 7:54AM EST (link)

Thanks,

- JP

“An armed society is a polite society” – Robert A. Heinlein, “Beyond This Horizon” (1942)

 
 
 

Overpopulation

Dencal26 Thursday, February 5th at 12:17AM EST (link)

These animals are killed humanely. Lets compare to the Deer Population in the USA. 500,000 die on the nations roads each year. Many left on the side of the road still alive and in pain, Perhaps this wacko group should help the deer instead.

Where was this group in 2005?
VERNON, N.J. — About 280 bears were killed in New Jersey’s six-day hunt aimed at thinning out the burgeoning population,

Did they attack then Governor Jim McGreevy?

Great point - I do feel sorry for the deer when they die like that

Elizabeth Christian (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 12:19AM EST (link)

and you are right about overpopulation – if there are too many there is disease, they starve, etc…

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
~Benjamin Franklin

 
 

I heard tonight Palin spoke out against this and called it a lie ; )

Elizabeth Christian (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 12:17AM EST (link)

n/t

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
~Benjamin Franklin

 

I found a video - Wolf vs Caribou

Elizabeth Christian (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 12:38AM EST (link)

: ( It won’t let me embed but it is from the BBC Wildlife

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0E6geAq1k8

It’s description says:

Breath-taking images of a wolf chasing and capturing a caribou in the wild. Brilliant images from BBC natural history masterpiece, ‘Planet Earth’.

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
~Benjamin Franklin

Thanks.

Josh Painter (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 1:18AM EST (link)

That looks like part of the same video Ilinked to in my post.

- JP

“An armed society is a polite society” – Robert A. Heinlein, “Beyond This Horizon” (1942)

My bad - I see the link now - I just embedded another one on here

Elizabeth Christian (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 1:27AM EST (link)

that shows wolves vs. all kinds of wild life

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
~Benjamin Franklin

 
 
 

Wasn't the Wolf cull program

CarlSchurz (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 12:50AM EST (link)

A response to a large drop in the Caribou population due to wolf predation. And don’t like half of Alaskans survive on Caribou hunting?

So Ashley Judd is in favor of letting Alaskans starve for her wolves?

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth a war, is much worse. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

Well, the environmentalist agenda does imply population control.

Xasteius (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 1:37AM EST (link)

How will they achieve such a drastic reduction in energy otherwise (ever read Rainbow 6 by Clancy)?

Don’t leave the party, hijack it back!

The only poll that counts is the one at the ballot box.

I don’t want to be Reagan. I want to be a Chance/Soros hybrid.

 

The earth would be a great place to live

bk (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 7:44AM EST (link)

if we could just get rid of all the people.

 

Yes...

Josh Painter (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 8:54AM EST (link)

The wolves had reduced the caribou and moose herd populations to dangerously low numbers. The predator control program has allowed the populations to recover.

But the programs have to be restarted periodically because wolves reproduce at much faster rates than caribou or moose. Wolves are born in litters of four to six pups, while moose and caribou mostly have just one calf at a time.

Alaskan natives don’t necessarily face starvation when the herd populations are reduced to very low levels. They have other alternatives, but all of them are burdensome. They can purchase meat at very high prices. But most natives cannot afford to buy it. When the herds’ numbers are depleted, some natives feel compelled to illegally harvest more whales than the law allows.

Which begets another irony. Some of the “save the wolves” moonbats are also “save the whales” moonbats, and they don’t realize that they are working against themselves.These people are so intellectually lazy that they don’t bother to learn anything about wildlife management. There is sound reasoning and biological science behind predator control, yet the moonbats accuse Palin of supporting “unscientific” methods to keep the wolf populations and the herd populations in check.

A ten-year old could understand the reasoning behind predator control once it is explained to him or her, but the moonbats can’t. Do you really think they are that stupid? Many of them may be, but not all. That’s why I believe that the people behind all of this wolf hysteria are only using it as a smokescreen as part of a larger effort to try to take down Palin politically before she can challenge the Democrats nationally. This is just one example of the sort of deception that the Dems routinely.engage in to try to cripple threats before they become threats.

For another example, learn how Obama won his U.S. Senate seat.He used the FOI act and court challenges to unseal divorce records of his opponents so he could run virtually unopposed. For months in Alaska, Palin’s political opponents have been using court challenges to get access to her e-mail messagea,,including her personal e-mail traffic.

