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Chump, not chimp
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Chump, not chimp
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Monkeywire, the leading source of monkey- and ape-related news, says please stop calling Bush a chimp:
Monkeywire cofounders Carrie McLaren and Joe Garden maintain that such comparisons overemphasize physical similarities between Bush and chimpanzees while downplaying important differences in genetics, behavior, and natural habitat.
Humans share over 99 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees, our closest genetic relative. However, that fraction of a percent accounts for clear differences in mental capacities, physical dexterity, and body hair.
Bush shares with lower primates the ability to make his desires clear despite an inability to communicate in English. He also understands and reacts to negative stimuli, and makes use of simple tools. However, Bush's dental records -- which were used as evidence of the President's service in the National Guard -- clearly demonstrate that he is human.
The Monkeywire chairs say the most marked distinctions between Bush and chimpanzees are not physical characteristics, however, but behavioral ones.
"Bush has proposed changing the Endangered Species Act to allow imports of endangered species and body parts," says McLaren. "A chimp would never do that."
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"Obviously, Bush is not a chimp," said McLaren. "But we hope everyone can come together to release him into the wild."
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