President Obama’s dream for America has turned into a nightmare for horses, and a deadly one.
We at the Int’l Fund for Horses all agree — which is extremely rare — that President Obama needs to go in 2012, and we will be campaigning against him to achieve just that.
This may seem extreme. However, any President who can sit idly by while the last of America’s federally protected and iconic wild horse and burro herds are destroyed is not a good sign for the country’s citizens, let alone its equines.
Why? Many reasons. But consider this.
Obama’s lack of action has taken place in the face of a vast array of obvious, substantiated and breathtakingly cruel and corrupt practices by his Interior Secretary and Bureau of Land Management (BLM). And this despite thousands of emails, phone calls and letters from the public, including highly visible rallies across the country over the past 18 months, protesting and bringing the President’s attention to it. What Obama’s agenda is in this, who can say for sure, though some guesses very close to the truth have been made. Whether it is windmills or water, what is clear is that the President does not care how it is achieved, or at what cost.
Not that the same sort of behavior towards America’s wild horses and burros has not gone on to some degree in past Administrations. However, the purpose of past wild horse and burro roundups was to exploit them to make a financial killing, not kill them off altogether. With the Obama Administration, it is clear that the ultimate goal, through the escalated size and scale of specifically targeted herd destroying roundups, is the total eradication of America’s wild horses and burros.
Additionally, Obama had a Congress who failed, yet again, to pass legislation banning horse slaughter and export for slaughter. This with the full knowledge that the EU was forced take action where the US government would not, implementing a quarantine system in an attempt to prevent adulterated horsemeat from American horses butchered across our borders from entering into their human food supply. One has to question the refusal of Obama and his Congress to address the slaughter issue, particularly when a number of America’s rounded up wild horses and burros are being sent to slaughter via BLM operatives and its contractors, conceivably with help from other federal agencies.
Whatever the underlying motivation, Obama may appear conciliatory in public, but he is as ruthless behind the scenes as any politician who has sat in that chair, and his decisions murderous to horses.
Recent elections have been more about voting bad politicians out than good politicians in.
Rest assured, we will fully utilize this trend, and begin working in the new year to make an example of Obama in 2012 that politicians in Washington will not soon forget.
Tuesday's Horse 
So what’s to be done if letter writing and phone campaigns clearly don’t work? Some people just like the sound of their voices, it seems. As animal activists, WE need to be part of the solution…ANY solution at this point, or we ARE part of the problem. And let’s not go overboard with attaching labels like “satanic” and “evil” until we know the complete story. I think it’s purely a case of not being completely informed, and not having the principal pairs of feet held to the fire. And while we’re being honest, this is most likely an issue that’s been deemed a “smaller brush fire”, in light of some much larger problems our nation is facing. That being said, I’m down for a little civil disobedience to make sure more people get the message we’re talking about here. How ’bout beginning with ten thousand riders in the mall? Could make for a sweet PR story on CNN!
LikeLike
Well said Cynthia!
Government is no longer about the people but rather how they cope with world affairs and survival.
Is it good? Absolutely not. Unfortunately, it seems that’s all there is anymore.
All of the things in life that once mattered, seem to take the back burner to interests related to national security, whether that be terrorist, financial, technology or the like.
People have been diminished to items, and the animals alike are even lower in the scheme of life when it comes to running a nation competing against its demise in the wake of more populous countries who no doubt in the end will overpower what exists as we know it.
This has been the philosophy of these countries for centuries. Unfortunately, we now fight against these principles to survive.
How can we bring back what was and how things should be? And yes, I am guilty of over simplifying things in this complex world of chaos.
LikeLike
Who would be better? WHO? A Republican???? YEAH right! Every single candidate that exists are in the pocket of Corporate state and only care about industry over the will of the people. You want another Democrat? Who could actually win against Obama? He already has massive amounts of money for the next Presidential campaigns. I am just as disappointed and pissed at this administration but I am also just saying WHO?? We are screwed in this country. We live in a fascist corporate state. And it No longer cares about the people.
