This is from one of my reliably bilious leftwing readers in response to my animal rights post yesterday. I really do think he’s serious:

Hi Jonah, Once again you have outdone yourself. The only reason you argue that: ’ It is the biodiversity extremists and animal rights ideologues, it seems to me, who ultimately reduce the relative worth of a staggeringly beautiful creature like a tiger by saying it’s just as “valuable” as a snail darter’ is because to the untrained eye; external appearances are everything. Do you know anything about the snail darter you dismiss so readily as a lesser species? To conservatives; external appearances are everything . the color of one’s skin; religion; race; etc. Sickening ignorance.

Me: Now I think this is a classic (and hilarious!) example of liberal anti-conservative bigots looking for confirmation of their prejudice anywhere they can. Because I place more value on a tiger than a snail darter it must be proof that I’m a racist (Oh, and since when is “religion” primarily a matter of appearance?). As such, I don’t think I should really waste a lot of time responding to this nonsense. That said, it’s worth noting that if you google “tiger poems” you get nearly two and a half million results. Google snail darter poems, not quite as many.