Joe Biden’s Dog & The Insanity Of Modern Political Discourse

10 Apr, 2009 by John Hawkins

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This headline caught my eye for obvious reasons,

My first thought was something like, “Wow, does she think Biden is so much of an idiot that she doesn’t think he can even take care of a dog? Maybe she was offended by something he said. Ooooh, can’t wait to click this!”

However, the reality of the story was quite differently. Apparently Biden’s high profile purchase caught the eye of a bunch of animal rights wackjobs and they started an animal rights jihad against the breeder who sold him his puppy,

It was a proud moment for Linda Brown when then-Vice President-elect Joe Biden selected her kennel to purchase his new German shepherd puppy.

That was in mid-December.

For Brown, that proud moment was short-lived.

After the story about the puppy sale ran in the newspapers and on TV newscasts, three dog wardens from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture showed up on Brown’s doorstep for a kennel inspection.

And they showed up again and again for four visits over four months.

She said she has also received death threats from animal activists against her and Biden, which were reported to the Secret Service and the FBI.

…Following a story about Brown and Biden in the Daily Local News, readers posted 131 comments, some chiding Biden for having the Secret Service with him when he went puppy shopping and others complaining he did not get the dog from a shelter.

Brown was taken to task for selling pedigree dogs.

Brown said she has read the comments, even the one that said she was sued.

“I’d like to meet that person,” Brown said, adding that she has not been sued.

…Brown was not only vilified in posted comments to newspapers but also on the Web site of People for the Ethical Treatment Animals, or PETA.

According to a Dec. 12 press release from the animal rights group, it aired its controversial TV commercials “Buy One, Get One Killed” in Biden’s home state of Delaware after he bought his dog from Brown. The commercial blames euthanization of animals in shelters on people who purchase pets from breeders.

Brown also was cited for record-keeping problems and warned about maintenance and sanitation shortfalls by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

“I was cited for a piece of kibble on the floor and five strands of dog hair. They took a picture of that, they walked around, snapped pictures and don’t tell you why,” said Brown, who disputes all the items where she was written up.

Brown’s case was heard by District Justice James DeAngelo in South Coventry on March 31. She was found “not guilty” for each citation, the judge’s office confirmed Wednesday.

…Before going to court, Brown had to hire a lawyer. So far her legal fees are $4,000, she said.

“Never, never, never again,” Brown said about selling a dog to anyone with a high profile.

The irony of having PETA, which runs an animal rights death camp in Norfolk, VA , where dogs check in and almost never check out, criticizing this breeder is almost beyond belief.

But, setting that aside — I always feel sorry for “regular people” who get dragged into politics — particularly if they’re in the crosshairs of the Left.

Just yesterday for example, Ana Marie Cox, who until recently wrote for Time Magazine, spent an hour encouraging her followers on Twitter to text “Suck it” to a group she didn’t like. That’s the sort of utter juvenile stupidity you can expect from even the “responsible” people on the Left. The other ones will send you death threats, show up at your house, slander you publicly, and try to use the government to ruin your business.

Conservatives have gotten almost impossibly blase about it. I had a friend of mine once ask me absent-mindedly if she should approve a comment on her blog that referred to her as c*nt. She said she was leaning towards allowing it. I mentioned that conversation to another friend and she said she wouldn’t be offended by a comment like that either.

That’s the sort of poisonous atmosphere Linda Brown was unwillingly thrust into when she caught the attention of the PETA crowd.

Although you can’t ban stupidity and rudeness (What would the Left have to talk about then?), we should at least be taking steps to prevent the government and the court system from being used as a weapon against people.

A system where some random complaint can have the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture showing up at your door? That’s nuts. For that matter, so is allowing environmentalists to sue to try to stop every new oil well, coal plant, or windmill on the grounds that there may be an “environmental impact.” At the least, we should have tighter rules in place to prevent abuse and a loser-pays legal system so that we can keep the frivolous charges to a minimum.

Whatever you think of Joe Biden, selling him a dog shouldn’t turn out to be a traumatic experience in your life.