My nine year-old Red Husky, Sundance, has seen it all and today nothing surprises him. But he's most upset the way things are going with President Trump and his Republican sycophants in Congress. You can tell just by looking at his eyes.
When we first obtained Sundance, he was just over a year old and had it tough. We lived in Maryland and I found him in Gettysburg, PA, where he was chained to a post in a muddy, filthy, cold and wet yard next to his owner's shack, with other dogs also similarly chained.
I paid the guy $100 for him and took him home. He's been an awesome pet, pal, companion and buddy to both Jackie and me. He rarely barks, and the only time he whines is when he wants attention or some doggie ice cream, which he gets when Jackie and I indulge (all too often) as we watch TV.
As you may know, Huskies like to talk, or at least try to talk. Recently, Sundance has had a lot to say.
The other day he asked me why President Trump treats people so shabbily, especially women, and why he constantly tells lies. Sundance doesn't like liars. He doesn't trust them.
He also doesn't understand why Trump sucks up to Putin and why he won't admit that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and won't do anything about their plans to sabotage the upcoming 2018 Congressional elections. He's a big Mueller supporter.
Sundance was most unhappy this past week when it turned out that two Trump White House aides lost their jobs because they apparently were abusive to their wives, and why the one guy wasn't canned immediately when the FBI information about that was turned over to the White House months ago. Sundance doesn't like that at all or the fact that the guy was handling classified information without proper security clearances.
Sundance loves people, all people, whoever shows up. His tail wags and he wants to sniff them and be petted. So he can't figure out why Trump is so mean to the DACA dreamers and wants to deport them, and why he is using them as pawns in his effort to get that stupid wall. Of course, Sundance likes walls, which he likes to pee on when we go for our walks. I think if Trump builds his wall, I'll take Sundance there so he can pee on it.
But Sundance was really saddened when he heard about Trump's latest budget proposal, the one where he wants to slash Medicaid and housing for the poor and wants to force food stamp recipients to eat nasty government-provided food instead of being able to go to the grocery store and get fresh food with their SNAP benefits.
He figures that since Trump is rich, he doesn't really care about poor people and only wants to save money so he can pay for his tax cut for the wealthy, his wall, and build up the military because that makes him feel like a big shot and maybe help him forget that he dodged the draft during Vietnam.
In Sundance's world, things are pretty clear. Either you're nice or your not. Either you're fair or your not. Either you're honest or you're not. And if you're none of those things, you shouldn't be running the country.
I've learned a lot from Sundance, and I agree with him.