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A common cause truly uniting Americans

Another Sept. 11 has come and gone, with solemn remembrances and ceremonies and as typical, calls for some version of the national unity that permeated this country in the attacks immediate aftermath.

In the coincidences of coincidences, the U.S. House of Representatives for a fleeting moment on Wednesday, Sept. 12, did something absolutely remarkable. They showed us that unity still exists, that we can rally around a common cause.

Filled with the political rancor and divisiveness representative of today’s society, the 435-member House voted … unanimously … to approve a bill and send it to the Senate.

Unanimously. That means every … single … person. Every Democrat. Every Republican. Every liberal and every conservative. Every Christian and every atheist. Every pro-choice and every pro-life legislator. Every urban lawmaker and every rural one.

And this was no ordinary, procedural bill that agreed to pay the utility bill. No, no, no. This bill, in essence, would place specific restrictions on free trade, impose an accepted sense of liberal morality, and allow the government to enact new restrictions on citizens’ private property.

This sounds like the kind of bill that would create all sorts of protesting, and lobbying, and filibustering as it goes against sound very strong principles of free trade and personal liberties.

But it didn’t. It passed. Unanimously.

What mighty force could do that? What was the rallying cry and the common bind that tied us all together for if nothing more than a fleeting moment?

Puppies and kittens. That’s what.

In the irony of ironies, cats and dogs who can proverbially never get along united lawmakers as The House passed a bill (did you hear it was unanimous?) banning their slaughter for human consumption.

Surprisingly, it’s legal in 44 states (including Minnesota) to eat cats and dogs. However, despite the freedom to do so, animal rights groups seem to agree this hardly ever happens, if at all, and certainly isn’t a problem. In fact, in the last decade, there’s only been one case of someone eating a dog and that was in Hawaii when a couple golf course employees stole a customer’s German shepherd mix and, ahem, ate him.

But in that instance, that is more of a crime of passion and theft and not someone eating Fido for dinner, or as is done in South Korea, running a farm with the sole purpose of raising dogs for human consumption. That’s right. A dog farm.

And really, it’s because of the South Koreans as much as anyone this bill was passed.

In America, we wouldn’t ever even consider eating dogs and cats anymore than we would horses. The French would on the horses. But not us. We ascribe human characteristics to these animals. We consider them to be affectionate, life companions, sometimes confusing them to possess a soul, just like us. A soul that one day will be waiting for us in heaven.

Sigh.

But they don’t do that everywhere, especially in Asia. While South Korea is the only country that allows the farming of dogs, China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia actively trade dog and cat meat, presumably largely supplied by those South Korean farms.

Animal rights groups are actively protesting and working in those countries to end that practice, but it was noted while they are espousing their American values there, back home they don’t even have safeguards prohibiting similar markets from emerging.

That will be changing soon as I’m certain the Senate will pass the bill with equal enthusiasm. Can you imagine being the politician who voted against a bill banning the slaughter of puppies and kitties? You can just imagine the television commercial featuring a deep booming voice “Senator Doe: Puppy killer” with an image of growling old white guy pointing his finger then flashing to a cute pup with hound dog eyes and a sad expression.

And in a sense, that remarkable commonality bridges all differences: age, sex, race, religious or sexual affiliation, it doesn’t matter. We don’t eat dogs, cats or horses. Period. No exception.

I don’t know if this legislation is reason to hope maybe we can still work together as a nation like we did in the aftermath of 9-11. But in this political climate, it is no less amazing politicians who usually get along like … well, cats and dogs … can agree entirely on anything.

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