*weathers stern lecture*
Well, here's the thing, Opty. For those of us here in the states, we sit here witnessing the dismantling of the building blocks of our laws and norms every. single. day. Those building blocks are both large and small, but we're reaching critical mass, where even a pebble like this feels like an enormous breach.
I'm a natural-born American citizen, so I'm witnessing the same thing you are.
This particular rule rollback is so clearly and obviously geared toward the wants and desires of his sons,
Prove it, otherwise that's just a correlation/causation fallacy. This particular rollback has been under consideration since 2015, when the ban went temporarily into place. It was the intention that the ban was not permanent.
My point was that if people were really so concerned about the elephants, this would've been an issue for them all along, and they would've taken Obama to task in 2015 for not banning the importation of elephant hunting trophies PERIOD. He did not do that. He allowed them from dozens of countries. This is not a new issue.
FWS may have issued the guidance, but you DO know that Trump has appointed the absolute worst people to head our government departments.
But you DO know that Trump hasn't appointed anyone to run the FWS yet, don't you? The current acting head of the FWS is Deputy Director Jim Kurth, who has been in that role since Dan Ashe stepped down the day before Trump's inauguration this year. Jim Kurthe was appointed deputy direct in 2015, under Obama. He's also the one who OK'd lifting the ban on these two countries...two countries that US trophy hunters likely aren't going to go to anyway (especially Zimbabwe, given that it's in the middle of a military coup).
FWS says it's okie dokie to hunt an endangered species,
Yes, the Obama-era deputy director said it was okie-dokie. Also, it's important to note that these elephants aren't an endangered species.
Pardon me if I don't trust the "guidance" of offices being led by people I don't trust.
You don't trust Obama appointees?
I don't want elephants killed by trophy hunters. I don't want their dead bodies brought into my country to be display pieces for wealthy-f***ing-assholes, and if I want to clutch my pearls (or worse), I'm going to. Loudly.
I don't want any of that either. As I stated earlier, I think trophy hunting is grotesque and that such hunters are douchebags.
My main point was that it seems that many people are looking for any little thing they can trash Trump for that they will mindlessly latch onto things that they previously didn't seem to care about, and that he has nothing to do with, and blame him for it. And I say "mindlessly" because it's clear from this thread that many people don't actually know the facts/issues before they start attacking. It's more Pavlovian response than critical engagement of the issue.
This is a monumental waste of time and energy. There are so many more important issues that he actually is responsible for fucking up that people should be properly educating themselves on and going after him for. And I know that many people have been doing that for those issues (many are listed here in this thread, even though they have nothing to do with the story in the OP), but this elephant issue is a straw man and a needless distraction. Hate Trump all you want. I'm right there with you. But hate him for things that are actually his fault. Otherwise, his opposition loses credibility.
For example, in addition to some of the ones you listed, the new i
diot head of the FCC is about to dismantle net neutrality regulations next month and there doesn't seem to be anyone left to stop him.
That, to me, is an example of something that is a much more important, much more pressing issue than the fact that Obama allowed people to kill and import elephant trophies from X number of countries and now an Obama-era guy has allowed people to kill and import elephant trophies from X+2 number of countries.