A fly, PETA? Seriously?

When I walked in the break room this morning for my daily consumption of milk and coffee (mostly milk with a splash of coffee for flavor, I guess), CNN's bottom ticker said that PETA is asking President Obama to be kinder to flies. Apparently, the President had killed a fly during an interview because said insect was buzzing in his ear. What he should have done, PETA contends, is capture the fly in the room and set it free outside - presumably to live the rest of its hours in peace.

Ugh.

I like PETA. I think, for the most part, it's a good cause. There are, of course, radical crazies in every group that taint the public perception of the rest of the members, but, generally speaking, PETA gets a nod from me. I think animals should be treated ethically. I don't know enough about scientific research to cast an opinion there, but, generally speaking, if testing on animals can be at all avoided, I agree that it should.

There. There's my overall opinion of PETA.

But trying to save flies? Seriously? What are they going to do next - insist that we lower the speed limit to 5 miles per hour so that little bugs don't kamikaze into our grills and windshields?

I live in Florida, where insects probably outnumber humans at least 3 billion to one. About half of those, I'm sure, are flying, and half of those are mosquitoes! Since I (unwillingly) feed several hundred mosquitoes each year, I'm not opposed to killing the little buggers. And I'm not about to apologize for all the bugs I clean off my windshield each day, either.

So, PETA, please find another species to save before you become a total laughingstock. It's hard to take your organization seriously when you make ludicrous statements like these.