Dutch diplomat and wife adopt Korean girl, decide it’s not right for their lifestyle, return it in good condition, and suddenly find themselves in a shitstorm.  What’s the big?  Geez, it’s not like Ellen fobbing off that dog. They’re unbelievably selfish, pinheaded jackasses, obviously, but I’m glad they gave the girl up, as Korean girls make notoriously difficult housepets.ÂÂ
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Recent Comments
- In The Mailbox: 02.28.23 (Afternoon Edition) : The Other McCain on Hey, longtime pw readers…
- In The Mailbox: 12.23.22 : The Other McCain on Patrick J. Carroll truly IS a sad, embittered psychopath
- Danger on Patrick J. Carroll might be a psychopath
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- In The Mailbox: 07.18.22 : The Other McCain on Patrick J. Carroll might be a psychopath
Watch for Mark Steyn to launch a scorching zinger or five, about selfish Low Country sybarites, who only care about living it up in the here & now, and letting posterity go hang. Oh, and here’s something to wash the foul taste of this story out of your mouth.
Dan – how true. That these days pets are revered as “children” by the childless serves to promulgate two ends… children are treated more like pets, while pets are treated more akin to human children. Chief among the most offensive things I have seen on this score:
1) pet insurance (by, who else but Progressive)
2) people spending thousands on surgeries and meds for dogs and cats
3) doggy and kitty seat belts
very, very obscene.
more politics of luxury and absolute gluttony
oh, and 4) getting more time for killing a pet than chucking your newborn in the toilet.
Thanks, SI, that was a very nice chaser. “God just delivered a little Angel too you” gave me a lump in my throat. As for the soulless wretches in Dan’s link, I trust karma will take care of them.
Uh, what offends you about not wanting your dog to go flying about the car in an accident? That seems pretty reasonable and responsible to me.
B Moe – erm… well, Ill grant you that it is not irresponsible. what about the larger point?
Which do the morally bankrupt find most repulsive? (warning – disturbing images…)
http://www.peta.org/photos/300-overpopulation2.jpg
http://www.violence.de/prescott/hustler-new/hustler4.jpg
point is… ahhh fuck it.
Ah, Grasshopper! You have attained enlightenment; there is nothing more I can teach you.
You know how it is with Asian kids, Dan…adopt one now and in an hour you’re hankerin’ to adopt again.
B Moe – erm… well, Ill grant you that it is not irresponsible. what about the larger point?
I understand you point, just don’t agree that somehow responsible pet ownership is misanthropic, and didn’t understand why you would consider responsible restraint of a pet offensive and obscene. I think responsible pet ownership implies a certain measure of care for the animal. I would never buy pet insurance, nor spend thousands of dollars in medical expenses for my cat, but I do take her to the vet for occasional check ups. I basically just recoiled a bit at what seemed to me to be an invalid either/or scenario.
Me, I think this story is trumped up. The characterization of the South Korean embassy official, who fotmed his own conclusions with a large axe to grind, is not a basis on which to form final conclusions.
The families story contradicts earlier reports altogether. They deny ever abandoning or intending to abandon their adopted Korean daughter; quite the opposite. Someone ELSE , a Korean official, with a political axe to grind about foreign adoptions characterized the current placement of the child into a care institution as abandonment.
If they wanted to toss out the daughter, they certainly had ample opportunity in 7 years. I suspect there really are profound difficulties – there are neurologically based mental illnesses that manifest over time- and behavioural problems could indeed affect the entire family in a very negative way and require her being put into care. I don’t mean to argue too vehemently that this is the case, but what I’ve seen so far is a good deal of outrage based on very shallow and one-sided treatment of the story.
I think its just peachy that no one else on the internets would ever give up on a child they gave birth to or adopted. Except, sometimes they do, for the good of all. If my child had developed childhood schizophrenia or autism, I can not personaly guarantee I would have been able to cope, or what I would do if I had the well-bing of other children to consider. Alright, that’s my personal troll quotient for the day met. Which my point is, you may arrive at the same conclusion at the end. My feeling is if the parents are beasts, the child is better off away from her adoptive family with finally a chance to be loved. If the parents are NOT beasts, then she is probably needing to be in care.
Well, as a person who just spend thousands of dollars on my dog after she was hit by a car…I will say that pet owners just don’t know what they will do, with a beloved pet, until they are in that situation. If you want to bash me, go ahead, but I don’t spend money on a lot of other wasteful things – fancy cars, porn, etc. If spending (a lot of) money on a sick pet is my worst vice, I’m ok with that. Luxery and gluttony? That’s a rather weighted charge. Almost everyone wastes money on unnecessary things. Judge not.
Sarah – My Nephew has childhood schizophrenia… and I can tell you the fortitude required to cope was congruent with their love for their child… whether he be “incomplete, damaged, or otherwise”.
Carin – have you not been to a children’s hospital? have you not seen a single mother scraping for groceries? how far would that money have gone to relieve some of that pain? So, yes, gluttony.
