Tag: asian
Meaty matters? Barack Obama ate dog
Anybody who has gotten as far as chapter two of Barack Obama’s book, “Dreams From My Father,” knows that, as a child living in Indonesia, he ate some dog meat.
But now a Republican pundit — tired of Mitt Romney being bashed for taking his dog for a 12-hour ride on the roof of his car — has seized upon what he sees as a juicy nugget from Obama’s memoirs to fight back.
(That’s the thing about memoirs, anything you say in them can and will be used against you.)
“Say what you want about Romney, but at least he only put a dog on the roof of his car, not the roof of his mouth,” conservative blogger Jim Treacher writes in his column for the Daily Caller, DC Trawler.
In a further warning to “libs,” Treacher, with all the emotional maturity of a third grader, adds: “And whenever you bring up the one, we’re going to bring up the other.”
In the book, Obama, referring to his time living with his stepfather, Lolo Soetoro in Indonesia, writes:
“With Lolo, I learned how to eat small green chill peppers raw with dinner (plenty of rice), and, away from the dinner table, I was introduced to dog meat (tough), snake meat (tougher), and roasted grasshopper (crunchy). Like many Indonesians, Lolo followed a brand of Islam that could make room for the remnants of more ancient animist and Hindu faiths. He explained that a man took on the powers of whatever he ate: One day soon, he promised, he would bring home a piece of tiger meat for us to share.”
Obama was about seven and living in a different culture when he ate what everybody else was eating. Romney was an adult, with children, when he strapped his Irish setter, Seamus, in a crate, to the car roof for a 12-hour ride to Canada.
One wouldn’t expect a seven-year-old, being raised in an environment where eating dog is culturally acceptable among some, to take a stand against the practice any more than one would expect one of Romney’s children to stand up and say, “Dad, this is stupid and wrong, don’t do it.”
It’s not like Obama went out and killed, skinned, gutted and grilled a neighborhood dog — as Romney supporter and fund raiser Fred Malek was once accused of doing (before the charges were dropped against all but one of the friends with whom he was partying at the time). Cultural differences being what they are, eating dog in Pusan is one thing, eating dog in Peoria is quite another.
Repulsive as I find eating dogs, disgusted as I was seeing them caged, sold and butchered to order on the streets of South Korea, I kept reminding myself when I was there that I was visiting another culture.
A small and declining minority of the population still eats farm-raised dog meat. I would like them to stop doing that. But, last time I checked, I wasn’t in charge of dictating the customs of foreign lands. And I don’t think every seven year old in Seoul who eats what their parents put in front of them is evil.
As political ammo goes, Treacher is shooting blanks.
(Top graphic: rightwingnews.com)
Posted by jwoestendiek April 18th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, asia, asian, barack obama, blog, campaign, car, conservative, crate, cultures, customs, daily caller, dc trawler, dog eating, dogs, dogs against romney, dreams from my father, eating dog, fred malek, indonesia, irish setter, jim treacher, mitt romney, obama, obama ate dog, pets, presidential, republican, ride, right wing, roof, seamus, south korea
Comments: 23
Eating dog could be outlawed in China
The centuries-old custom of eating dogs in China could become a crime under a proposal that is expected to be sent to the National People’s Congress in April.
What would be the nation’s first law against animal abuse would fine anyone caught eating dog or cat up to 5,000 yuan and up to 15 days in jail. The law would fine “organizations” involved in the practice between 10,000 yuan and 500,000 yuan.
Dog is an age-old delicacy in parts of China, especially in the frigid regions of northeastern China. Nationwide there are dog farms where animals are raised for their meat ande fur.
The proposal comes as a new generation of rich, pet-loving urban Chinese comes of age, the Times of London reports.
Earlier attempts to draft an animal welfare bill in China were dropped after public complaints that human rights should be perfected first.
Dog meat, as in some other Asian cultures, has long been promoted by practitioners of traditional medicine for being high in protein, boosts energy levels and increases male virility.
One waiter at the Cool Old Lady Dog Meat Restaurant in the northeastern city of Shenyang said animal protection awareness was altering popular attitudes about eating cat and dog, according to the Times story. “Personally I think these two animals shouldn’t be food. They’re lovely. I just work for this restaurant to make a living, I have no choice. If the law is passed, I think our restaurant will sell other dishes.”
In recent years, animal rights activist groups have sprung up in many Chinese cities, fighting to halt mass shipments of cats and dogs, crammed in wire cages, from the north to the markets and restaurants of Guangdong. Activists have published photographs on the internet to raise awareness of the fate of the cats.
(Photo: Dogs being sold for meat at Moran Market in South Korea/by John Woestendiek)
Posted by jwoestendiek January 26th, 2010 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animal rights, animal welfare, asia, asian, ban, cats, china, custom, dog meat, dogs, draft, eat, eating, fines, jail, korea, law, legislation, national people's congress, practice, proposal, proposed, restaurants, tradition
Comments: 5