Everybody Loves a Cookie

I have THAT dog. THE dog that barks in the yard and gets all the neighborhood dogs barking and howling at once. I’m pretty sure my neighbors hate us with a passion only reserved by right wingers party for liberals. That said, I do not believe in owning guns—at least not with the fervency of “outta my cold dead hands” enthusiasts for sure. I mean if you think that a gun is a true deterrent, you have to understand that the key to deterrence is that your adversary (for example my large dog barking and a belief that she is a maneater, although hard to believe as she approaches with her ball in her mouth lol) will do them harm. But hey, I also have a sign that says the property is protected 24X7 by video surveillance—-so whatever man….take your chances. But with a gun, they also must believe that you’re not bullshitting them. I’d ask—-which is more believable—the little sign that says protected by Smith and Wesson? or the barking dog, a sign and being able to see the cameras mounted all around my house?

I’ll say this——eight years ago a very important person in my life was murdered when some soulless coward with a gun shot him through his back window in the middle of the night. Who knows what might have prevented that from ever happening, but video surveillance, and a snarling dog might have worked. Woulda shoulda coulda as they say. What I don’t believe is this notion that we all should arm ourselves and be afraid of everything or everyone that we do not know. That’s how the political right has scared so many dimwitted person in the American south into thinking evil marauders are coming by the millions.

To stay on a better take though—-our St Bernard-Poodle mix, Cookie (I know, a ferocious name huh?) is four years old and a little under a hundred pounds. She has been protecting us from evil doers (not immigrants) deer, skunks, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, and dare I say….dreaded Amazon delivery peeps all that time. We have about an acre of property and we put in an invisible fence when we got her, so she will NOT leave our yard unless we take her collar off and out the prescribed route.

She is also the most cuddly, playful and inquisitive dog I have ever been around. Our neighbor has a Kane Corso, and he told me one day he is afraid of Cookie. Made me laugh a lot—-That guy has a dog that should answer to the name Duke, Appollo, or Zuess….yet Cookie with her big ole floofy poodle tail scares him? Too funny. We have two other dogs, a Maltese-Poodle (Maltipoo) and a maltese. They boss Cookie around. No shit. She of 97 pounds and they of a COMBINED weight—17 pounds. Too funny.

These past couple months, the US election campaigns have been grinding along, with a LOT of ugliness. Now one can spend their time talking about Dems and Republicans from whatever perspective they choose, but it is AMAZING the name calling from the MAGA folks. The Let’s Go Brandon stickers, the F*&k Biden stickers and chants, Sleepy Joe, to calling into question the race and ethnicity of VP Harris, suggesting she slept her way up the ladder and calling her a Bit@h. Not a little bit—-a lot of that stuff.

Now why do I mention that at all? Because throughout all that, I am kind of a sponge. The stress of hearing it just got amplified by the out and out dumbassary of people who repeated it word for word, stuck it on their vehicles and wore it like a red letter of courage on their shirts, hats, and houses even. Then Election Day came and people actually voted FOR that stuff. They voted for their pocket books (another ill conceived notion as the US economy is quite strong and the inflation blaming is as much a result of pandemic checks printed under both of the last two administrations as anything—too long to do today) and against a woman—-a QUALIFIED woman at that. Literally, time and again, you heard people say…”a couldn’t vote for a woman” in their narratives and responses during the run up and subsequent polling after the election. What the F? Throw in that she’s black too? Holy hell. That accomplished lawyer and Attorney General, Vice President of our country wasn’t qualified? Really? She got my vote—-without ever needing to think further—and honestly, I wasn’t her biggest fan to start with—-but consider the alternative.

As opposed to a man with so many black marks against him as a human, a business man and as an elected official that a summation of it all takes twenty minutes to read through. That’s rich.

Well, here it comes—the return to confederate flags, guns, people not reading from their bibles for inspiration, but rather swinging them at anyone who doesn’t profess to be a good conservative Christian, fealty to a person not the country, women's reproductive rights continually stomped on, and intolerance for people of color or from foreign lands. The next four years and the fifty or so of repercussions from this right wing approach to the world will be tough but not impossible.

My wife and I were heartbroken by the American voting population’s choice. We’re good citizens and we will absolutely abide by that choice. But as good Americans we will also express our thoughts and opinions and not be intimidated by the hillbillies running the show for the next four years—-because we have and see the value of a Cookie—both the protector of our space in the American Dream, playful partner in our yard, and as the loving, affectionate, cuddly St Berdoodle who curled up next to us this week when we were sad and confused, and who licks the tears when we are hurt.

So my neighbors can be bugged. The world needs more Cookies….and EVERYONE loves a Cookie.