Roy Brown: I am not and have never been a vegetarian
Republican gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown indignantly denies being a vegetarian and accuses Democrats of promulgating a smear campaign against him:
"I am not and have never been a vegetarian," Brown said. "I am disgusted by the baseless allegation that I am a vegetarian and that my personal eating habits should somehow be construed as opposed to the economic interests of Montana's livestock industry."[Billings Gazette]
Brown admits that he and his family temporarily cut down on meat and dairy products 25 years ago, but only because they were caring for a dying relative who couldn't tolerate these delicacies.
I love it. Arguably, being a vegetarian is pro-American -- if we want to get to energy independence, we've got to cut back on beef consumption, because beef=corn=nitrogen fertilizer=natural gas. The energy cost of beef is so high that biking to work, fueled by beef, has a bigger greenhouse footprint than driving an SUV (the methane is a large part of it, but so is the energy required to grow the corn).
But no, in Republican America, vegetarian diets are to be avoided.
Posted by: dr2chase | November 03, 2008 at 10:56 PM
You have to realize that here in Montana being a vegetarian is actually more serious than being a commie or a terrorist. It qualifies as an offense against nature.
Posted by: DrDick | November 03, 2008 at 11:14 PM
The meat industry is a powerful lobby. They took out a contract on Howard Lyman, the farmer behind madcowboy.com and sued KD Lange for her anti-factory farming stance.
These dinosaurs are in the last throes. Humans have to change or face the end of their world as they've known (and exploited) it.
Posted by: Lesley | November 03, 2008 at 11:21 PM
Politicians making this claim should be required to submit their cholesterol profile.
Posted by: Slugger | November 04, 2008 at 05:21 PM
As of now, I'm selling blood samples to Montana vegetarians who need them to avoid political suicide or deportation from the state. Type A+ only, cholesterol levels guaranteed!
Posted by: SASnSA | November 05, 2008 at 04:03 PM
wait...what...i mean...wtf, this is an issue? this matters? jeebus christ! once again proving to me, a vegetarian since the age of 15, that it's meateaters who are uptight. there's this stereotype that vegetarians are aggressive and uptight. well, any other vegetarian reading this probably knows the truth as i...do the words, "aw, man, you don't know what you're missing, come on...look at this great cut of [insert type of meat here]" love how meateaters will ignore the fact that a vegetarian ate meat for many years, and made a choice to stop...nah, we just don't know what we're missing.
guess this means i shouldn't run for office anytime soon.
Posted by: betty brown | November 08, 2008 at 07:45 AM