My animals perspective on the Republican Candidates

Have any of your animals expressed opinions on the Presidential race?  Have you asked them?  You might be surprised how opinionated they are, as I found out.......


A few days ago after I got home from my relaxing vacation in Hawaii, my dogs and cats requested a meeting to discuss the political shenanigans happening among the Republican party presidential candidates and the media.  I reminded them that I had been relaxing in Maui, hadn't seen or heard the news, and was a bit out of touch.  I promised that once acclimated back home I would read up on all the news and listen to their viewpoints.


So yesterday all 15 of us sat in my living room for a meow-bow-wow.  We sat in a circle, and the animal on my right spoke first.  My cats and dogs continued in a clockwise manner to air their points of view.


My outspoken Welsh Terrier, Baley, spoke first.  "Why all this ruckus and arguing about religion?  Why does one religion have to be better than another?  Why do there have to be right and wrong viewpoints on things?"


BB, my older grandfather cat, replied, "Why does it matter anyway?  I thought freedom of religion could also mean freedom from religion."


My Lab mix Bodhi interrupted.  "What does religion have to do with politics anyway?"


My American Eskimo/Corgi mix chimed in and asked, " Isn't religion a private thing?  What does it have to do with choosing a leader to fairly and honestly run our country with integrity?"


I agreed with my 4-legged friends, that religion should have nothing to do with politics.  Church and state do not belong together!


Before I had a chance to finish, Miss Jinxy, my elder female cat said,  "In our world, we love and accept everyone.  All breeds, half-breeds, mixed breeds, sizes, shapes, colors, and all creatures of the earth.  Our religion, so to speak, is unconditional love, honesty, truthfulness, integrity and loyalty."


I thanked Jinxy for her wise observation that religion, race, creed, and color should have no bearing on a candidate.


I sensed the excitement in the room as all the female cats and dogs began speaking at once. Their discussion revolved around why a president or any political system should be determining rules regarding sexual conduct, sexual preference, or birth control choices for humans.  They knew that animals had to be spayed and neutered immediately if they were coming from a shelter, but always believed that humans had more legal and moral rights.   "What about freedom of choice?" they cried.  "Isn't this the 21st century?!!!!!"


"Many of us have already e-mailed our support to Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown University student blasted by Rush Limbaugh in the media.  He called Ms. Fluke a “slut” and a "prostitute" after she argued that birth control should be covered by health insurance at religious institutions." all the animals professed.


"Appalling in our book," my female four-leggeds all replied.  "We are glad so many people have criticized him for his outrageous statements.  We would call him a fat pig, but we don't want to insult our beloved pig family."

Sam, Dave and Midnight, three of my male teenage cats then said, " And to think one of the candidates says Global Warming isn't real!  Gives us a break mom, just tell the guy to go outside and feel and smell the earth, then he will know."


All the animals agreed that the Republicans' childish behavior is proof that fighting and name-calling never wins.  They also agreed that they are relived that I don't pollute our home with too much television news.


My Welsh Terrier Baley suggested an alternative, a great television channel devoted to dogs.  Dog TV Channel 2635 (Cox Communications) is quite relaxing.  Images of beaches, waves, beautiful colors, and soft music soothes the senses.  I expressed my gratitude to Baley and turned on the channel for all to enjoy.


While Dog Channel is highly recommend for humans and dogs, my cat Rufus likes it, too.  A neighbor friend of mine leaves the channel on 24/7 for his dogs.  All family members enjoy the soft wonderful music that fills their house.  Check cable television channels to see if Dog TV is available in your area.


I am again humbled and inspired by the insight and awareness of my animals. I will leave you with an acronym of hope for our term "human being" jointly crafted by my animals and me.

H   Humanity

U   Unconditional love

M   Magical

A   Altruistic

N   Nice

B   Benevolent

E   Empathetic

I    Innocent

N   Nature loving

G   Generous

All 2012 Presidential Candidates must pass the sniff test

click on image to make larger

My dogs and I watched the results of the Florida Primary on television this week.  They were quite perplexed at the whole "dog and pony show" of American politics (pardon the pun).  The dogs were very vocal about the human condition in these debates. "The fighting goes on and on!  When we have fights they are over as quickly as they start!  Is there ever any forgiving and forgetting?  We see elephants and donkeys......maybe what these humans need is to have a Dog Party!!

And all this talk about parties.... it doesn't look like these people are having fun at all!"  

My dogs had many questions that I could not answer.  They remained in heated discussion long after I went to bed.   

The next morning I awoke to a dog-scratched note requesting that I consider their ideas about how to better judge our presidential candidates.  The note suggested I have several cups of coffee before considering their points of view.

Baley, with her Welsh Terrier ancestry, was convinced that no money should be put toward campaigning as is done in England.  Why should billions be spent on elections when that money could be used to build and maintain animal shelters?  Little Bit, a mixed breed like many Americans, was discouraged and saddened that candidates needed so much money to even be in the race.  Bodhi, my special needs dog, calmly asked why peace and harmony did not reign in these debates when every one of us should share the common goal of a stronger, better country.

The dogs agreed that if it were up to them, two simple questions would determine a candidate's appropriateness:  1) Does the candidate think before he barks? and 2) Does the candidate wag more or bark more?   They also drafted other potential questions that could be used by the more complex human voters. 

Does the candidate get along well with others?

Does the candidate keenly sniff out danger and trouble the way dogs do?

Does the candidate clean up his own messes or have others clean up after him?

Does the candidate bark before he bites? Or whine when he does not get his way?

Does the candidate need a Rottweiler to make him feel strong and in charge?

Does the candidate consider his bowl half full or half empty?

Is the candidate well behaved when no one is looking?

Does the candidate have anything buried in his back yard?  Like we do?

And one last question!  What candidate can spell their name backwards and it spells GOD?