My sentiments exactly.


I am ashamed to describe the other photo that accompanied this...it was of a certain Scottish Terrier who has made me really rethink just what it means to be canine. You would think that, dogs being rational, sensitive, and moral animals that we are, a neocon dog would be an existential impossibility. We dogs take pride in not being particularly political animals (if we were, there probably be an untenable level of tax breaks for kibble producers), but I always assumed we were of one mind when it comes to war, torture, social progressivism and the like. So when Mr. Bush first got a dog, I assumed it was a foregone conclusion that this was part of the Canine MoveOn plan. Yes! We had infiltrated! Then when there was no immediate bite, I figured...he's gaining his confidence. He's waiting until Bush, Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld are all together before going on a homicidal frenzy. He's trying to get bit by a rabid squirrel first so he can cause maximum damage.

But now it's been years, and there are no reports of a White House Cujo re-enactment. Worse, I fear that Barney and Spot are actually helping Bush, contributing to his image as a likeable, D*g-fearing man. Added on to the bizarre and indefensible actions of those German Shepherds at Abu Ghraib, and I am really beginning to lose faith in my fellow canines. Are these a few bad apples or has there been some horrible paradigm-shift within the species? Is it ignorance? Were they brainwashed? But how can you be brainwashed to abandon your basic doggie dignity and morals? Suddenly I feel this bizarre distrust of my entire species...I look at the dogs in the park and instead of thinking "now that's an interesting-smelling butt!" I'm wondering if it is secretly a Republican asshole.

Is it time to rethink the whole "dog" category and perhaps divide into two? Is the United Species of Dogdom no longer a tenable category? A little kid saw me the other day on my walk, pointed with glee, and cried "Mommy! Fox!" And for the first time in my life, I felt no need to correct him. You don't see any foxes doing photo ops on the White House lawn...