The Dog is old. That is the conclusion that has been driven home by having one of the his cousins come to stay the summer at the Dog House. First a little background to make this all make sense (I know, sense from the Dog? Get real!). The Dog comes from a truly huge family. My Mom is the oldest of 13 (well, there was a 14th but he did not live to see the outside of the hospital. He would be 3 years older than the Dog, if he had lived). My Dad was the youngest of 13. Yeah, that is right; the Dog had 26 blood aunts and uncles. On Mom’s side of the family, I am the oldest of (wait for it) 64 grandchildren. The Dogs youngest cousin is 31 years younger.
Okay, enough of the biographical stuff; so I get this call from my cousin...lets call her the Princess that she has a paid political internship in Denver this summer, and could she stay at the old ranch? Well, of course the Dog is going to do everything he can to encourage another of the clan to get elbow deep into the political process, who wouldn’t? So the Princess hops in her SUV and drives out from MI (where she is in school at U of M, Go Blue!) to the Mile High City.
The Princess is a very big supporter of Sen. Clinton. She has worked events in NH, NY, OH and other places. She has met the Senator and President Clinton on a couple of occasions and is generally a bright and shiny penny as far as politics goes. Sure, she is now resigned to having Sen. Obama as our candidate (she is a dreamer, but not totally divorced from reality). All in all this had the Dog rubbing his paws together; someone other than Mrs. Dog to talk politics with in the house! Nirvana (the place, not the band) was surely at hand!
Then came the crushing reality of the situation. The Princess while smart, and earnest is so uninformed! Does she know what states vote when? Sure and can tell you what the media buy might entail to boot. Does she know the Cabinet Secretaries? Don’t ask. What does she know about health care policy? Well, her parents health policy still covers her, and that is about it. Every policy issue is about her (hence the nom de-jur ), how it effects her, what she thinks is best, who she likes.
For the child of two politicians that felt that the brain damage of being a local pol was worth it for the good you could do for the people, it is beyond painful to hear. The Dog knows that he was more than a little self centered in his early twenties, but could it have been this bad? I go back and forth thinking that I am being too hard on her and then thinking that this little child of privilege needs a wake up slap to the back of her head!
All of this makes the Dog feel his dog years. Here is someone that I would rate as very involved, moderately informed (for a college student at least) and she is not doing this for the betterment of our country, or for outrage about the abuse of the Constitution but for what she can get out of it! To say that this is not the kind of motivation I expect out of a Dem and a member of the Dog’s family is an understatement. Has the Dog been wrong about how this all works? Is he hanging on to out-dated ideals about paying back the privileged upbringing that he received?
(Sigh) The Dog has to chalk this all up to generational differences. But it sure as hell makes him feel old.
How about you Kossacks? Do you feel old today?