LikeLike
I don’t know that we can find someone “better,” but perhaps someone with a different agenda that coincides with ours. That is really all we have to work with. I could care less about parties. There are no party lines any longer. That is a joke. The corruption relating to wild horses is everywhere, federal and state level, politicians, judges, bureaucrats, civil servants, contractors, you name it. I could see where this country was headed when I worked on the ExxonMobil merger. Corporate blocs reforming to take control of the country, which is why they were made to break up in the first place.
LikeLike
Down to the drivers of the hauling rigs and even border patrol.
All with agendas of one kind or another, all relating to money and control from higher ups.
We have been feeling the corruption from all angles and in every facet and in every direction.
If only goodness could take on this enormity!
LikeLike
Yup.
You got it Jodi. I don’t think it is simply Obama.
It is exactly what you say – corruption and the inability to change together with the manipulation of the populous.
Disgusting and out of control.
LikeLike
There is thinking, and there is knowing!
LikeLike
Amen Vivian!!!!!
LikeLike
I have written, e-mailed, and called Obama, Durbin, Pelosi, and Feinstein (who ignores anyone not from CA, even on NATIONAL ISSUES). Not one single response. I even asked Obama if he was one of those Chicagoans who thinks horses eat meat (or welfare ranchers cattle). I am from Central Illinois and know one Chicago person who thought horses ate meat and wore diapers. I wrote Durbin and Obama about my experience with the BLM in trying to adopt from the Mantle Ranch, and being turned down because my lot attached to the barn was “too big”. Being from IL, I requested a personal letter to my inquiry. I got the “robo-reply” from Durbin and nothing from Obama. Too bad Obama didn’t run as the anti-environment, anti-animal candidate he turned out to be.
Becky
LikeLike
Since Obama has been President, horse issues have been off the table. Even under Bush you could lobby and make some inroad. I am genuinely surprised.
But I also remember, before the 2008 election, trying to get Obama to co-sponsor the horse slaughter bill and he refused, saying he had co-sponsored his “quota of bills for the year.” Hillary Clinton endorsed the bill almost as soon as it was introduced, well before her decision to run for President. Obama co-sponsored it after he decided to run.
The tone of Congress on horse issues is clear when you look at Senators like Feinstein who were vocal, but have now gone quiet and won’t lift a finger to help, particularly the wild horses and burros. This kind of manipulation comes from the top of the political power pyramid.
This is why we say vote them all out. Get rid of them and give us a new set of players. We may only have a slim chance but as it stands we have none.
LikeLike
I always call the BLM the BCLM or the Bureau of Cattle Land Managment! Whatever the cattle ranchers want, the cattle ranchers get! To hell with the needs of the wild horses and burros, just a shame! Guess that is why I do not eat beef or any meat.
LikeLike
What Obama’s appointment, Kenneth Salazar, and the Bureau of Land Management, are doing to our American horses is uncivilized, barbaric and satanic. All those people involved in killing, torturing and destroying our horses are pure evil. They, condoned by Obama, are destroying all that is good in this country, our heritage, what is meaningful to us, and apparently that is their goal. They have no values, so it doesn’t bother them to destroy the horses without whom this country could have neither grown nor survived. That means nothing to people of that ilk. Nero fiddled while Rome burned.
LikeLike
Dear T Boyd what you said here , should be said to directly to Pres Obamas comment line 202-456-1111 , Please voice what you said here it is an excellent account and should be heard by Pres. Obama…………………….. With your permission ,I also will call and say what you wrote, I really think it sums up the situation very good………………..
LikeLike
There comes a point in the integrity of a nation wherein it fails to realize what its politics propose to offer to its people. Sadly, this is where the United States of America, supposedly one of the most cohesive and democratic countries in the world, now finds itself.
