I’m always a little suspicious of the folks involved with fanatical organized do-goodism; they seem to have no sense of proportion.

WHALE DILEMMA

Oh, what a Solomon’s dilemma. Oh, what a two-edged sword. Oh, what a politically correct Pandora’s paradox.

The confrontation included no easy villain. The cast featured animal rights activists, self-proclaimed environmentalists, Native Americans, and whales. All representing themselves to be spokesmen for Mother Earth’s best interest. Except the whale, of course, which was the baby presented to Solomon.

The Makah Indians of Washington State claimed a treaty right that had been granted them by the U.S. government in exchange for their land. We gave them a small reservation, some beads and blankets, and the right to hunt and fish without having to buy a whale stamp from the Fish and Game.

The tribe was forced to quit hunting whales with a canoe and harpoon after the United States, Russia, and Japan decimated the whale population to the point of extinction with nuclear warheads and dynamite (small exaggeration, but you get the point).

The whales rebounded and were removed from the Endangered Species list in 1995. The Makah nation planned a hunt.

The professional activists organized and hounded the Indians. But strangely enough, they were unable to muster sufficient outrage from the whale-loving public. Which is most of us, I guess.

Ultimately, it appears our feelings of guilt for the Native American’s plight was greater than our guilt for the whale, so we stood by and let the tribe harpoon one.

Those defending the whale raised an appropriate hue and cry: “. . . A horrific tragedy. It’s just the beginning. Anybody who thinks it stops here is dead wrong. It is really the shot heard round the world!”

“. . . One hundred and fifty years ago, it was for food,” said one activist about the tribal hunt. “Now it’s for fun.”

To the tribe’s credit, they did it the hard way. Literally with harpoons and canoes. But I suspect there won’t be a flotilla of tribal harpooners taking to the water. After all, what are you gonna do with it after you drag it to shore? How much work would it be to butcher a carcass that weighs as much as a loaded Kenworth? And who can you give twenty or thirty tons of blubber to? I’ll bet it’s harder to give away than zucchini.

I expect that in the end, the Makah folks will not make much of a dent in the whale population. After all, how many head mounts can you hang above the mantel.