Taking Cheap Shots at Olympian Cogdell

By now, you’ve surely heard of Olympic trap shooter Corey Cogdell, a young woman who grew up shooting and hunting. She won a bronze medal in Beijing and recently competed in London. 

She also has been named an “official hottie” of the Olympics by the Bleacher Report’s Swagger List of “50 hottest American Olympics.” She ranked No. 32. Of course, the young women wearing fewer clothes -- like swimmers, gymnasts and beach volleyballers -- outranked her.

But before she went to the Olympics, she went hunting in Africa and legally killed a zebra. She posted some photos on Facebook, and that’s when the loonies attacked. At Twitchy, comments sprang forth such as “I hope you suffer a long, painful death, I truly do.” Then there’s, “Go shoot yourself in the knees, you animal murderer,” and, “These people need to be shot, deheaded (that’s de-headed, not beheaded, like King Henry did to his wives) and posted on a wall.”

In the Examiner this week, Joe Newby makes the point that anti-hunters and those who often are coined “liberals” feel free to direct death threats at hunters. That, of course, caused true liberals to get mad at Joe Newby. 

I took a look at some of the comments flying around the Internet. There were a lot of death threats. Some folks believe that hunting is nothing to emulate, that Corey is not a role model for youngsters. 

How ignorant. Corey is an Alaskan who grew up shooting and hunting, and loves the freedom she has to practice this time-honored tradition, legally. 

Whether you take your gun out and bring home meat for your table is up to you, but we – who are not classified as liberals, probably more like “rednecks” – expect that you do not demean us or threaten us. After all, we’re the ones who are providing dollars for wildlife conservation so that you can enjoy hiking trails, bird watching sites, boating access points and fish hatcheries – often at no expense to you.

So here are a few questions for the weekend. What is the best way to outclass the naysayers who call for death threats to hunters? How do you explain to people why you hunt? And, here's the "hot button" question: Is referring to all the naysayers as "liberals'' fair? Can you technically be a "liberal" and a hunter?