Justice for Millie

Millie is a 14 week old Bluetick Coonhound puppy that was slammed to the floor multiple times into her own feces simply because she went potty inside the house.  Her back leg was broken so badly local vets couldn't fix it.  After being stabilized, she was transported by Marshmallow Foundation volunteers to the University of Minnesota, where she underwent surgery to repair the break.  More volunteers went to transport her back to Detroit Lakes, where she is now resting comfortably in a foster home.

This incident was witnessed, and the police were called.  The alleged perpetrator was arrested, made bond, and has a hearing scheduled for early next week.

Good news, right?  Maybe.  Animal abuse cases are rarely prosecuted, simply because there are often no witnesses, or the witnesses are intimidated by the perpetrator so they don't report it.  And if they are prosecuted, the offenders are given a warning or small fine.  Some states only treat it as a felony if it's the first animal abuse offense.

And here's a statistic that should concern everyone: Intentional cruelty to animals is strongly correlated with other crimes, including violence against people.  

Help us help Millie and ensure that justice is served.

1. Donate to Millie's care here.


2. Call the prosecutor in this case and tell her that animal abuse should not be tolerated in our community.  Her name is Jennifer R.J. Knutson, Assistant Becker County Attorney, at 218-847-6590


3. Contact your local officials and your state legislators and demand that animal cruelty be treated as the serious crime it is.


4. Volunteer for your local animal shelter.  If your heart can't take the daily contact with the animals, volunteer to transport to vet appointments or to other rescues.  Millie wouldn't have gotten to Minneapolis without caring people who were willing to go the extra mile (pun intended).

It starts with one person.  And together, we can change the world, or at least change our community.  For Millie.

 

White and Privileged

I have white privilege.  If I get stopped for speeding, it's likely I'll get a warning.  If I step into a crowded elevator, people won't back away from me, unless I forgot to shower that morning.  If I walk into a liquor store with a hoodie on, no one asks me to put the hood down so the security cameras can see my face.  When I walk down a sidewalk, people won't cross the street to walk on the other side.

When people see me, they don't assume that I'm a troublemaker.  I could have the most vile of views, and yet if I showed up to march in support of my hatred, I'd not only get a permit, when violence arises, people would blame the protesters and not me.

I don't worry about being pulled aside at the airport and being subjected to extra "security" measures.   No one will forcibly drag me from an airplane.  I don't worry about random gunfire killing me in my living room.

White lives have always mattered in a country built around the concept that all people were created equal.  White Christian lives matter even more.

So yes, I am white and I am privileged.  And I am ashamed.  People like Peter Tefft of Fargo do not represent me.  I don't want to make America hate again; we've had too much of that already.  I want to live in a country where my life matters just as much as anyone else.  Anyone else.  No exceptions, period.

 

 

 

Death to Lutherans

Got your attention, didn't I.  After this week's horrific events in Charlottesville, VA, I've been seeing posts on Facebook and Twitter saying that the counter-protesters are as much to blame as the neo-nazis, white supremacists, and fascists in attendance.

Yes, there was a valid permit to march.  And yes, there were counter protesters that fought back physically.  But putting these groups of people in the same box is sickening.

Is it because the protesters were chanting "death to Jews" that you feel that both sides are to blame?  You're not a Jew, you're not African American, or Latino, or Muslim, or any of those things.

So let me ask you this.  What if they chanted "death to Lutherans" and came to Detroit Lakes to spew their hate speech?  If you stood on the beach with your own signs telling the haters to go home, and an anti-Lutheran drove his car into your line of folks, would you still think that both sides were equally to blame?  Because the Lutherans were yelling too, and spitting, and I think I even saw one throw a punch.

The KKK originally thought that Catholics were in the same category as blacks and Jews.  Did you miss that part of history?  Look it up.  Catholics aren't to blame for the cross burnings are they?  What about the lynchings?

And just because you're not one of the groups they hate now doesn't mean you won't be someday.  The nazis hated more than just the Jews.  You know from school history about the 6 million Jews murdered, right?  The Jews were just one of the groups the nazis hated.  Estimates of between 11 and 20 million people were murdered by this "hate group".   Read here for some statistics.

Martin Niemöller was a Protestant pastor that spoke up against the nazis.  He was one of the counter protesters.  He spent the last 7 years of nazi rule in a concentration camp.

Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the quotation:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.