Obama swats fly, PETA responds

[David N. Snyder]

Pres. Obama swatted a fly during an interview, killing it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rbUH_iVjYw

And then PETA responded. When you hear "PETA responded" you may tend to think "okay here comes another extremist outlandish statement" but they actually had a pretty good response this time:

“He isn’t the Buddha, he’s a human being and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act.”

[Jechbi]

To me it looks like he thought about it beforehand.

This is actually kind of interesting. Obama generally is very deliberate and very much aware of his public persona in interview settings. One of his strengths is his presence of mind and his ability to do and say what he means. As silly as this might sound, I think that when Obama killed the fly, it was a calculated move to take advantage of the circumstances and send a message about the kind of president he is: precise, accurate, in control of his surroundings, and potentially deadly. No need to put him on a pedestal, as much as we might like him.

[Ben]

Interestingly, I was listening to the radio yesterday which included a reading from the journal of an adventurer in the Canadian wilderness in the 17th Century. The reading was the conversation between the English explorer and an Indian chief in the style of the Milinda Panha where both were quizzing each other in a fairly deliberate and almost structured way but on the subject of their respetive cultural and behavioural pecadillos. The part I caught was when the chief was intrigued when the explorer gently blew away a fly that was stinging him on the back of the hand and said 'there is room enough for both of us in this world'. When quizzed by the chief over the seemingly bizarre behaviour, the explorer answered I can neither eat it, nor conquer it. Which I think lead to an interesting pause for thought for both.
Anyway, I just thought I would share given the immediate context of the Obama swat.
Metta

Ben

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

I can kill flies easily.

I have to use mindfulness to turn it into a "catch and release" program instead.

Metta,
Retro.

[thornbush]

From President to pauper.....kamma distinguishes not.....

[jcsuperstar]

i never kill bugs.. i just blow then away or shu them away. i dont want yukky bug guts on me.

[Cittasanto]

Greetings,

I can kill flies easily.

I have to use mindfulness to turn it into a "catch and release" program instead.

Metta,
Retro.

Very true

[Guy]

Metta to the fly, to Mr. Obama and his supporters. May the fly find a higher rebirth. May Mr Obama and his supporters learn compassion.

[Journey]

Pres. Obama swatted a fly during an interview, killing it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rbUH_iVjYw

And then PETA responded. When you hear "PETA responded" you may tend to think "okay here comes another extremist outlandish statement" but they actually had a pretty good response this time:

“He isn’t the Buddha, he’s a human being and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act.”

What does PETA know about Buddhism? They kill. They see euthanasia as "The Compassionate Option".

http://www.peta.org/MC/factsheet_display.asp?ID=39

[David N. Snyder]

What does PETA know about Buddhism? They kill. They see euthanasia as "The Compassionate Option".

http://www.peta.org/MC/factsheet_display.asp?ID=39

Hi Journey,

Dealing with unwanted domestic animals is a difficult issue. What can be done with them? Killing is never good, but if the shelters don't kill them, they will breed more unwanted animals, creating a bigger problem. Adoption helps only very little as there are too many animals and not enough homes for them to go to.

I suppose neutering them and releasing them might be a no-kill option, but then there is the cost and also the risks of surviving in the streets with cars, trucks, etc. Do you have any suggestions as to what could be done with all of the unwanted animals? I don't like the euthanasia option either, but wonder what other options there might be?

[Journey]

Hard is it to be born into human life
and hard is the human life we are born into.

All beings tremble before violence.
All love life, all fear death.

He is not noble who injures living beings.
He is called noble because he is harmless towards all living beings.

Blind is the world;
here only a few possess insight.
Only a few, like birds escaping from the net, go to realms of bliss.

Follow then the shining ones,
the wise,
the awakened,
the loving,
for they know how to work and be patient.
Follow them as the moon follows the path of the stars.

Dhammapada

[Ngawang Drolma.]

Bugs are so creepy. It's even creepier to imagine smashing them on purpose. Lucky for me, I guess. Eww

[BubbaBuddhist]

I heard they're going to have the fly stuffed and mounted for display with other Presidential trophies at the Smithsonian.

J

[Ben]

Hi Laura

Bugs are so creepy. It's even creepier to imagine smashing them on purpose. Lucky for me, I guess. Eww

You get over the creepiness of bugs pretty quickly if you live in Australia. Our flies, particularly our blow-flies, would put their light-weight north-american cousin to shame.


Kind regards

Ben

[Jechbi]

Wow. Wonder what it had for dinner.

"A fatal thing, monks, are gains, favors and fame, a bitter, harsh impediment to the attainment of the unsurpassed freedom from bondage. It is just like a beetle, feeding on dung, full of dung, gorged with dung, standing before a great dung-hill, who might despise other beetles, saying: 'I am a dung-eater, full of dung, gorged with dung, and before me is this great dung-hill!'

[Ben]

Sheep anus

...On second thoughts, a photo of a blow-fly infested anus would not be appropriate here.
Creepy regards

Ben

[Ngawang Drolma.]

Eek, that photo of the blow fly gave me an awful shiver!

[Journey]

It's not an object of dislike, or destruction, it's just a sentient being.

[Cittasanto]

so what was petas response?

[David N. Snyder]

so what was petas response?

It's up there in the OP:

“He isn’t the Buddha, he’s a human being and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act.”