WOW -- Hold the Party Line OR ELSE!!

Outdoor Life Magazine fired Jim Zumbo (who has written for them since 1952 ) because they didn't agree with his opinion he expressed in his blog. Don't believe me? Click on the link in the title.

Some background -- Jim Zumbo is one of those fixtures in hunting and fishing circles -- always a featured speaker at Sports Shows, regular writer in magazines, book author, has videos, often found in those out-of-door shows on the Outdoor Channel on TV. He's popular, well thought of, funny, etc. So it must have been some outrageous statement made in his blog, right? Maybe he admitted to being a child molester or poacher, right?

A Righty blogger said they had been sold out by one of their own -- and so the blog storm and letters started.

Here's what Kevin Drum over at Polital Animal said:

Last week he wrote a single ill-considered blog post, and after a flurry of complaints he followed it up 36 hours later with the most abject apology imaginable. His blog has since been taken down, but trust me on this: he told his readers that it had been late and he was tired; that he had written in ignorance; that what he said was stupid; that he apologized; and that he was going to make an effort to learn more about the subject in question (AR platforms for hunting). He practically got down on his knees and begged forgiveness.

As usual these days, it did no good. The slavering hordes were unappeased and he's now out of a job, has lost his sponsorships and his TV show, and might as well move to a desert island to live out the rest of his years now. He's a pariah.

Kevin used it as an example of the hypocracy of asking for appologies.

Blaine Harden over at The Washington Post said Zumbo equated hunters with terrorists.

So here's what Jim Zumbo really wrote:

Assault Rifles For Hunters?

As I write this, I'm hunting coyotes in southeastern Wyoming with Eddie Stevenson, PR Manager for Remington Arms, Greg Dennison, who is senior research engineer for Remington, and several writers. We're testing Remington's brand new .17 cal Spitfire bullet on coyotes.

I must be living in a vacuum. The guides on our hunt tell me that the use of AR and AK rifles have a rapidly growing following among hunters, especially prairie dog hunters. I had no clue. Only once in my life have I ever seen anyone using one of these firearms.

I call them "assault" rifles, which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity. I'll go so far as to call them "terrorist" rifles. They tell me that some companies are producing assault rifles that are "tackdrivers."

Sorry, folks, in my humble opinion, these things have no place in hunting. We don't need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them, which is an obvious concern. I've always been comfortable with the statement that hunters don't use assault rifles. We've always been proud of our "sporting firearms."

This really has me concerned. As hunters, we don't need the image of walking around the woods carrying one of these weapons. To most of the public, an assault rifle is a terrifying thing. Let's divorce ourselves from them. I say game departments should ban them from the praries and woods.

HE'S AGAINST HUNTING PRAIRIE DOGS WITH ASSAULT WEAPONS. HE FEELS ASSAULT WEAPONS HAVE NO PLACE IN SPORTS HUNTING AND DOESN'T THINK WE NON-HUNTING FOLKS WILL LIKE THE LOOK OF THEM STOMPING AROUND WITH ASSAULT WEAPONS. Herracy!!

GAWD! Unbelievable!! The NRA and the righties sent out the attack dogs and ruined a man's career for that!? He's been accused of trying to coddle Rosie O'Donnell, boosbikesboomsticks wrote:

Wow, strip off that down-home looking camo, and underneath it this guy is wearing a pink Million Mom March tee shirt.

; snowflakesinhell said:

I'm calling on everyone who has read the Zumbo article and has a subscription to Outdoor Life to cancel your subscription. At the least, make sure they know you're really unhappy with the article.

, dailypundit calles him "Dumbo Zumbo", -- and it goes on and on . . .


I guess Amanda was lucky to get out alive!