As for “judge not”… that does not absolve us from our responsibility to correct. it just means don’t condemn. i didn’t condemn… i just pointed out how misplaced these “norms” of pop cult-ure are. Often times, we find that we engage in the obscene not out of malice, but because we have become acclimated to doing them. I mean, especially when we don’t “judge” and all is gray.
just saying.
and another thing while you have me going! :)
should we stop discerning between what is disordered and what is not? really?
Enoch – so spending money on my injured dog is incorrect, but do you tisk tisk every other form of “gluttony” – which would have to encompass just about everything except a fraction of the food we eat, and a simple roof over your head?
Golf, cars, snowmobiles, fitness club memberships, dinner’s out, vacations, designer clothes, make-up, breast augmentation, ART (as in buying it, etc) … the list goes on and on. Yet, spending money – one time – on my pet is somehow anathema? Certainly it doesn’t add to up a lifetime of gluttonous spending.
Anyway, I’ll think about what you said the next time I’m working at the soup kitchen for my church. And how you think that I should have given more to the needy, and let my dog die without trying to help. I guess no one should EVER spend money EVER on anything not necessary to the continuation of life. Beer? Expensive scotch? Not essential guys. Think of the sick children in the hospital and the mom scraping money for groceries.
course if I were in Carin’s shoes, I would have been thinking, “do everything I can for my dog or deal with five kids that will be angry and upset that I didn’t?”
Golf – dont golf
cars – drive a used honda civic
snowmobiles – dont own one
fitness club memberships – dont have one
dinner’s out – maybe once a year, if we are lucky
vacations – nope
designer clothes – nope
make-up – erm
breast augmentation – again, ummm
ART – nope
i dont care what you do with your money. and i am not even saying you arent a decent person. i am not attacking you. seriously. point is, in cases of thousands of dollars… i think it’s an obscene concept to spend it on a dog. And, by the way, I have a dog… which my 4 children like very much. but, i have to be honest, i would put a slug in her in the backyard before i would do the inhumane thing and spend serious cash on her… when yes people are starving or whatever.
Hmmm. Family members arguing…
Yup. It’s Christmastime.
You said that behavior’s such as mine was “morally bankrupt.” I don’t know how you can differentiate between my spending “X” amount of dollars when others (not you) spend that amount and more on unnecessary things. On the scale, I would say that attempting to save the life (of one of God’s creatures, and a member of my family) is certainly less morally bankrupt than spending it on anything material. Christmas gifts for example. My children all agreed that we’d rather drive our POS ten-year old car for a few more years, and do with less, in an attempt to save her.
See, we made sacrifices to save her.
You seem to be opposed to any spending on oneself. I mean, there will always be sick children. Christmas gifts are morally bankrupt when there are sick children. Shame on all of you!
f you, McGeehee! anyhoo, just got a postcard in the mail about Christmas in Darfur. everyone’s coming out of the woodwork.
I think we should send all our money to Darfur, but certainly no soliders because then we would just be trying to steal their oil. Or something nefarious, I’m sure.
I’m afraid you guys are stuck with me today- picking fights. There is a snowstorm coming, and I’ve already got my bread and milk. Can’t go Christmas shopping, because now I’m worried about the Sick and Starving Children (TM) in addition to the storm.
ha ha, wish I could stay and entertain you, Carin, but I gots shows to do. hopefully people will show up today. it’s getting depressing.
I don’t have a problem spending one’s own money on one’s own pets, and I’ll admit to spending a couple thousand on my dog but I’ll also admit that I wouldn’t have done so had I known that a couple puncture wounds from a mauling was going to cost $1600 to fix.
What bothers me isn’t what people do with their own pets and own finances, it’s being told that I *must* also pay for hip replacements or that having a pet put down isn’t an option or that I’m just a really really bad person for finding a new home for an animal or, horrors, taking a cat to the shelter (only, since all shelters were “no-kill” none of them would take a cat so I had to take it to the pound where I was lectured about how the guy working there spend $6000 on his cat who died anyway so I was a terrible terrible person.)
Read anything by animal “advocates” and it’s clear that no one, NO ONE, should even get a pet unless they can afford any necessary hip-replacement surgeries, that a loving home isn’t good enough unless medical care can be afforded, and that getting a pet confers on a person the obligation, not just to give a pet a better life than in the wild, say… feed it, but to take utter responsibility for all possible or imagined needs, curing all illnesses, and making sure the animal exceeds “natural” life span expectations by at least 100%.
I’ve got two cats and no kids, so technically I don’t have a dog in this fight. (Ha! see what I did?)
But there is a tendency, generally, in today’s society to misplace one’s compassion and resources. I think C.S. Lewis observed that people tend to invest their sympathies and compassion on people and causes that are at least one step removed from them, thus to avoid dealing with the very real and very inconvenient needs around them.
Think Mrs. Jellyby from Dickens’ Bleak House, who spent all her time “Helping Africa” while her own children lived in neglect and squalor. Sometimes I think that people lavish concern for animals (whether they be pets or penguins or polar bears) so that they can reassure themselves that they are “caring people,” when in fact there are plenty of people right there in front of them (family, neighbors) whose needs are more insistent but, alas, much more difficult to deal with, and definitely more inconvenient.
