Thursday, July 13, 2006
Expensive Dog Food
NBC's Brian Williams just called him "a heroic figure."
The nation, or at least our media, is holding a collective breath as they watch every change in his condition.
A new war is brewing in the Middle East, yet precious broadcast time is devoted to his medical plight.
We have heard about the medical miracles that are keeping him alive.
We have seen the intimate and sometimes gory details of his treatment.
No one has batted an eye at the tens of thousands of dollars spent to save him from once certain death.
Who is this "heroic figure" that's "fighting tough odds?"
Is it a major political figure?
Is it a major entertainment figure?
No.
It's a Goddamn racehorse named Barbaro.
Our values in this country have reached a new level of crazy. While people only blocks away from where I currently sit will sleep tonight on the sidewalk, hungry and unable to get medical care for their chronic injuries, America is supposed to be worried about an animal. A friend of mine can't afford $100 worth of insulin, but a horse can get upwards of $30,000 of surgery. Elderly people living blocks from where I currently sit can't afford life saving air conditioning, but a damn animal lives in climate-controlled comfort. Countless Americans will not eat a single morsel, but that animal will have only the best food that science has determined he should have.
Could this be a sign of the apocalypse?
Let's just shoot the damn thing and get it over with.
The nation, or at least our media, is holding a collective breath as they watch every change in his condition.
A new war is brewing in the Middle East, yet precious broadcast time is devoted to his medical plight.
We have heard about the medical miracles that are keeping him alive.
We have seen the intimate and sometimes gory details of his treatment.
No one has batted an eye at the tens of thousands of dollars spent to save him from once certain death.
Who is this "heroic figure" that's "fighting tough odds?"
Is it a major political figure?
Is it a major entertainment figure?
No.
It's a Goddamn racehorse named Barbaro.
Our values in this country have reached a new level of crazy. While people only blocks away from where I currently sit will sleep tonight on the sidewalk, hungry and unable to get medical care for their chronic injuries, America is supposed to be worried about an animal. A friend of mine can't afford $100 worth of insulin, but a horse can get upwards of $30,000 of surgery. Elderly people living blocks from where I currently sit can't afford life saving air conditioning, but a damn animal lives in climate-controlled comfort. Countless Americans will not eat a single morsel, but that animal will have only the best food that science has determined he should have.
Could this be a sign of the apocalypse?
Let's just shoot the damn thing and get it over with.
