Take that, Mitt

(Originally published January 29, 2008)

I know, it's been awhile. Between a trip to Florida to hang out with the in-laws, a trip to Pennsylvania to give my mom and dad their monthly Allie-fix, deadlines galore and the world's nastiest, never-leaving, let-me-give-you-one-last-wallop cold, I've been, well, occupied.

Truth be told, I haven't been thinking much about dog stuff, outside of what I'm writing for clients. There is, after all, a presidential primary season going into fifth gear -- and the contest is staying interesting long past the point where contests in years past seemed to be pretty well wrapped up. Not this time. This one-time political speechwriter who's avoided watching the news for much of the past seven years feels like she's getting back in touch with a younger self.

The only way to relate this to dogs is to say that if a presidential candidate thinks that the best way to transport a family dog is to put that dog in a crate, strap the crate onto the roof of the family vehicle (old news, yes, but still vivid to me), and zoom down the highway, that candidate should really think about running for something else. I'd say "running for dog-catcher", but that would be a major diss to animal shelter workers, most of whom do their best to care for the dogs, cats and other companion animals that no one else wants.