Progress

 

Progress comes in fits and starts, often with a little back-sliding.  It is true in rescue, social change, and politics. 

Saturday was Rambo's sailing day. I drove him up to Warrenton and adopted him to some folks from Purcellville who had met him two weeks ago in Sterling.  Rambo is a nice guy.  His only problem is lack of training; he has never lived indoors.  I haven't heard from the adopters yet, but they had a three day weekend and I hope they've made the most of it in terms of getting him acclimated in his new home. 

Saturday was not a step forward overall, however, because Buddy was returned.  His adopter from last week met me in Warrenton also and I brought him back home.  Buddy repeated his bad behavior, aggression towards strangers, in yet another home.  The thing with Buddy, however, is that he's not consistent.  He was fine when the adopter's brother came to visit, but went after his children when they came for the weekend, after first taking treats from them nicely.  Buddy is off the website and I'm not going to try to place him again.  The rescue will try to find someone to work with him or we'll have to euthanize him.  He's a young dog and generally a nice one, but he will need someone to work on this problem and I'm not the one to do it. 

So the weekend was one step forward and one step back, sort of like the last election.  I just received a robocall from Mike Huckabee asking for donations to fund a campaign to destroy health insurance reform.  I waited on the line until I had the opportunity to speak to a live person who was expecting to take my credit card number.  Instead, I delivered the most vile string of invective I could conjure up to Mike Huckabee's representative (some unfortunate right wing bimbo named "Tiffany" working in an RNC call center). I don't know how our phone number got on their call list, but I believe it has now been removed. 

Time marches on, and so do I, in the firm belief that the inexorable tide of history in progressive in nature and direction.  Although race relations are not where we need them to be, they are far ahead of where they were when MLK began his work.  Environmental causes, once on the left fringe of the political debate, are now so mainstream that even the first Bush proclaimed that he wanted to be "the environmental president."  Although he earned that title only in his own mind, he was still a step in the right direction as opposed to Reagan and his Interior Secretary, James Watt, who believed it wasn't necessary to protect the environment because the second coming was at hand.  Even in the progressive cause of gay rights, we've moved in the right direction.  Although republicans are pledging to reinstate "don't ask, don't tell" and are still running anti-gay campaigns to pander to their base of right wing crazies, their right wing former VP has a somewhat openly lesbian daughter; their anti-christ, Ann Coulter, spoke to a group of gay republicans; and even the right wing standard bearer, Mother Palin, claims to have a gay friend (yeah, sure). 

So, undaunted by setbacks, I spent today transporting another dog to a better life.  Her name is Gracie, she came from Lexington, VA, and went to a new foster home today (not mine).  I picked her up down I-81 at White's Truck Stop and drove her as far north as Harrisonburg, VA.  I then hit the Harrisonburg Costco before returning home and Gracie continued on her way.  She is now in her new foster home, a step in the right direction towards a new and better life.