# Wyatt Cenac's hilarious takedown of PETA on the Daily Show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098 "2012-02-17T03:25:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/21 "2012-02-17T16:32:51Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > The idea that human level rights ought to be afforded to all sentient creatures and not only us sapient types has never gained much traction because it doesn’t stand up well to the application of reason. So the question becomes if dolphins and chimpanzees are sapient. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/22 "2012-02-17T16:37:28Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > After she tells him her dog’s name: > > “Is that her real name or her slave name?” > > 😃 That was my favorite line. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/23 "2012-02-17T16:44:43Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > So the question becomes if dolphins and chimpanzees are sapient. Which I’m not saying they necessarily are, but it’s an important thing to consider. In this piece the PETA lady is ridiculed for implicitly making this distinction between cats and orcas. She thinks we can keep cats in captivity, but not orcas. But in order to go into the subject, you have to introduce new concepts such as sapience and animal experience. And since her views are radical, it’s easy to mock her for them instead of trying to understand. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/24 "2012-02-17T16:49:14Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > And since her views are radical, it’s easy to mock her for them instead of trying to understand. You can understand them and mock them at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/25 "2012-02-17T16:55:40Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > You can understand them and mock them at the same time. A lot of the best mockery requires understanding something and then making fun of it. Cenac did that here and this might be his best Daily Show piece. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/26 "2012-02-17T18:30:15Z")
The correspondent pieces have been especially great lately. The one from a few weeks ago when Aasif Mandvi gave the congressman a cup to pee in during the middle of a press conference was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/27 "2012-02-17T19:12:20Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > The correspondent pieces have been especially great lately. The one from a few weeks ago when Aasif Mandvi gave the congressman a cup to pee in during the middle of a press conference was excellent. I howled at that. That took some balls. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/28 "2012-02-17T20:07:07Z")
> [@](#): > > I howled at that. That took some balls. No, kidneys. It’d only take balls if he asked him to ejaculate into the cup. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/29 "2012-02-17T20:22:05Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > But in order to go into the subject, you have to introduce new concepts such as sapience and animal experience. And since her views are radical, it’s easy to mock her for them instead of trying to understand. Again, these ideas are not in the least new. Every possible variation of the idea has been raised and thoroughly discussed, including the discovery of non-Homo Sapiens humans, robot or other machine intelligence, alien intelligence, and animal intelligence. While the arguments tend to agree that other forms of intelligent life deserve protection, the exact boundaries of intelligence remain entirely fuzzy and virtually no one agrees that any group existing today deserves the same rights as humans. PETA’s position is radical solely because the idea has been rejected over and over when argued by much smarter people than they’ll ever be. And PETA is mockable because every single thing it does is mockable. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/30 "2012-02-17T21:16:29Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > And PETA is mockable because every single thing it does is mockable. I _do_ give them credit for making a career out of convincing hot women that public nudity will help protect the animals. Everything else… yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/31 "2012-02-17T21:18:19Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > I _do_ give them credit for making a career out of convincing hot women that public nudity will help protect the animals. Everything else… yeah. It’s not nudity without the naughty bits. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/32 "2012-02-17T21:35:22Z")
Have you read the comments on the article, mostly by PETA supporters? They seem totally clueless on how ridiculous their own beliefs are. They don’t even seem to get that all Cenac did was use their own beliefs against them. It’s as if they don’t even know that PETA has been outspoken against the idea of owning pets for quite some time. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/33 "2012-02-17T21:54:59Z")
Cenac has become my favorite correspondent, after not liking him at first because he seemed way too stiff. He has definitely grown on me. (I thought the PETA girl was kind of cute. Shame she’s such a moron.) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/34 "2012-02-18T00:38:28Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > And since her views are radical, it’s easy to mock her for them instead of trying to understand. No, I mock her views \*\*\*because \*\*\*I understand them . . . and understand how stupid they are. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/35 "2012-02-18T01:32:06Z")
I hope that the enslaved whales are able to get their freedom by legal means or things could get ugly. After all the Second Amendment does not say “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people, _except whales,_ to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Get ready for PETA armed Orcas America. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/36 "2012-02-18T01:57:43Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I hope that the enslaved whales are able to get their freedom by legal means or things could get ugly. After all the Second Amendment does not say “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people, _except whales,_ to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” > > Get ready for PETA armed Orcas America. The real question we should ask ourselves is: what the fuck is a freed orca going to do with its 40 acres after it’s done eating the mule ? ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/37 "2012-02-18T04:38:04Z")
Cenac never breaks character and when he brings the lawyer I was hyperventilating. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/38 "2012-02-18T08:34:51Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > While the arguments tend to agree that other forms of intelligent life deserve protection, the exact boundaries of intelligence remain entirely fuzzy and virtually no one agrees that any group existing today deserves the same rights as humans.. Which sounds similar to me to what people would say back in the bronze age if people suggested that we should offer the same decency to people from other tribes. Or what people would say if it was suggested that we should offer the same decency to indians or black people later on. “It has been discussed since way back in time, but virtually no group thinks so.” ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/39 "2012-02-18T08:44:18Z")
People’s practices never seem barbaric to them in the point in time, only in retrospect. Now it seems barbaric, almost unbelievable, that we allowed people to keep black people as slaves. Back then it didn’t seem crazy because they were different in a way, they were from another race. I think in some centuries, we are going to seem almost equally barbaric. How did we allow Kim Jong-Il to keep millions of people as slaves? “Oh but it’s not crazy, they are from a different country.” ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098/40 "2012-02-18T09:13:07Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > Which sounds similar to me to what people would say back in the bronze age if people suggested that we should offer the same decency to people from other tribes. Or what people would say if it was suggested that we should offer the same decency to indians or black people later on. “It has been discussed since way back in time, but virtually no group thinks so.” “But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.” -Carl Sagan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyatt-cenacs-hilarious-takedown-of-peta-on-the-daily-show/613098.md?page=3)