October 04, 2001
From the desk of Mindles H. Dreck:John Adams and Animal Rights
Kimberley Strassel notes in today's Opinion Journal:
"This re-evaluation of some activist groups is one of the few welcome developments stemming from the attacks. In his biography of John Adams, David McCullough notes the second president's observation that Americans remember what is good and right only in times of strife and crisis.
Sept. 11 has made this nation remember that human life is supreme, invaluable. What activist group can now argue that a human does not hold precedence over some wetlands, or a rat that could be tested for a vaccine? Hopefully, this new mindset will stay for some time."
Adams sounds a bit down on his contemporaries, and, in extremis, I believe saving wetlands may be important to human life, but let's hope Kimberley's right on the animal research front. Better these folks should concentrate on the live dog-incinerating Taliban.