The immorality of vegetarianism

I guess that time thing was kind of dark. Then again, these can be considered dark times. People are cruel, there are inconsistencies and disparities everywhere...and bad things are done in the name of allegedly good ideas.
I took my life in my hands this afternoon and sampled the pleasures of the PSU restroom. In a shocking discovery, I learned that university students graffiti and vandalize stuff...did not see that revelation coming. Well, lo and behold, one of the stickers they slapped on the stall was a PETA sticker.
This is ironic since last week in class someone said they were a vegetarian because of moral issues. Huh? There are a lot of reasons to be a vegetarian...you hate plants and want to wipe them off the face of the earth, or you are worried about global warming and want to get rid of some carbon monoxide consuming, oxygen expelling greenery....or maybe you just want to be trendy or you think Bill Walton is a genius who extended his career by weakening his bone marrow with his veggie diet...there are a lot of reasons that work. But morality? Lets look at that one a little closer.
I should include the caveat that I too am an -atarian...it just so happens I replace vege with meat. As the worlds foremost self-proclaimed meatatarian I think I bring a unique although admittedly biased opinion to this discussion.
I assume the "moral argument" has to do with animals having a right to live. As opposed, for example, to a baby having the right not to live...
Well, here is a question. What about the right of plants to live? Or is their right to live subsumed by their natural lack of cuteness? Because lets face it...there is not much in life uglier than an unripe cucumber. It is nauseating to look at when it hangs there dripping the dirt of the earth from which it was callously and coldheartedly ripped, right before the prime of cucumber life...no need to consider Garden Social Security or Garden-aid...it will never see the day it needs them. Torn too soon, an ugly sight...it doesn't even get the dignity of a closed casket or a cremating...no, into the salad it goes.
Did that cucumber not have a right to live because it was ugly? Or is it because no heart warming tale of life overcoming death and destruction that people care about Bambi and Thumper, dwellers of the forest, but noone stands up for Azrgo the Zucchini and Willie Watermelon?
No, instead of crying that they have a right to life too, we rip out their insides and have seed spitting contests! Where is the justice in that? Won;t somebody please think of the watermelon!
We have a curious view of life, indeed. More plants die to feed the ravening hordes than animals. And often enough, the remainder of the repast is thrown away rather than used. When people talk sports, it is rare indeed to hear, "That Favre could sure hurl the cornstalk" or "Did you see the wat Schilling whistled that apple core in there?"
No, no, the talk is more, ooh, that compost pile reeks.
So the life argument falls, and in total usage the plant consumers come up second as well. Where is the morality in that?
Of course, since I dearly love cake and cookies, I cannot be too much against the plant world, but next time some hip, trendy, bandwagging veggimatic starts moralizing, stick a steak in the mouth and calmly walk away.