487 Comments

Has anyone said, ā€œOh for flockā€™s sakeā€ yet?

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OK, let's begin by burn the books.

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Immediately.

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Each name-change is just another camels' nose under the tentflap, and in the end accomplishes nothing but generate umbrage.

Were fewer kids in Chicago killed after all them statues were torn down or schools renamed?

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Late comment here, but I never understand this. People like Audubon, Jefferson, Washington, and many others, did not *stand* for slavery. We remember them for their other contributions, not because they stood for slavery and made that their lifeā€™s cause.

Iā€™m also going to Monticello next week and while I known slavery will be talked about there, I hope itā€™s not the central issue. I want to see the house and learn about Jefferson, in all of his paradoxical glory.

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This culture war, PC, virtue signalling nonsense is beyond ridiculous. If one goes back in history far (and globally wide) enough, EVERYONE's ancestors owned slaves. These people need to get a life and let the rest of us live ours in peace.

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How in the hell are "marginal groups" injured by the name Audubon? People throw this crap out to justify their own biases. There is no evidence that marginalized people are actually injured or indeed give two shits about what the name of your stupid bird chasing group is named. There are self righteous authoritarian a-holes all over. The birds themselves are reported to side with the marginalized groups in not caring about the damn name but implore these idiots to "LEAVE US ALONE!!!"

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I see that Chris Cooper is stretching out his 15 minutes of fame. What he now dismisses as "a bunch of nonsense" ruined a woman's life and he played a large hand in it, along with his sister. Interesting that he's now blaming the press. Some say that he was the real "Central Park Karen." The whole encounter was recorded from only his perspective. Does it occur to these bird-watchers that the birds just might want to be left alone, and not tracked and pursued and harassed? Always seemed like a strange pastime to me.

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Obviously, the only thing to do to purge this unforgivable blot on society is to remove any mention of Audubon from all history books, burn all of his research, art, books, everything associated with him. Any museums created using his name to be demolished. All clubs or organizations created to conduct any form of continuing observations be disbanded and every member investigated to ensure none of their ancestors owned or had slaves, and to send all club members to reeducation camps to ensure their minds are purified and set right. And to arrest anyone discovered using or teaching anything associated with him. All donations in any form must be returned and/or prohibited. His life, obviously, created a societal cancer that must be blotted out forever and completely. And shame must be brought to those who ever associated themselves in any way with him or his organization. No simple name change can ever blot out what this horrible person did in his lifetime. He and everyone/everything associated with him must be destroyed and humiliated. Itā€™s simple. The Chinese communists use this process all the time. Now itā€™s being imported to the United States, just like all the other stuff we buy all the time thatā€™s made in China. Junk. Just Google it and follow the instructions. Although it appears the bold board members already have made a pretty good start on their own. Wonder whatā€™s in their background.

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As the article illustrates, it's not enough not to have owned slaves. It's not even enough to have fought against slavery. If you desecrated native graves or did anything at any time that offends the woke, even if it was 300 years ago, your name is mud. You have no redeeming qualities, even if you founded a nation or invented something that changed the world. When will they start looking into whether someone long dead ever hit their wives or mistreated their kids, or pets? If they insist on perfect humans, then nothing will ever be named after anybody again.

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I completely agree, Kate. Itā€™s time to begin investigating the deep backgrounds of some of these woke idiots, and revealing all of the skeletons in their past, and laying them out on the internet for all to see. As you say, no one is perfectā€¦and these folks are as far from perfect as anyone can get.

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Thank you for letting me know who is now running the Sierra Club..going forward I will ignore anything being put forward by them..that list grows ever longer, unfortunately.

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It will never stop. Wokeism is a cancer.

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Maybe in the "About Audubon" part of the Audubon Society, they could include information about how "his work" was actually the work of his team, which included enslaved assistants. Don't whitewash the truth, don't tear down history, but make it more accurate. At least birding won't seem "so white," since that seems to be an issue with this class of people.

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This article was well written. I liked the way the writer used quotes from persons involved in the debate to set forth the pros and cons of changing the name. It's not simply ignorant armies clashing by night.

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Just in this article:

Egyptian geese - Egyptians owned slaves

coots - Ageist

bushtit - Misoginist

woodcocks - Anti-Trans

yellow-throated warbler - Anti-Asian

Finally:

ā€“" ā€¦Nelsonā€¦rail(ed) against the ā€œwhite supremacist framework built into the DNA of the outdoors.ā€

In order to be truly ā€œauthenticā€ Nelson will have to do all his future birding indoors. Nelson, do the ā€œworkā€.

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Those with no past have no future. And those who dig up what they hate about the past so they can erase it are on a fool's errand. Orwell warned us what future awaits those who memory hole the past.

Please go away.

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Honestly, sometimes you wonder if there isn't a group hell-raisers somewhere just looking for ways to stick their thumbs in the eyes of grown-ups. "Let's see what hoops we can make the old farts jump through this time!" From this point of view, the more unhinged, provocative and logic-defying the demand, the better.

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I'm not in the society so it isn't up to me. This is another case of the left thinking a name is hurting someone and then changing it. You allow yourself to be offended. It won't change who the founder is. The society will still have the same history. When I hear that name, I think birds. I understand some wanting to change it, but I think it will hurt the group more than help.

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