Unpheasant truths

Two people are dead thanks to warm and fuzzy thinking. You know the advice they give on animals in the road -- it's there for a reason. People like to posture these days and say, 'how cruel', but better a dead animal than a dead person. This week, two people are dead because someone preferred their misdirected conscience be clean than they (and their passenger) remain alive. That is how it is. Animal rights sound like an extension of care, a widening of our concern. It is not true, not if you read Singer and not in practice either. You have to decide -- people first, or animals first. Someone has to end up dead. Not realising that is the cover behind which the animal rights terror campaigns get all the worse. If there is an animal in the way, slow down by all means if you can in safety, but don't swerve. Squash and be proud of your moral clear-sightedness. Better a dead animal than a dead person, which is why Christmas celebrates one who never dies over the carcase of a bird with a clear conscience. The spirit of the season means squashing a pheasant if need be -- not that the image will make it onto any cards this year...