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In my opinion, Mr Trump simply saying that he did not particularly bond with animals would have been acceptable. I would have fel a little sorry for him....but know that events can change people through the course of their lives.
However, saying that they are "low class" just shows there is a certain low class mental attitude going on for starters. Such a statement no doubt is meant to influence people, as so many humans are class-conscious for some inexplicable reason. That's where it gets dark.
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I couldn't find a more direct report, but it is significant that he hasn't denied it. Twitter should have been full of denials, but it wasn't.
It is also significant that he has not brought a pet to the White House. This is a long standing presidential tradition. He does not want a pet. He didn't have pets before he became president either.
You are right that it is disturbing. This is a man in a position of power who is making decisions that effect the lives of many animals. He can change the laws that protect wildlife. He can change the laws that protect domestic animals, both farm animals and pets. He has already made negative changes. Years of hard work to gain protection for animals and the environment could be wiped out in a few short years. Undoing the damage, assuming it can be undone, will take years of hard work.
It is sad/scary/ frightening to think that a decision to allow a pipeline or drilling in an ecologically fragile area could result in the loss of an actual species. Allowing a toxic pesticide to be widely used could cause the loss of many things, in particular our main pollinator, the bees. I don't think this man has the empathy or the wisdom to make the decisions that he is making, but he does have the power.
Catherine
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12-09-2017, 03:43 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-09-2017, 03:49 AM by Tobi.)
Fortunately, politics isn't a complete autocracy. Although a President may be influenced by those who have vested interests of course. All we can hope for is that the voices of scientists and advisors, who know about the situation "in the field" plus laws which are already in force, won't go unheard, even if there is no personal empathy. However, a negative bias on the part of a President does not bode too well for a balanced and thoughtful approach from the higher echelons of government.
Mr Trump and this whole "Twitter thing" has me baffled anyway. To make any kind of government or Presidential announcements on Twitter -and to be there so frequently -would be almost humorous if it didn't show something has to be amiss.