Seen and Not Seen

I have held the Santa Barbara Independent in high regard, as a publication that stands up to the powerful and speaks for those whose voices are not heard. It is distressing to me to see this publication choose a brutal picture for its cover, ballyhooing the star quality of machismo rodeo performers being touted for subduing harmless, big, and, by nature, gentle creatures.

I wonder if you and the people who glorify “sports” of this nature will ever see the connection between how we treat one another, and how we treat the rest of the beings who unwittingly share this planet with us.

It saddens me that the Independent, while so thoughtful and fair in matters concerning our fellow human beings, hasn’t bridged the gap and opened it’s heart to those on the other side without a voice, enduring lives of confinement, pain and suffering — invisible to so many who choose to turn a blind-eye to this treatment in the name of entertainment.