One of the most fascinating aspects of green-tinged, left-wing demonstrations is what's written on the placards. The slogans often give a telling insight into the state of mind of many of the participants. Read them closely and you'll realize just how nutty, retarded, and sometimes flat out scary many of those attending actually are. 

Yesterday's rally at Cottesloe in support of white pointers, tiger sharks and sundry marine man eaters was no exception. There were silly signs aplenty. You can see many of them in photographs included in this story. I saw some others on a TV news report as well as in today's Sunday Times front page story (bizarrely titled "Great White Hope").

A few of them turned the issue back on the so-called bad guys, in this case local politicians. Examples of this type included "Cull pollies, not sharks"; "Save sharks. Cull Barnett"; and the delightful "Put a hook in Barnett's mouth".

Now, disappointment about endangered species being selectively offed is one thing. But advocating the mass execution of our democratically elected representatives is another one entirely. Such exhortations to revolutionary violence reveal there was more behind this protest than people wanting to look after the cute, cuddly Carcharodon carcharias.

Clearly, being a greenie is often not just about caring for nature; it's also about wanting to smash capitalism and overthrow democracy. And this ratbag socialist component was obvious in other ways, such as the use of their ol' standby the stupid rhyming chant. In this case it was "Two, four, six, eight! We don't want your boody bait!"

So they're outraged that a few more large fish than normal will be floating belly up in the brine. But the thought of bobbing human torsos and wetsuited limbs washed on shore doesn't worry them a jot. How brutally bolshie of them.

Back to the signs: A firm belief in animal rights was also a subtext, such as in this slogan: "Culling is not a solution. It is murder!"

Well, I just hope whoever brandished that sign has never eaten a meal of fish and chips in his life. If so, he'll have to check himself in to the nearest cop shop and demand to be incarcerated in deep lock until his dying day. (In keeping with left-wing ideology, execution would be out of the question, of course. That punishment is reserved for the Premier and his peers, as we all know.)

Then there was the classic: "This planet is not a humans only club!"

True. But it must also be said that this planet is not a club, full stop. The relentless, gruesome gobbling of small creatures by bigger ones (and vice versa!) that occurs absolutely everywhere in the wild could hardly be described as sociable. That's why I quite like the fact that we humans don't want to be part of any other critters' "clubs".

The most telling, and tragic, placard of all: "SOS. Save our sharks."

Amazing isn't it? Whoever wrote this believes that these gruesome predators are so valuable in the grand scheme of things that our very inner life depends on their welfare. In a sense, the human soul is effectively interchangeable with the shark. 

Talk abut misanthropic! In this world view the best we humans can hope to be is "soul food".

Of which there will surely be more if these activists get their way.