Hey all,
I saw the news of the East Coast heat wave: boy did I get out of there just in time. I´m with my granmda, chilling in the Edenic microclimate of Culver City CA, checking out Backstage and Variety for dog auditions, and benefitting from my status as only grandchild (a status to which I have in no small part contributed, by refusing to cede key portions of the bed to occasional boyfriends).
As blissful as it is out here, I have been thinking about deeper things. A post at a fellow part-Corgi´s blog (hi, Wally!) finally motivated me to put some thoughts down about the current state of human political affairs. First of all, let me congratulate Wally for encouraging the sort of intelligent, intellectual canine discourse that is lacking on so many dogblogs (I really suspect that the owners are writing those inane blogs and just posing as their pets. I have never met such retarded dogs, and with such poor spelling) and starting http://barkingforbarack.blogspot.com/. It´s a new site, but I´m sure it will be filled with lots of interesting thoughts soon. Here´s my two cents.
Like many Americans, I was initially torn about who to support in this election. My principal concern in a president is not race or gender, but rather who will have the most positive impact on this Earth. And by Earth I mean the planet and all the creatures on it. And by creatures I mean dogs, humans, and everyone else. (Even cats. Although I may wish to form a task force to study that issue further.) I was going to analyze all the candidates´ voting records and speeches, but my mom did it for me and assured me that Obama was the candidate least likely to really screw up the planet. Which made me very happy, because, as a "mixed breed" I feel an innate sympathy and respect and even pride in Barack Obama´s achievements. But even beyond that, I think that his mixed race heritage is an actual asset.
Purebreds don´t have to think long and hard about who they are, they don´t have to recognize many of the injustices in a society dominated by segregation-era, Kennel Club institutions, they don´t have an innate compassion and understanding of the outsiders in America. They identify with the $2000 dogs adopted at 8 weeks, not the shelter dogs and strays. Trust me, a Chihuorgi, or a Corgador, or a Pit Basset, or a Kenyan-Kansan would NEVER have been on vacation while Katrina was destroying New Orleans, would NEVER have presumed that Iraqis think and act exactly like New England Champions. And would NEVER have let them restrict the after-5 pm off-leash hours in the park. (OK, that one might be beyond the scope of presidential politics. But a girl can hope.)
There are some great purebreds out there, who transcend their own legacy of privilege. But they´ve had the leash for 232 years in this country. Enough with the putz! In with the mutts!
