Ashley Judd

"Sarah Palin Makes New Enemy: Ashley Judd," reads a February 5, 2009 AP headline.

But in truth, there's hardly anything new about the controversy in question save for a celebrity chiming in to resurrect the issue of aerial wolf hunts in Alaska:

It's not the first time Defenders of Wildlife has targeted Palin. Last fall, when Palin was John McCain's running mate, it ran ads in several states denouncing Palin and the predator control program, and raised more than $1 million. Judd had campaigned for President Barack Obama during the campaign.

Far from Palin making a new enemy, this is a new twist on an ongoing complaint by animal rights activists about the state of Alaska's wildlife management policy, which allows for limited, licensed aerial hunting of wolves in remote areas difficult to access or traverse by ground.

From the Alaska Department of Fish & Game Web site (emphasis mine):

Did you know that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin promotes the brutal aerial killing of wolves?

You didn't?

Well, that's what actress Ashley Judd claims in a new ad for the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund. 

Even worse, according to Judd, Palin is "casting aside science and championing the slaughter of wildlife" (video embedded below the fold):