Gung-ho candidate kills for kudos

Damien Enright takes aim at Palin’s moose-killing boasts

A MEDIA cliché proposes that because Sarah Palin, the US Republican vice-presidential candidate, hunts and kills wild animals — in this case moose — she must be thick. It does not follow.

For millennia, hunters were the smartest of the tribe. They embodied patience, knowledge of natural history, intelligence and skill. As I understand it, none of these attributes is required in killing moose, today. With high-powered rifles, telescopic sights and moose-callers, it simply requires a jaunt to the country, a point-blank target, and a pick-up truck to bring the carcass home.