The most galling thing about this was the fact that Portman signed the petition to release Roman Polanski, so in fact, she does condone rape.

Is she for or against abortion?

Yeah, the fact that Portman signed the Polanski petition would lead me to believe that she does, in fact -despite her protests to the contrary -not care a bit about whatever cruelly obtained cuts of flesh are set upon her dinner table. Just following her argument all the way through.

Sure, vegan diets are relatively expensive in these recessionary times, but come on. For a good chunk of the article, you're extolling the virtues of Pollan-esque diets that are at least as expensive as soy cheese sandwiches!

And no, not everyone has access to soy cheese sandwiches, but not everyone has access to organic eggs from farmer's markets either.

Can we please try to elevate the discussion here? Does anyone really believe Ms. Portman thinks it's ok to rape people? That's completely ridiculous. And correct me if I'm wrong, but it appeared to me that what she is arguing is that she views the eating of animals to be in a similar moral category as rape. In other words, both issues are repellent to her. I may not equate eating a burger with rape, but this is clearly something she feels strongly about and we do live in a free country. If Natalie Portman truly believes the eating of other living creatures is an atrocity then I think she has every right to equate it with other acts that she views as evil. I may not agree, but I'm certainly not going to accuse her of condoning rape. That's absurd.

As a card-carrying carnivore, I, for one, hope that vegans, vegetarians and other food activists will always be able to talk, sit, and work together with each other and with other groups of people.

Several of my colleagues are vegetarians, one is a vegan. Thus far this has meant nothing for our professional and/or personal relationships.

I hope it stays this way. I would hate if carnivores became the next smokers in terms of how they're publicly condemned and harrassed for their preferences.

...that has Republicans saying, "If we allow same-sex marriage today, we'll have to allow people to marry their dog tomorrow."

Bad form. Bad logic. Bad idea.

That’s a stretch in and of itself. But to go the extra mile and equate pleasing one’s hosts with a “so be it” attitude toward the kind of violent assault that a 15-year-old girl endured at her high school dance last weekend,

Excuse me, but isn't Salon the headquarters of the "So be it" camp with regards to Taliban atrocities against women, which are written off as mere blinkered misogyny by your very own editor?

Progressives ARE taking a "so be it" attitude towards violence against women.

As for myself, I'm already having trouble sleeping thinking about what going to happen to Afghan women if the Taliban are able to win this war.

And I'm quitting every single progressive mailing list I'm on right now, too.

Because I'm so absolutely enraged that Taliban atrocities are being treated like "so be it" by people who are against the war.

So stick it in your ear!

"So be it" is the new brand name of Salon.

There are going to be lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of 15 year old girls enduring violent assaults if Salon progressives get their wish and Obama withdraws from the war.

So be it, right?

So be it.

Yet another example of people jumping all over someone who is promoting vegnism and taking her comments out of context. Portman was not condoning rape but merely, quite smartly I believe, showing how ludicrous the arguments for humane meat consumption can be. And I believe she did just that. The fact is people, do not aim to regulate other forms of horrible violence in society but we think it is OK to regulate the meat industry and the killing of BILLIONS of animals every year just so people can please their own cravings. Violence is violence. It should all be condemned if we are to call outselves civilized. Portman has guts unlike most people and I say right on!

C'mon, she's just parroting the buzzwords that will ensure she maintains her 'hollywood' creds. After all, got to keep those roles coming after the 3 abysmal Star Wars movies she was in.

And look what happened to the old princess Leia for gosh sakes! Here was stupid Carrie Fisher thinking that the future of Hollywood was ensuring that she was snorting lines with the right hollywood scumbags.

Welcome to the 21st Century, Carrie....the new addiction in Hollywood is spouting liberal bullshit. They all do it, it's quite the rage and the only way to get roles.

...for proving yet again that access to a Harvard education has more to do with money than brains.

I have no problem with anybody being a vegan, Catholic, whatever. What I do have a problem with is their need to impose their shitty little decisions on others, acting like they are morally high minded* when in reality they are just fussy eaters. Their "moral stand" is meaningless, as it accomplishes nothing. If everybody, tomorrow, stopped eating chicken, beef and pork, it wouldn't save a single life. The farmers, unable to sell their livestock, would simply kill all the chickens, cows and pigs and bury them in trenches. Now, I can feel some sympathy for the mammals because mammals can at least think and feel emotions, but chickens? Chickens are hardly smarter than worms, and their only emotions are terror and rage - that's it. Fish and other seafood are hardly smarter than bugs - a live shrimp has no more thoughts in it's spinal-cord-brain than a dead shrimp.

Portman may be hot to look at, but the fuck wouldn't be worth having to listen to her talk afterwards.

*I know vegans who flaunt their moral superiority about what they eat but have no problems steeling music online