What's the Buzz

President Obama has proven that he is enormously skillful at killing flies and, not surprisingly, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is none too pleased about it. The PETA Obama fly swatting story all started when President Obama sat down for an interview at the White House with CNBC's John Harwood. The two men were about to discuss the nation's economic woes when, suddenly, a pesky fly started buzzing around the president's head. And that fly was extremely persistent.As luck would have it (not for the fly, for Obama) he landed right on the president's left hand, opening up an opportunity for Obama to move in for the kill - and that's exactly what he did. President Obama took his right hand and swatted that poor fly.

"We support compassion even for the most curious, smallest and least sympathetic animals," PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich said Wednesday. "We believe that people, where they can be compassionate, should be, for all animals."

PETA's detractors have long thought that the organization is far too radical. And now the PETA Obama fly swatting incident has got some people once again shaking their heads in disbelief

"Are you kidding me? PETA is upset because Obama killed a fly? Comments like this take away from their organization's credibility and make them look ridiculous. Are there not any other situations they could make an intelligent comment about this week?"

As commentator Rebecca Alford pointed out above, the only thing that is going to be destroyed by this story is PETA’s credibility.

When you are credible, you are worthy of other people’s trust. They know they can count on you. Personal credibility is about respect, trust, and being believable. It’s about actions. What you do forms other people’s opinions of you, shapes their relationships with you, and helps them decide whether to trust and respect you. And, whatever credibility Peta had before this is now gone.