# The Curious Case of the Cougar and the Commissioner **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 25, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curious-case-of-the-cougar-and-the-commissioner/613975 "2012-02-25T17:40:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curious-case-of-the-cougar-and-the-commissioner/613975/41 "2012-02-26T04:05:13Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Hell, I’m not convinced that it’s always wrong to kill an animal that is endangered. I’m mostly amused by the fact that stepping over an imaginary boundary can alter the morality of an action. It’s kind of like eating pork through a hole in a sheet. It’s not an imaginary boundary. The Sierra and Rocky mountains are different habitats. Sierra in CA, Rockies in ID. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curious-case-of-the-cougar-and-the-commissioner/613975/42 "2012-02-26T22:10:32Z")
I see nothing wrong with what he did. He legally went hunting in another state. I don’t even consider it a bad PR move. I feel sorry for the guy. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curious-case-of-the-cougar-and-the-commissioner/613975/43 "2012-02-26T22:27:22Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > What if the head of the school board travelled to Thailand to have legal sex with a 15 year old? Everybody cool with that? I believe that Thailand frowns on ‘sex tourism’. And still illegal in States > [@](#): > > In cases involving children, the U.S. has relatively strict domestic laws that hold accountable any American citizen or permanent resident of the U.S. who travels abroad for the purpose of engaging in illicit conduct with a minor. A better analogy would be vice cop in California getting his pipe smoked in the Chicken Ranch in Nevada. Perfectly legal, but hypocritical. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curious-case-of-the-cougar-and-the-commissioner/613975/44 "2012-02-26T22:37:26Z")
I think this case is clouded by the fact that so many of us consider Mountain Lions to be majestic animals, and we would never consider hunting them since they are pure trophy kills. But imagine if big horned sheep were endangered in CA, but plentiful in Idaho. The guy kills the sheep, and feeds his family and friends for months on the meat. Now, all trophy hunting is not illegal in CA, just trophy hunting of certain kinds. So the guy did some trophy hunting where that particular kind was legal. BFD. I might think less of him as a person, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think he can’t do his job. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curious-case-of-the-cougar-and-the-commissioner/613975/45 "2012-02-26T22:37:32Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > What if the head of the school board travelled to Thailand to have legal sex with a 15 year old? Everybody cool with that? Probably not, however, everyone who has posted in this thread thus far doesn’t seem to have a problem with the guy who shot the cougar other than it was an idiotic PR move. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curious-case-of-the-cougar-and-the-commissioner/613975/46 "2012-02-26T22:38:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Legally-nothing wrong. > Ethically-nothing wrong. > Public Relations-wise-major cockup. Pretty much. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curious-case-of-the-cougar-and-the-commissioner/613975/47 "2012-02-27T00:38:28Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > I can’t see the word “catamount” without thinking of Penn State. Or is that “catamite?” Apparently even the football coaches are confused… That’s the problem; Sandusky was dyslexic. He thought the college teams were called “Nut tiny Loins” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curious-case-of-the-cougar-and-the-commissioner/613975/48 "2012-02-27T02:28:14Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > That’s the problem; Sandusky was dyslexic. He thought the college teams were called “Nut tiny Loins” 😛 Your age and frailty are not going to protect you when the Joke Police find you… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curious-case-of-the-cougar-and-the-commissioner/613975.md?page=2)