Guest Post by Morbo
I don’t really want to eat a horseburger. Truly, I don’t. I’ll also pass on horse steak, horse barbeque and deep-fried horse nuggets.
But at the same time, I’m not losing any sleep over the people in Europe and Japan who do want to eat horseburgers — and I can only wonder why the Republican Congress is determined to stop them.
You would think with all that is going on — the war in Iraq, North Korea’s nukes, the Foley scandal, the ongoing problems with Social Security, immigration, global warming — the Republican majority would have more to worry about than people eating horseburgers.
You would be wrong. One of the first things the House did after the summer recess was a pass a bill outlawing the transportation and sale of horses for human consumption. There are three firms in the United States that currently engage in this business. This legislation would probably shut them down. The bill is pending in the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future. There’s a big push to get it passed before the current session ends.
How did this come about? Why is a Congress that by all rights ought to be eager to shed its reputation as “do nothing” wasting time on this?
Blame it on Bo Derek. Yes, that Bo Derek.
The former sexpot actress is now retired from the silver screen. She’s a Republican and Bush supporter and also owns a horse ranch. Since Bo Derek was once famous, she has been able to take Congress by storm and move what would otherwise be a marginal issue to the top of the agenda.
As The Washington Post reported:
Known primarily for playing scantily clad characters in the decades-old movies “10” and “Tarzan, the Ape Man,” Derek is wearing more concealing clothes today — a black business suit, white top and heels. A pro-Bush Republican, she is aware that as a national sex symbol she receives special treatment. Even enemies of the bill want their pictures taken with her. With long blond hair and blue eyes, she is still, after all these years, attention-getting.
So the allegedly pro-business GOP House is so dazzled by a has-been actress that it is willing to pass a law demanding an end to an entire industry? A bill that will have the effect of eliminating several hundred jobs? I thought these guys were supposed to be pro-business and pro-jobs? What a bunch of hypocrites.
As the Carpetbagger has pointed out several times, conservatives love to portray the Democrats as captives of out-of-touch Hollywood celebrities. These days it seems the GOP is the political unit that can’t quit star gazing long enough to get things done.
I know, a lot of people like horses — and consumption of equine critters is not part of our national culture. But this bill is feel-good nonsense. Sure, it would have the effect of banning horse slaughter for human consumption. But it would do nothing to prevent you from selling an old horse to the glue factory or simply taking it out back and giving it a couple of shotgun blasts.
More than anything, this little incident should be evidence to the American people that the Republican-led Congress can’t get its priorities straight. Let’s look at just one example: According to the Social Security Administration, benefits will have to be reduced by 26 percent by the year 2040 and cut every year after that unless action is taken now to shore up Social Security. This concerns me, yet nothing seems to be done. I wish Congress would quit horsing around and address it.
