August 28, 2007
by Clay Barham

I love dogs.  I love most animals, and I object to cruelty towards them, whether in hunting, in a zoo, making a movie or by an athlete.  We have six dogs.  Three are Welsh Corgis we bought and raised, two are adopted Greyhounds and another adopted mutt.  Love 'em all.  I also love the American system of law, the democracy in cities and counties, the republican style in states and our own Federal Government. 

I have this question to ask.  Where in our Federal Constitution will anyone find dogs, cats, cows or horses protected?  Is there a hidden paragraph somewhere, or a postscript that says there is a Bill of Rights for animals?  In fact, the only restriction placed upon any human behavior, mentioned in the Constitution, is mainly, and most importantly, against government getting in the way of the God-given rights of American citizens.

The brutal dog fighting escapades of Michael Vick is bad.  Escort him to the woodshed as far as the law allows.  What law?  The laws of the State of Virginia should apply. The laws of the County in which the crimes were committed should apply.  Vick's behavior, and that of his co-defendants was bad, an offense against all that is descent.  Punish them all severely for their cruelty and crimes, but do it where they were committed.

The Federals do not punish those who molest small children to the same extent many want to imprison Vick.  There are no Federal laws against child molesting, unless it extends over state lines as in kidnapping children and transporting them.  There should be no Federal laws against bad behavior, except malfeasance in office and treason.  The Federal government is not in the business of punishing criminals who violate behavioral laws within states and smaller jurisdictions.  What will be next, Federal speeding and parking tickets?

This is where so many Americans allow their feelings of compassion to interfere with their reason.  We become so angry at the kind of behavior Michael Vick displayed, we just want them to be exposed, tried before a jury and punished.  We are asking the wrong level of government to do it, however.  In the Hurricane Katrina, where New Orleans was devastated, we looked to the Federal Government to help. 

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We blame Bush for the natural incompetence of a large bureaucratic department where everyone is afraid to make a decision and time always marches on while doing nothing.  Never was it the responsibility of Bush to do anything.  It was the responsibility first of the people of New Orleans, then the local government and on to the State of Louisiana, where, in all three cases, the ball was dropped and all eyes turned toward Washington.

Are the dogs important to us?  Certainly, they are important, because they were so badly treated.  Is America important to us as well?  It should be.  If it is at least as important as the dogs, then why do we not hear from more people in opposition to the Federals getting involved?  We have all sat back and allowed America to slip away from us, the slippage couched in matters of compassion rather than reason.  Our liberties are too important to allow them to evaporate away from us by events rising out of the heat of the moment.

Prior to and following the Civil War, and the years leading up to the 20th Century, our national government functioned very well with four basic cabinet officer-led departments that dealt with foreign relations, homeland security, our laws and our currency.  Now we have fifteen, each with their fingers in our toy chests, garages, bathrooms, closets, medical care, homes, roads and so forth. They seeped in under the doors and through the crevices, and we never noticed.  For that reason, our anger is toward Michael Vick rather than Federal intrusion.  Our anger is against the brutal treatment of the dogs, not the potential for brutality toward American citizens.

We need to use our eyes and minds to see more clearly the events around us as they affect our future liberty.  It is our emotions that will lead us back to an Old World style dictatorship, where the ruler, with a wave of her hand, can condemn a Michael Vick without even having a trial.

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Clay Barham [send him email] has been a candidate for the California legislature and a stand-in talk show host for ABC.  He was educated in physical and behavioral sciences, with a Ph.D. in sociology.  He is the author of five books, with his latest being Foundations of Modern American Conservatism and Liberalism: The Roots of Freedom and Tyranny.  Visit his website at http://www.claysamerica.com.