If there is no honor in the land, the wildlife and beauty it offers to satisfy the most basic needs of those who inhabit it, then what is that country worth in the sense of humanity and the satisfaction that was meant to be derived from it.
The word politician, as it is defined today, is equivalent to something that is foreign to what stirs emotion and is a veil of darkness in an otherwise world of beauty and promise. One need only look at where greed and power has taken us – global warming, pollution and ruin of our natural resources, stolen lives and the horror of factory farming, destitute nations, religious dispute and redundant war – a spiral to the end, created by nothing other than the human race and for what really?
Thank you for such a well written and candid account of how the US proposes to eradicate its heritage and natural splendor in exchange for, yet again, big business and the almighty dollar. A plastic nation of puppets.
How can we possibly think we live democratically?
It is most certainly not the best of times, but rather the worst!
LikeLike
IT IS SORRY TO SAY BUT NO ONE IN THE PRESENT ADMINISTRATION LISTENS TO THE PEOPLE. THEY TOTALLY BELIEVE THEY CAN DO ANYTHING THEY WANT AND NO ONE WILL STOP THEM. I PRAY THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WAKE UP.
LikeLike
There has to be a way to have the drilling, mining and even cattle grazing and let the wild horses and burros be. It used to be that way, though decades ago now. The reason I feel so uncompromising about this, is that I am old enough to remember it, and I feel that the Obama Administration are, in English parlance, being bloody-minded, with no foundation. They just want what they want, and using it as an excuse to rid the nation of these horses.
LikeLike
Problem is Greed and Money…unfortunately, that’s all that counts. The US and Canada and all the others want to feed the world with beef and energy.
A huge Asian market exists for beef…I don’t even want to go there….bletch…disgusting.
Cows (and horses of course) are cool. People aren’t.
LikeLike
You know Jane I share your sentiments, but of course they want to “feed the world” and make money. That is expected. What these arguments never take into consideration (and I know you know this), is: IF people did not want to consume meat or any other animal products, the problem of slaughter etc would not exist for animals. We and the planet would be healthier and happier. And everybody could still make lots of $$$, just on different products. Why are humans so resistant to change? Why is it so scary? People say it’s culture and tradition. Once upon a time, humans used to expose babies at birth born with imperfections.
LikeLike
I completely agree of course and as you say the other major part of the problem is resistance to change.
Unfortunately, most simply follow the norm and believe they enjoy the taste of meat, and perhaps they do.
On the subconscious level there seems to be an inexplicable unbalance between primal eating convention, the ethical treatment of food animals and environmental stewardship. For the most part, the brain is sensitized to deliver pleasure and wired to negate conflict.
Regrettably, it is easier to simply not think about how your food gets to the table and what is destroyed in its wake. For some it is too painful to think about and for others a low level of discomfort now and then. But then again, there are those that really don’t give a sh*t.
Of course then, the government and big business take full advantage of this since they are ruthless and malevolent when acting as a whole. And of course it is in their nature to put themselves first regardless of the consequences.
Whoever said that money and greed are the root of all evil certainly hit the nail on the head.
The world needs a massive wake up call. Not to be overly pessimistic but sadly, it may be too late given the status of pretty much everything that exists in this day and time.
LikeLike
Horses however are not classified as food animals in the US and as a result are loaded with substances that are BANNED from the human food chain. If a person doesn’t care about the cruelty of transporting and slaughtering horses with equipment designed for cattle, how about the fact that the meat is poison?
That would get MY attention.
LikeLike
BRAVO ! TUESDAYSHORSE I have called President Obama everyday and written him everyday since he took office, All has been ignored…………………………I have even written to Mrs. Obama Nothing……………………….. To ignore this GRAVE Wild Mustang Issue is to condone it !!! And is the Height of being UN American. He ditches the very Animals that Represent Freedom for a lousey greedy dollar………………..
LikeLike
Remember when the Farm Bill was in jeopardy and all the farmers drove their tractors to the Capitol? It was a spectacle, and they shut down all the roads.
