All This... For a Fucking Dog

WASHINGTON (AP) - A rescue group left Baghdad without a puppy
adopted by a Minnesota soldier, and blamed the U.S. military for
not clearing the animal in time for the flight out Wednesday.
The military responded that it did not hold "Ratchet" the dog
or order it to stay put at the U.S. military base.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
International says the military finally agreed to clear Ratchet to
leave the country. But that clearance came only 30 minutes before
the flight out - too late for the dog to make it.
The next rescue operation could come as soon as Sunday.
Army Sgt. Gwen Beberg, 28, of Minneapolis, who adopted Ratchet,
plans to return to the U.S. next month. More than 45,000 people
have signed an online petition urging the Army to let the puppy
come to the U.S.

This is insane.

You've got 45,000 people signing an online petition. If all those people moved to Bonesteel Souf Dakota, Bonesteel would easily become the third largest town in the state with a population of 45,250 people.

You've got a 'rescue group' flying into an ACTIVE WAR ZONE, and now planning a return trip.

All for a dog.

It's difficult to pick a place to start... Ok, say they get the dog, bring it back to the States, and hold it for Sgt. Beberg. What if she gets extended? What if something else happens? That means another homeless animal in America. Like there aren't enough of those. Why don't these people fly here and grab some of the 30 or so cats that are constantly running around Main Street?

The difference is those mangy ass cats weren't flown halfway across the world. I'm sure that if something happens there will be no problem finding a home for the dog, Ratchet, because now he's a celebrity, so to speak. This reminds me of Elian Gonzales in the 90's. You've got a cute little kid from Cuba who is photogenic and all of a sudden no one cares that he's an illegal. The same people who piss and moan about individuals who sneak into this country to 'put food on their families' thought that this kid had to be saved from the evils of his Cuban homeland. THEN the government sends and SWAT team into the house (I can only hope that this Ratchet situation wraps up in as entertaining a fashion). It was a total non story, just like this is, yet it gained traction in the media because people in America have no idea what is and what is not important.

At this point, it's unreasonable to expect anything more from the American people. The lines between 'news' and 'sensationalism' have been irreversably blurred. The millions of homeless animals in America that are put down in a year aren't news to anyone but PETA, but a tasty little story about ridiculous 'rescue operations' flying into Iraq to save one damn dog? That's front page material.

Can we get 45,000 people to sign a petition to ban corporations from shipping American jobs overseas? How about signing a petition to actually capture Osama Bin Laden? The soldier and her dog are not the point. I hope they have a very happy life together, considering the amount of effort that has gone into all of this. It's simply disturbing to consider the decisions being made by the people who control the output of information in this country.

Look, I know that all the people in Guantanamo Bay simply MUST be terrorist assholes who don't deserve fresh water to drink, let alone any semblance of personal rights. Yet, I can't help but be disturbed by the fact that people have been held for years (YEARS) and have never been charged with anything. This is rarely pointed out in the media. That, in a word, is atrocious. Something that people don't understand about this country's Bill of Rights is that it doesn't grant citizens any special protection. What it does is recognize that there are basic rights inherent to every person, and pledges that this govenrment will never interfere in those basic rights. In other words, you don't have the right to a fair and speedy trial because you are an American, you have that right because you are a human fucking being. I guess it doesn't count for brown people. That is a strong American tradition. It's the land of the free as long as you are white and believe in Jesus.

No one gives a shit, though. They want to watch CSI and dress their dogs up in little sweaters.