Jeez Louise - I think some kind of mental examination for at least some PETA members is warranted after they released a statement taking President Obama to task for swatting a fly during an interview.

Jerry Remmers at The Moderate Voice has the details:

PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich said: "We support compassion even for the most curious, smallest and least sympathetic animals. We believe that people, where they can be compassionate, should be, for all animals."

Friedrich let a good story get in the way of a basic fact. Flies aren't animals. They're insects.

I was willing to give the animal rights mouthpiece the benefit of the doubt that he was, for sure, kidding. But, noooo. PETA is sending Obama a Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher, a device that allows users to trap a house fly and then release it outside. My God, he was serious.

Friedrich said PETA is a strong supporter of Obama because of his voting record as a U.S. senator on behalf of animal rights and outspoken against animal abuses. Still, "swatting a fly on TV indicates he's not perfect," Friedrich said, "and we're happy to say that we wish he hadn't." I could be wrong, but memory serves that house flies lives are numbered in days, even without a quick human hand, fly swatters and chemical bug killers.

After the interview, Obama took a tissue and picked up the fallen soldier off the White House floor. As far as the interview went, one must feel sorry for Harwood. No one remembers what was said, including the fly.