Joe Biden @ MindSay

Someone on the CL Pet Forum posted this link to a blog post about Joe Biden's recent purchase of a German Shepherd puppy: http://abbyk9.blogspot.com/2008/12/breaking-news.html.

 

The fact that Biden chose to purchase a dog over adopting isn't so much a problem in my books (although I'll always be an advocate of adoption over buying), but it's where he bought the pup that raises a flag to me. One would think that a person with as much GSD experience as Biden would know where to find a reputable breeder; one who does the proper health screenings, who regularly participates in the show rings and breed clubs, etc. And reputable breeder this one ain't.

 

The JoLindy kennel is nothing but a puppy mill for GSDs, if you ask me. Rather than pump out numerous breeds of puppies, this one just so happens to specialize in one breed. Come on, five litters ready at the same time?! And like the blog owner said, there are no mentions of championship titles or working titles for either the dams or sires, no mention of OFA, CERF, or other health testing and certifications. And I don't know how reputable the statement is that JoLindy dogs regularly end up in shelters because the kennel owner doesn't take them back, but if it's true... this is why there is a pet overpopulation, people!

 

Irresponsible breeders like this one who breed and sell dogs with no other intention other than to make a few bucks are the ones behind this country's pet overpopulation. Dogs that come out of these kinds of commercial operations (and from backyard breeders who either don't know any better or who don't care) have a greater risk of health problems like hip dysplasia (especially in larger breeds like the GSD) and get dumped off at shelters because their owners can't afford the medical expenses, and because the breeder doesn't have a contract requirement (or a contract for that matter) that the animal be returned to the breeder should the owner not be able to keep the dog.

 

Even if someone only wants to get a "pet quality" dog, wouldn't he/she want to make sure the dog comes from healthy lines and from a breeder who knows what he/she is doing? That the breeder is a person who not only loves dogs but also takes the time to research their chosen breed? That it's a breeder who doesn't just slap two AKC-registered dogs together because they look good? A dog registered with the AKC just means that that particular dog is purebred. It doesn't mean that dog is of good quality breeding stock and should be bred itself.

 

PLUS, this woman has a 2006 suspension from the AKC for "falsifying information on three separate litter registrations." Sheesh! For the AKC to issue a suspension is a pretty sad thing and definitely throws up a red flag on this breeder.

 

Anyway, the other thing that disappointed me was that the puppy will be sent to a trainer to be housebroken, etc. before it gets to the Biden household. I'm a firm believer that dog and owner should be trained together. If the owner doesn't follow or understand the training methods used on the dog while it was away, then all of that time and money is wasted, and the dog is essentially back to square one. And many times when owners get frustrated that that time and money went down the drain and they're left with an unruly dog, guess who gets the boot? Yep, the dog. Which ends up where? You guessed it, a shelter.

 

The whole process is just completely infuriating, especially when you work in a shelter and see this kind of stuff all the time. *sigh* If people would just do their research on breeders, and know what to look for and what questions to ask... I don't think as many BYBs or puppy mills would exist.

 

And so it doesn't look like I'm just whining/complaining, here are some good Web sites to visit to learn more about the difference between a reputable breeder and a BYB and/or puppy mill:

 

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/breeding.html

http://www.jlhweb.net/Boxermap/reputablebreeder.html/

 

There are more, but it's after 5:00 p.m., and therefore time to go home! I'll come back to this later. :)

 

Oh, and if you've made it this far, here's a funny LOLcat:

 

 

 

The usual pinks and reds that gave her so much of her spontaneous style and image were gone, replaced by funeral black.

She looked like someone's idea of a Washington senator, and she tried to act like one as well.

I suppose that after the Katie Couric interview debacle, her handlers were not interested in seeing Sarah in her natural state.

Instead, we got someone who looked and acted like she had crammed for an exam. Someone who had all the answers, even if she didn't seem to understand the questions.

She survived, but not in a substantial way. On the other hand, she didn't harm the ticket, either.

The harm had already been done by the Couric interviews.

How do you not come up with which newspapers you read?

Be honest. She reads the Star. She gets it at the 7-Eleven. It wouldn't have been the politically correct thing to tell Couric, but it would have been honest.

As for Joe Biden? He was Joe Biden, with better-than-usual timing and delivery.

