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med the door, but invited it in and laid down Poop bags inhand, we stand together in January
<br /> carpet for it. mud or June daisies for hours. In between throwing
<br /> balls, we discuss planting tomatoes and non-toxic R
<br /> connect the dag-nabbit, bobberty-doggie' dots
<br /> his is not a business scandal. WorldCom is not flea prevention. We debate the merits of child rear-
<br /> hrporate failure. This is about government. The mg vs.dog rearing.Most of us prefer the latter.
<br /> sent of this country has been bought by cam- Europe has its promenades — walkways the 10-
<br /> ont'" ions from corporate special interests. cals traverse daily to indulge old friendships or form
<br /> ab ae nexus and new ones. Eugene has its dog parks. Around the
<br /> lent, erre American betweeneebig corporationse ntd three acres we walk, flanked by four-legged friends.
<br /> I've made my best two-legged friends on these prom-
<br /> i Washington, we hear nothing but petty, pro-
<br /> iapping over whether this hurts the Rs or the pos. One meet eof
<br /> lili them ac Jasmine, who goes to the
<br /> paarkrketo
<br /> Rs blame it all on Bill Clinton, the D's blame itgible bachelors:
<br /> le greedhead Republican Congress. But this is "TheTpark offers the uecessary screening yrite-
<br /> a,
<br /> uch more than the next election, or the one wshe says. `YYrou can understand a man by the
<br /> ay he treats his dog."
<br /> t. w
<br /> is the time for all.good
<br /> d o men to come to the aid This is true..My favorite folks are those who've
<br /> country. for Becausel if don't, it's going to get surrendered.the family-room futon to Fido and who
<br /> he FCC is now chaired by the.anti-regulation onspend more money on humangrade dog food than
<br /> Powell, who is determined to do for newspa- human-grade ehuman food.
<br /> l television what has already been done to my partner at the dog park. After a year of
<br /> l cable. shared games of fetch, I fell in love with Jonathan's I
<br /> sheltie and asked them both to move in with me. 1
<br /> • Lest my description prove too idyllic, I should
<br /> explain that while most of the dog-parkers get along
<br /> Ivins is a syndicated columnist based in Austin, beautifully, there are some we'd like to chew up and
<br /> spit out like discarded rawhide. There's a
<br /> testosterone-laden man who enjoys watching his pit-
<br /> bull attack other dogs. And there's the worrywart
<br /> greyhound owner who complains about Kawliga's
<br /> tendency to nip her dog in the heels during games of
<br /> chase. I can't blame her; greyhounds are such a
<br /> fix
<br /> tightly wound skein of skin and bones that a nip in..
<br /> b u the rightplace would most e lrkel
<br /> Y unravel them.
<br /> •
<br /> There is also competition to see who can trot out
<br /> is Congress to stay within the spending limit the fanciest breed._We've met German weimaraners,
<br /> tfor this year, then some of the $45 billion French griffins, French poodles, and one blond fuzz
<br /> preside asked for the Pentagon budget ball whose' owner refers to him as a purebred
<br /> lift .. ,rie domestic area in order to meet Charlie-bear. Each of these champions immediately'
<br /> dc needs." heads for the deepest, rankest puddles along with
<br /> overriding question is what to do about the the usual horde of shelter mongrels.
<br /> "Get out of the mud!" Charlie bear's dad and I
<br /> ut that Bush pushed through Congress, back
<br /> e mythical budget surpluses were still cloud Yell together.
<br /> vision. That tax cut will the `Charlie-bear's dad." "Lily's mom." "Marley and
<br /> people'so trillion, including debt service,willcost in the Kawliga's parents." This is how we greet each other
<br /> e. But,because most of it was back-ended to at markets and at basketball games..We learn each
<br /> e. e 2006 and 2010, it can back-ended
<br /> — others names and forget them in the din of"Here, •
<br /> as decide to be as honest as Voinovich and Ram Dass!"and"Good dog,Thelonius!"
<br /> Nevertheless, the dog park is my community, its
<br /> fling people what we face.
<br /> is been adamant in rejecting a rollback or patrons my kinspeople—and kinscanines.
<br /> Y in the tax cut=virtually all of which will Last week, Jonathan and I stood at dusk with'
<br /> ighest-income voters, His House Republican friendswhile our dogs loped in wild circles around
<br /> the park. As we often do, we analyzed poop. "Kawli-
<br /> ing short-term political gain at'the expense
<br /> a fiscal sanity, have been staging votes to th has e box."litterd
<br /> ix ," I said. "He's been snacking from
<br /> cuts permanent. th
<br /> iocrats, while resisting that folly, have been "Cody didn't poop for four days." Jonathan
<br /> is a party to edos what Rubin, their most reached for a plastic bag from the dispenser the city •
<br /> had installed. "Now he's pooped three times in an
<br /> economic adviser, says should be the first
<br /> those future top-bracket tax cuts part of the hour."
<br /> get debate. We spoke of the birthday party one couple had
<br /> held for their dog at the park, complete with frosted
<br /> ree of the party's presidential hopefuls —
<br /> Lieberman and John Edwards and Gov. dog biscuits. We talked about the newest dog park
<br /> n— lined Rubin, Democratic by Autzen Stadium, where to register for creek
<br /> n—have Tom D up with andu Dick Gephardt cleanup, and how to conserve' gasoline. Jonathan
<br /> and I drove the two miles home with our dogs,
<br /> 1d any such move, apparently fearful it
<br /> them seats as they strive to hold their uncomfortable using that little amount of gas.
<br /> rity and regain control of the House. "We could walk them around the neighborhood,"
<br /> he suggested. "They don't have to go to'the park."
<br /> try pays a high price for their timidity—
<br /> )ublicans' folly. Fudging the numbers in I"But
<br /> a box ddog biscuits.
<br /> is-( v to restore trust in government. we do,"I said.
<br /> xler is a columnist and political reporter for Melissa Hart is the author of a memoir, "Long Way
<br /> tdn Post. (Windstorm Creative, 2000) and a novel, My.
<br /> Ear is My Only Courage"(Windstorm,2002).
<br /> F. IA
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