proof that money can't buy you smarts

in the midst of millions of americans losing their jobs last year, and the constant news stream about the stock market, housing foreclosures, and hard times – hell, i hear even ol’ hugh heffner has ixnayed the playboy mansion super bowl party this year due to poor sales this quarter – i was totally delighted that one couple from florida recently decided to give the flailing economy the middle finger by coughing up $155,000 to have their beloved family dog cloned. the fact that these people can turn on the news and see a father kill his entire family and then himself because he and his wife were both laid off, or that an additional 20,000 people lost their jobs today, and be so completely unscathed by all of this that they would decide to spend that kind of money on cloning a dog…i mean, what is that about? no doubt a person is totally entitled to spend their hard earned money in whatever way they choose, but i guess it just rubs me the wrong way when people are losing their homes, their jobs and their dignity left and right, and some a-holes decide that fluffy was just the best pet ever and must be reproduced, to the tune of 155 large. really? if you need to piss your money away, i mean, crap, i’ll take it. i could do something a lot more useful with that money than clone a freakin dog. don’t get me wrong, i love my dog. i mean, i LOVE that dog. probably more than is healthy. like i lay in bed and stare into his eyes on a regular basis. if i could call him while i’m at work, i totally would. i follow him from room to room. but there is not a chance that i would drop that kind of money to have him cloned when he’s getting up there. shit, i have a hard time coughing up $100 for his heartworm medicine!!! i’m thinking perhaps someone should write these people a letter and tell them to pull their heads out of their rear ends and take a look around at what the rest of us are calling a RECESSION. i mean, 155k is a lot of money. some schools operate on budgets smaller than that. some people don’t make that much in years, some nonprofits could feed and house homeless people on that amount for quite some time. hell, sarah palin didn’t even spend that much on all her fancy campaigning clothes. but these people are opening up their wallets to have the cloned embryo of their precious pooch implanted in another dog so they will be able to have the EXACT SAME DOG they had before. i mean, what’s wrong with another dog? there are millions in the shelters all over the country. most of them get “laid off” too, because they don’t find homes in time. if they have all this money stashed away that they can clone their dog in times like these, maybe president obama should be knocking on their door to see if there’s anything they can contribute to the stimulus package. seriously, why should the taxpayers pick up the tab when these clowns clearly have money to burn?? only in america would you find a couple like this - hey, honey, what should we do with all this money? give some to charity, maybe? or a local foundation? help support after school programs for at risk kids or donate to a food bank? oh! oh! oh! i know! let’s have the dog cloned. brilliant. just brilliant.