some "traditions" we don't need

Some authentic Louisiana characters are just broken-hearted that the cruel and oppressive state government has decided to trample on their liberties and bring to a halt a tradition that has gone on for hundreds of years, an expression of culture and human creativity.

Cockfighting.

Yep, Louisiana becomes the last state to make cock-fighting illegal, effective today.

Cockfighting fans - none of whom are roosters - seem to take this hard. One guy name of Carter Kinchen even says, "Religion and cockfighting built this country."

Well, I missed the cockfighting references in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution or the Federalist Papers. Be that as it may, there are "traditions" that are best abandoned. Slavery was one such tradition, now banished in the US for over 140 years. There are other "traditions" that I wouldn't mind seeing disappear for ever, like female circumcision. Just because something has been done for a long time doesn't make it right.

Cockfighting is nothing better than organized death for the amusement and gambling pleasure of people. It's bad enough to kill animals to eat them. But to do so just for laughs and cheap thrills is just plain uncivilized.

So long, (legal) cockfighting.