I agree with your premise, that President Obama and Congress have failed completely to offer any reasonable response to what the BLM has been doing to our horses under cover of deceit and at enormous cost to the US taxpayers.
I must remind you however that this is also a failure belonging to existing horse protection advocates. We have failed to get the message out to enough people in enough ways. We have failed to recruit a firebrand celebrity who will give us visibility.
We have failed to congretae lawfully with our horses on the Mall. We might need some people to get arrested for the TV cameras.
Congress. The Mall. Horses. We’re not Leaving til Something Changes.
Until that happens no change will be delivered by any politician on a silver platter.
LikeLike
I agree to a point Stephanie. There is always more that horse advocates can do. However, based on what I have been privy to I don’t believe it would matter if we had a million horses in Washington DC. With this President there is clearly an agenda that has nothing do with the truth, the well being or preservation of these horses, or anything remotely like it. You can see it from the lawsuits. The criticism of horse advocates used to be they didn’t file lawsuits. Well, there are plenty of them now. Nothing. Federal Judges are not even charging BLM personnel when they clearly perjure themselves in open Court. Unbelievable. And that is how President Clinton’s prosecutors (enemies) were going to nail him, until he got out his dictionary and confounded them. We will continue what we are doing, but we are going after him if he fails.
LikeLike
I agree that Obama seems oblivious to the plight of the wild horses and burros. I think this is simply because he has a pretty full plate and has not been educated as to how they fit into the scheme of things and how very simple it would be (and inexpensive) for him to improve their situation. It’s very difficult for people to get through the many layers of staff surrounding any high ranking politician in order to present him or her with the facts they need to be knowledgable on a subject that has probably not been of interest to them in any way all their lives. The solution is to find ways to place that information in front of Obama and members of Congress and the Senate and governors in ways they cannot ignore. I believe the majority of them fail the wild horses and burros out of indifference rather than design. (The DOI and BLM are another matter.)
Also, the issue of horse slaughter is completely seperate (although it can effect the wild ones of course). Many people simply do not see or believe there is a difference between slaughtering cattle or sheep and slaughtering horses. Most people never have a relationship with a horse in their entire lives. Many people are completely indifferent to them–even people who would be supportive of the right of the wild ones to remain free. Putting the two issues together (except in the case of slaughtering the wild ones specifically) just muddies both issues.
It is wrong to think that the salvation of the wild ones will come through another “type” of President. Many more “progressive” politicians look at the wild ones as a nuisance and a threat to the environment, while most more “conservative” politicians are in favor of removing anything they can’t make money off of. Best to work at educating the president we have and the rest of the political class (by educating and inspiring the public). That is the only way to accomplish what we want for the wild ones OR for stopping horse slaughter. I understand the frustration–and share it—but targeting Obama and likely ending up with worse, is just a waste of the precious time we have left.
LikeLike
Obama is well aware of the wild horse & burro situation. He has let it be known he is not going to change his mind. Insofar as Congress, a dear colleague letter was sent around the House by Rep. Nick Rahall calling for a moratorium on the roundups and only got about 50+ signatures. Congress has also received thousands and thousands of constituent letters. We have seen numerous form letters from a diverse group spitting out the same BLM rhetoric in response. We have also been lobbying on the Hill for the past two years. They know about the issue alright. And it is hardly a new one either.
There is no difference between slaughtering sheep, pigs, horses or any other animals. The people who butcher animals for people to eat see right through the hypocrisy. We just happen to defend horses. We say advocate from your plate to protect all animals (human health and the environment).
The wild horse destruction and slaughter issues are (were) pending before Congress, and this Administration failed to act on them despite heavy lobbying.
LikeLike
I totally agree. Obama’s agenda seems to be his own. His views of what is best for this country, and indeed, for our horses as well, does not seem to reflect what the people want. I have never been so disappointed as I am in this president. He needs to go. I hope the rest of the horse community will follow suit on this.
LikeLike