Do you really think that kid in Tennessee, (whose father is a state Rep.) hacked into her e-mail account simply as an act of random cyber-vandalism? After he had hacked into Palin’s account and read her e-mails,he told his fiends in a message posted on a website:

“I read though the emails… ALL OF THEM… before I posted, and what I concluded was anticlimactic, there was nothing there, nothing incriminating, nothing that would derail her campaign as I had hoped, all I saw was personal stuff, some clerical stuff from when she was governor…. And pictures of her family…”

There’s a woman in Alaska who routinely files ethics complaints against Palin with the state attorney general. That’s all she does. All of her complaints have been dismissed or found to be without merit. When one complaint is dismiised, she files another. The purpose is simply to keep Palin’s name assiciated with “ethics complaint” in the news. Investigating her complaints has cost the state over $100,000 so far.

Sarahcuda scares the living crap out of these people because they realize her political potential. they know that she will do her national and international policy homework over the next four years and ges a good media consultant, and they are desperate to nip the Palin phenomenon in the bud before she has a chance to do that.

- JP
- JP

“An armed society is a polite society” – Robert A. Heinlein, “Beyond This Horizon” (1942)

 
 

Maybe National Geographic can help

bk (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 7:49AM EST (link)

Overview of “A Man Among Wolves:

Maverick researcher Shaun Ellis raises abandoned wolf cubs and teaches them, by example, how to survive in the wild — living and behaving like them, howling, licking and snarling like them, even eating carcass meat like them.

Can’t he just teach them to be herbivores next time?

 

The wolf control program isn't new.

Achance (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 9:40AM EST (link)

It goes back to Gov. Hickel or Knowles’ time at least. It has been off and on depending on the political winds and the greenie/PETA types have tried two or three times to stop it by initiative. They’ve tried to organize a boycot of Alaska products and tourism, none of it to much effect. They have “Howl-Ins” about the program ever so often, with the usual couple of dozen showing up.

They try to give the impression that it is some sort of sport hunting. All the wolves are taken by either DF&G employees or, mostly, by professional hunters on contract to DF&G. Sport hunters cannot hunt ANYTHING from the air or take game on the same day they are in the air. Trapping the wolves would also be an option, but I’ll admit that I recoil from leg-hold trapping. A quick death from a well-placed shot is much more humane than hours or days in a leg hold before the bullet. Wolves are trapped for their fur here and Alaska remains one of the few places left that you can safely wear fur. You’ll see lots of fur parkas in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Interior; not so much here in Southeast since it isn’t as cold and rain and fur are not a good mix.

While urban Alaskans, White and Native, do take caribou and moose, few if any are dependent on them for food. I’ve lived in Alaska for 34 years and I’ve taken one moose and one caribou to say I did. I like beef a LOT better and stopping at the grocery store to pick up a couple of steasks is a lot less work than packing out a thousand pounds of moose. There is NO sport in hunting caribou; it’s like walking out in a pasture and shooting somebody’s cow. It is however very hard work to get to them and to pack them out. Rural, or Bush, residents are somewhat dependent on taking moose and caribou. There are few jobs in the villages and food comes in by air freight at enormous cost. Nobody would likely starve if there were no moose or caribou for subsistance hunters, but rural people would eat much less well.

In Vino Veritas

5! Thanks!

azaeroprof (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 10:52AM EST (link)

If the media would just report the facts like you just did instead of sensationalizing the catfight between Palin & Judd, all sane people would just discard the wacko commercial.

I'd prefer to humanely trap the wolves and relocate

Achance (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 10:58AM EST (link)

them to parks in and near major American cities. I’m also All FOR an “Adopt A Wolf” program with the only condition being you have to live in the Lower 48.

In Vino Veritas

 
 

I need to revise and extend my remarks on the wolf

Achance (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 1:39PM EST (link)

program. I did some more research and found that the program seems to have changed. They are in fact giving sport hunters permits to take the wolves and to keep the hides. And I ain’t liking this program at all!

In Vino Veritas

I'd love to see a diary from you about this (n/t)

Finrod (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 3:01PM EST (link)

.

Let’s get down to brass tacks here. How much for the ape?

 
 

I need to revise and extend my remarks on the wolf

Achance (Diary) Thursday, February 5th at 1:39PM EST (link)

program. I did some more research and found that the program seems to have changed. They are in fact giving sport hunters permits to take the wolves and to keep the hides. And I ain’t liking this program at all!

In Vino Veritas

 
 

I would expect no less...

Skycop150 (Diary) Friday, February 6th at 4:28PM EST (link)

From Hollywood that is. They are only going after Palin because they can’t get publicity with out attacking someone big. Who else normally listen to these loons except themselves.

Rev. Dn. Panagiotis (Robert) Hanley
Respond to Email: skycop150@yahoo.com

 

I would expect no less...

Skycop150 (Diary) Friday, February 6th at 4:28PM EST (link)

From Hollywood that is. They are only going after Palin because they can’t get publicity with out attacking someone big. Who else normally listen to these loons except themselves.

Rev. Dn. Panagiotis (Robert) Hanley
Respond to Email: skycop150@yahoo.com