Maybe I'm the only one but I wasn't all that impressed by Michelle Obama's speech on Monday night. The speech was fine and she did a good job delivering it (although i could have swore I saw a bit of teeth clenching in some of her delivery) but she just seemed to be so muted. Love her or hate her the Michelle Obama who we were introduced to in the early days of this election cycle was a strongwilled woman with a good bit of character to her. Of course she was derided by people because this country has a very antiquated idea of how a first lady should behave...its all pearls, plastered on smile and demure attitude. I was hoping to see a bit more Theresa Heinz Kerry and less Mrs. Bush ( pick one it really doesn't matter). I guess this is the game that must be played to keep people from being afraid of the "angry black woman".



Rep. Dennis Kucinich gave a rousing speech on Tuesday afternoon/evening. He said all the things you would expect in a Democratic Convention speech (and had been missing up till this point): how much Bush has sucked, how much McCain does suck, a little cheerleading for the current nominee. But no one saw it because Dennis was exiled to the early evening/late afternoon shift while the Mr & Mrs Walking Dead Mark Warner and Kathleen Sibelius) were trotted in primetime to bore the assembled masses into a catatonic state. We can all agree that Dennis is funny looking but the guy deserves better than he gets from his own party.



So the anouncement of Joe Biden has given no hint of a bounce to the Obama campaign which doesn't surprise me. For starters Biden is the antithesis of everything that Obama has built his political persona on. He's been in the senate since forever, he voted for the Iraq War and under his time on the Judiciary Committee we got not only Alito and Roberts (both of whom Joe seemed to glefully let pass through to the high court) but he totally frakked up the Clarence Thomas hearings. But those greatest hits aren't the biggest reasons why Biden is a horrible choice.
Nope, the main reasons Biden sucks is that he is a whore for the banking/credit card industries in his home state and to show just how big of a whore he wrote the horrible Bankruptcy Bill that sticks it to the regular people who try and file for bankruptcy while making it easier than  ever for corporations to do the same thing. So the pick of Joe Buiden just makes me envision Joe doing for the credit cards and banks what Dick Cheney did for the oil industry...namely giving them carte blanche to rewrite laws as they see fit. You can't attack McCain on being horrible for working class folks when your running mate has already tried to fuck them in the ass with no lube.
Then there is the fact that Joe Biden seems to have a colossal hardon for any draconian "tough on crime" legislation that he can dream up. Joe is the genius who wrote the law that got Tommy Chong locked up for a year. In Biden's world the way to win the "War on Drugs" is to create more and more strict laws that really amount to jack shit. You'd think that a guy who has been around as long as Joe (he coined the term "Drug Czar") would have realized by now that harsher penalties and longer jail sentences isn't the answer to fixing the drug problem in this country.
Add to that Bidens recorded history of sucking at the teat of John McCain, lets count the ways Joe has allowed himself to be teabagged by McCain:

Calls McCain his personal hero
Said he would be honored to be McCain's running mate
Said that the Iraq War would have been successful if Bush had listened to McCain
As recently as this past April Biden praised McCain's foreign policy skills
Praised McCain's leadership on the global warming issue

And I'm sure all of this stuff will come up when Joe goes into attack dog mode during the rest of the political season which will sorta neuter his effectiveness.



For the past few weeks all the focus of this election has been on whether or not Hillary Clinton was doing enough to help Obama win.
"Her body language is off", "Her eyes give her away", "She isn't speaking enthusiastically enough". "She's plotting against him so she can run again in 2012".
Boo fucking hoo.
It seemed like the groundwork was being layed to blame Hillary Clinton if Obama didn't win in November.
This despite the fact that Clinton has done more than any other loser in Democratic Primary history for the winner.
She endorsed almost immediately after conceding, she has campaigned with and for Obama and she gave a rousing stump speech on his behalf at the convention. Let's compare that to recent losers:
At the 88 Convention Jesse Jackson threatened to have his name entered into contention for the vice-presidency which would have forced a floor fight and during his speech Jesse never endorsed Dukakis by name.
In 1992 Jerry Brown put his name into nomination at the convention, seconded his own nomination and went on to give a speech where he didn't even mention Bill Clinton let alone endorse him. One of Brown's best quotes during the election was that "supporting Clinton was like buying a ticket on the Titanic".
And let's not get started on how big a douchebag Ted Kennedy, the most revered elder statesman of the Democratic Party and the Lion of the Senate, acted when he lost to Jimmy Carter. He had poor Jimmy chasing him all over the convention arena trying to get a picture of the two of them shaking hands to no avail.
Well last night Clinton took the stage and delivered the most effective stump speech on Obama's behalf
 that I've seen since this whole thing started. She hit every beat that she needed to: recognized her supporters as well as her own impressive showing, implored her supporters to back Obama and took direct shots at McCain (and Bush too!). She looked presidential. At the very least she looked vice-presidential.
So now the ball is in Obama's court where it should have been all along. No one is obligated to vote for him and as the candidate it is Obama's job to convince people that he is worth voting for...no one else can be blamed for any failures in this campaign except for the Obama camp themselves. Win or lose the credit or blame goes to Barack Obama.
And for all of those who have been wishing and hoping for Hillary to "just go away", well sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings but she has positioned herself to be the "Lioness of Senate" in the Democratic Party. She is incredibly popular with her base and her performance last night has won her even more converts. She's not going anywhere.