It’s an unfortunate component of human nature, but there you are.
I also feel sometimes that society’s elites tend to see children as accessories, as evidenced by people touting genetic manipulation for the purpose of selecting blue-eyed youngsters or whatever. It’s a way to avoid loving people for who they areâ€â€and who they are is uncomfortable, unpleasant, inconvenient, expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to deal with.
Unless you learn to love people who are hard to love, you don’t mature into the kind of person who actually makes the world a better place. Too bad that so many people think that the solution is to get rid of the difficult-to-love people.
Carin – On the scale, I would say that attempting to save the life (of one of God’s creatures, and a member of my family) is certainly less morally bankrupt than spending it on anything material.
“of one of God’s creatures” – one of God’s creatures, sure… but again, no different than a crow… and no closer to Human Beings, whom, I heard somewhere, were created in His image and likeness (the same cannot be said of a dog… even cute ones).
“and a member of my family” – erm… a pet… a very much lesser “member of your family” than your mom or kids or even your husband I hope. If you want to rank your dog slightly above the goldfish on grounds of emotional attachment (and/or the cuteness factor), I have no real problem with that. But to even say “and a member of my family,” as if to bestow equivalent dignity to a dog as should be reserved for Humans… well, again, is obscene.
“I think we should send all our money to Darfur, but certainly no soliders because then we would just be trying to steal their oil. Or something nefarious, I’m sure.
I’m afraid you guys are stuck with me today- picking fights. There is a snowstorm coming, and I’ve already got my bread and milk. Can’t go Christmas shopping, because now I’m worried about the Sick and Starving Children (TM) in addition to the storm.”
Carin,
I like Sam Kinison’s suggestion. “Don’t send ’em money. Don’t send ’em food. SEND THEM FUCKING U-HAULS so they can get the fuck out of there! YOU CAN”T EAT SAND ANYWAY!”
Now Sam was a brilliant statesman.
Dead thread, but what the hell. Enoch Root, you take so very much pride in your humble life that you have gotten on my last nerve. Who are you to judge what is “obscene” or not in other people’s lives? I’ll spend a thousand dollars on care for my cat if I want, and that’s my business, and it sure is hell ain’t any of yours. Go preen yourself about never dining out and never taking vacations and not belonging to a gym and not playing golf, and never doing a damn thing that’s not “essential” by your ridiculous standards. Jesus H. Christ, a post about an apparently unwanted child is not the place for you to parade your own humble righteousness. Go adopt that kid if you’re so damn wonderful.
Korean girls make notoriously difficult housepets.
I’m willing to give that theory a test, however.
ushie – stop emoting. I am a lowly sinner. just sayin… seems to have struck a nerve. and when the response is not in keeping with the stimulus… well, indicates some stirring of your soul. merry Christmas.
Golf – dont golf
cars – drive a used honda civic
snowmobiles – dont own one
fitness club memberships – dont have one
dinner’s out – maybe once a year, if we are lucky
vacations – nope
designer clothes – nope
make-up – erm
breast augmentation – again, ummm
ART – nope
Hmm, I thought they caught the Unabomber.
Enoch, you remind me of every other self-righteous git who wants to prove how much better he/she is than the rest of us poor saps, whether it’s by banning smoking, trans-fats, or child-bearing, because you understand what SHOULD be done in all cases so much better than everyone else. With you, it’s your scoffing at those who happen to like, or even love, their pets. How wasteful, you proclaim! So you’ll show us what’s right by offing the family dog in the back yard.
“Daddy, daddy,” your kids cry. “Don’t shoot Bingo! He only has a little arthritis!”
“I’m not spending a dime on aspirin for the dog!” you retort. “It’s a mere dog and I love you kids more than the dog!”
BLAMMO!
“Stop that crying, you kids! You’re wasting your precious bodily fluids!”
Ushie – I smoke, I am 30 lbs overweight, and my wife is expecting our 5th in April. Again, back to the point: in my opinion, it is wrong to spend oodles of money on a pet. And, i do love my dog, as much as a human can love a dog. But my dog is a dog. We feed her and keep her warm and she keeps an eye out for all of the malcontents in our neighborhood… it works well… but I still could not bring myself to spend thousands of dollars on her. Again, I am not doing anything but disagreeing with you. Not damning or condemning. Just pointing out that it is disordered to spend that type of money on a pet.
On a theological note: do you mind if I ask you what faith you identify yourself with?
So you smoke and you’re overweight, yet you have 6 people depending upon you and your continued good health. I’m not damning or condemning you. Just pointing out that it is disordered to spend money on cigs and extra food.
Episcopalian, which may either mean I believe in tiny sandwiches and tea after services, or that I’m going Evangelical.
Ushie – I agree with you… about the good health thing. So, is this the part where I am supposed to get really defensive, emotional, and insult you? Is your point that I am right about the disorder of spending serious cash on a dog… or is this the part that you call me a hypocrite for falling short (as all of us do)?
In terms of your faith: I dont know anything about your church’s stance on giving unto dogs that which is human.
You probably don’t agree about the blessings of the animals, do you?
Neat. It’s like we have our own miniblog to argue on.