It's The Pits

I've gone and done it.  I've totally lost my sense of humor.  I define more and more of what I hear as tasteless.  Jokes included.  Take for instance Obama's crack at the White House Correspondents Dinner regarding Sarah Palin. Was it about Sarah? Or something else?

"What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?  A pit bull  is delicious."

I guess there are some things of which I find hard to let go.  One is the horror story of football's Michael Vick and his dog fighting ring of pit bulls. I'm still reading progress reports on those rescued by Best Friend's Animal Society.  I've crossed paths with a lot of pit bulls during my years and have yet to meet one that deserves the reputation they have as a breed.  Oh sure.  They can turn and do but it's not a trait exclusive to them.  Even my beloved Saints can be nasty and believe me a nasty Saint is no Saint!  I guess that's why the President's joke left me cold.

I usually weigh how men treat their wives in public when forming an opinion.  Maybe I should pay more attention as to how they joke, or even just talk, about their dogs!  Neither Mitt Romney nor Obama rate very high on the Arf Scale!

Sure, Obama was referring to his previous comment about having eaten dog as a youth.  I know it's considered a perfectly legitimate food in some societies.  But not ours.  It's the connotation in the form of a joke.  Animal lovers in this country fight so hard to give our voiceless companions the best lives possible.  They fight the idea that an animal is no more then a possession and can be treated anyway you please.  They aren't inanimate objects.  They are living, breathing, feeling creatures. Does how you treat your possessions carry over to how you treat your animals?  Does it carry over to family too?  Some would say yes.  I'm not sure.  I've never experienced the circumstance.  Our dogs have always been treated  like the most revered of people.

It just hit my hot button.  I've been saturated with mean spirited and truth challenged commentary over the months since political season began in earnest.  It's going to get worse before it gets better, I know.  Go ahead,  tear one another apart.  Lie about one another.  Leave it to the bewildered brain power of the voters to sort it out.  But leave our dogs out of it.  Don't joke about eating them while legalizing the trapping of wolves.  Keep your attacks aimed at those on equal footing who are equipped to fight back - other politicians.

As words and phrases are being banned on what seems nearly a daily basis, maybe we should do away with "It's a dog eat dog world."  More appropriately it should be " It's a politician eats politician world." After all they are the ones cannibalizing our way of life.