Joe Biden is the "featured" speaker tonight since he formally accepts the vice-presidential candidacy but in all honesty no one really gives two shits about what Biden is going to say. Instead all of the attention will be focused on Bill Clinton. No one knows what the hell he plans on talking about tonight but after seeing how Hillary performed last night I think it is a safe bet to say that Bill will kick copious amounts of ass when he gives his speech. Hopefully he'll follow his wife's lead and give a full throated endorsement of Obama just to silence the completely asinine critics who can't seem to understand why Clinton has seemed a bit cool towards Obama. I guess they don't understand why Bill would need a little time to get over having his presidency (the only two term Dem president since FDR!) shat upon and being labeled a racist with the tacit approval of the Obama campaign.
One of the things I have always liked about Bill Clinton is that he has a hard time being disingenuous and this has especially become true since he left the White House. If he has hard feelings about something or someone then its right there for the world to see. In this current political climate where you can't tell one lying shit heel from another its kind of refreshing to have someone around who is pretty much an open book emotionally.

One of the day's big stories is an allegation that Barack Obama lifted part of a recent speech from Deval Patrick, the Governor of Massachusetts.  For Obama's part, he admits that some of the lines were inspired from Patrick, with whom he says he speaks to and exchanges ideas with frequently.  Meanwhile, the Clinton camp is accusing Obama of blatant plagiarism.  A video above allows you to compare the two speeches side-by-side and decide for yourself.

Meanwhile, some of you might remember that Joe Biden was the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in 1988 when a plagiarism incident derailed his campaign. 

 

I find it interesting that one of the Democratic Party’s greatest critics (Senator Biden) of the Iraq war is calling for American troops to go to Darfur to end the genocide. I am guessing that Biden was one of the many Democrats that agreed Saddam had to have been taken out before America’s invasion to topple a genocidal-terrorist loving dictator. The reason for the invasion was Saddam’s possession of WMD or the wish to develop nuclear WMD. The WMD was not found. From that time forward Bush hating Democrats tried to simultaneously cover their political butts and rock the Republican world of its control of government by blaming Bush.

 

President Bush’s problem was he placed all the eggs in the WMD basket and did not emphasize the rogue state nature of Saddam’s Iraq. Saddam can definitely be linked to aiding terrorists in Israel and there are back door connections to the likes of al-Qaeda. Saddam was the member of the Sunni minority that occupied a nearly oil-free portion of Iraq. In order to insure his grip of power Saddam slaughtered thousands of Shi’ite and Kurdish Iraqis. Should Saddam’s reign have been terminated? Definitely!

 

And that WMD pickle: There are many who still believe WMD was there and the Russian and/or Syrians were able to walk away with the evidence. Therein lay the Bush mistake. The military plan to topple Saddam was solid; the military plan to secure Iraq from outside interference was a debacle.

 

Now that I have set up a brief look of the cause and effect of the Iraq war, let us return to Joe Biden. Why would Biden favor sending Americans to a similar radical Islamist maelstrom in Sudan and complain that America should never have toppled the psychotic government of Saddam Hussein? Is Biden being compassionate? Where is the compassion for the Iraqis dieing from internecine religious conflict created by Saddam Hussein? Darfur will be the same maelstrom as Iraq.

 

“The war was unnecessary, Biden asserted.

 

“The president took us to war unncessarily, without letting the weapons inspectors finish their work, without enough troops, without the right equipment for the troops that we sent, without the proper care for those (wounded) who were taken home.” (San Francisco Sentinel 5/21/07)

 

 

Biden is 100% correct by the way. America should end the Darfur genocide. America should topple the Islamofascist leadership of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Also America should battle Islamofascists in Iraq. There is one thing I do agree with Biden: give up on a central democratic Iraqi government. I somewhat like Biden’s idea of an autonomous federated Iraq divided into three regions; however this will only work with an American presence as well. Why? Because of our friend (cough) enemy Iran.