Comments on: Pictures from an Amputation

By: charles Keating

charles Keating — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Dogs and dog tags...
So sad.
Keep us posted on how your dog is doing, Phil.
When's the last time Bush visited a vet hospital?

By: MRW.

MRW. — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

___________________________________________________________________________________

Phil, a vet I know has a dog like that. She devised a harness for the back right leg that ended in a 4-in. wheel instead of a leg-looking thing. He learned to play ball at age eight in that harness. Runs around the house on three legs, but literally puts himself into that harness when he want to play ball, then barks. Backs into it. He uses his back left leg like a rudder and propellant. He loved, LOVED, to go swimming in shallow water after the amputation. The vet said that's how she got him to understand how to use the prosthetic she designed.

Still.

I am a dog-lover and owner too, and I'm having a hard time writing this.

Thank you for mentioning the maimed soldiers. I have no way of even comprehending the finality, frustration, and all-encompassing loss the wounds and limbs represent other than to know that they were preventable, and as a citizenry, we failed these soldiers in our basic duty to them: to verify the policy is accurate and necessary.

As Joe Scarborough -- surprisingly -- said the other morning, and I paraphrase, we all fell in line behind a President who asked him to be loyal to him, who values loyalty deeply. But it was loyalty to him personally. Not loyalty to the country.

And that will be part of our shame when we see what we have done.

___________________________________________________________________________________

By: scorpio

scorpio — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

i have a 6-month old puppy right now that i'm deeply attached to. he's supposed to get fixed here soon and that is killing me. maybe it's just a reflection on me as a guy, but i think what right do i have to change his life so he'll be able to fit in better with mine (ie go to doggie day care, boarding etc where they demand spay/neuter). very rough. i like him complete and himself. your dog not only misses her completeness and old life, she misses the old you. they can tell you're embarassed. like our wounded soldiers you pass on the street. if you live anywhere that these soldiers come from.

By: cheryl brodersen

cheryl brodersen — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Dear Phil,
My father had a dog whose leg was injured and thus had to live with being a "three-legged dog. She survived happily a number of years and remained active, playful and involved on our Iowa farm. She remained an outdoor dog and continued to thrive even through our cold harsh winters Give your dog time and yourself time to heal. I trust you will still hike the Adirondacks together.
I read your blog faithfully and appreciate your hard look at the occupation and America's involvement in continuing it. I would like to alert you to a conference being held in Olympia, Wa this October on the dual occupations: Iraq and Palestine. More info is available at the Rachel Corrie Foundation website.
Again, thanks.

By: TomB

TomB — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Time, Mr. Weiss, give it time. Perhaps its only virtue, but what would we do without it other than live forever with unwashable sadnesses? You, and she, will see.

Cheers,

By: Bob Forbes

Bob Forbes — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Phil-- This is mighty coincidental, but I've seen two, happy and healthy, three-legged dogs out for walks just this week. One dog had one of its front legs gone and the other was missing one of its back legs. In both cases the legs were fully amputated to the torsos. It was obvious the dogs weren't as fast as they had once been with all four legs, and walking appeared to be more of an effort for them. But they sure seemed happy to be out with their masters and happy to be alive.

So show her plenty of love and treat her normally. She'll likely recover quicker than you will. Surviving and even thriving under adverse circumstances are a dog's lesson to mankind.

By: Nabil

Nabil — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Phil,

Your account of that first day with your dog after the amputation is very moving. I remember your mentioning it to me during one of our phone conversations (again in a nonchalant way), however, the pain in your voice was obvious.

Your current ordeal reminds me of a famous story we learned in school (probably true) about a simple bedouin poet who was invited to the court of the Abbasid Caliph Haroon Al-Rashid to compose a poem in praise of the "great" man. The bedouin, using imagery from the desert that he knew, spoke of the wisdom and bravery of the great Caliph and closed his poem by describing him "as honest and loyal as a dog". Whereupon, the Caliph's courtiers and guards, thinking that their master had been insulted, jumped on the poor man intending to beat him or worse. However, the Caliph was not dubbed Al-Rashid (the wise) for nothing. He ordered his men to release the man and reward him handsomely, explaining to his urbane court that for this simple man from the desert, who depended on his dog to protect his home and flock when he was away, comparing a man's honesty and loyalty to a dog's was the highest praise.

By the way, Haroon is the Arabic version of the Hebrew name Aaron (the brother of Moses).

By: 5 dancing shlomos

5 dancing shlomos — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

in iraq and palestine, there are many young kids and adults who have experienced an amputation or four thanks to israel and its western agents - mostly jews.

the americans suffering such went to iraq to destroy and kill. who here mourns/feels the pain of a bundy or berkowitz or dahmer?

which jew, lipstadt?, goldhagen?, ??, feels the pain of the ordinary german citizen circa 30's, 40's, 50's - 2008.

like the two who died, scarborough is a liar/deceiver. that is how he stays on tv.

By: morris

morris — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Dear Phil,The title worried me.Maybe you've been told to cool it, I thought. Maybe Phil won't be allowed to say what he is thinking…My condolences for you and your wife and of course your pet.But being Mondoweiss, there must be a metaphor in this.Remember Shatilla and the emotions the dead horses portrayed.And the amputated vets and Arabs…Be strong – we need you.

By: the Sword of Gideon

the Sword of Gideon — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Shlomo and Morris, I have to hand to you guys. I read this and having had a dog has a kid was actually kind of touched. I didn't really relate this to the Zionazi jackboot crushing the Arabs and using their intestines to grease the treads of their tanks. I really didn't. But you too have enlightened me. It's all about the Jews, everything, all the time. Always has been I guess.