I was going to write a rant today about how nutty it is that Alberto Gonzalez is being portrayed by some people (for instance, President Bush) as the victim of a horrible partisan witch hunt, when the reality is that Gonzales was harshly criticized and questioned by democrats and republicans. In fact, some of the must brutal questions for Gonzales during his senate testimony came from republican senators. If there was a witch-hunt, it was obviously bi-partisan.

But I won't rant about that, since I have another topic to rant about. Recently, The Wall Street Journal published a disturbing yet interesting story about an extraordinarily dangerous downhill horse race (the "Suicide Race") in Washington State. Interesting in part because many of the people who are abusing the horses clearly think of themselves as animal lovers. Michael Vick can't say the same.

Below is the headline and the lead from the article. If you are interested, I can e-mail you the whole article.

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The Race Where Horses Die
A Washington town's 70-year-old tradition persists, drawing devoted fans -- and the critics who want to shut it down
By NICK TIMIRAOS
August 11, 2007; Page P1

Omak, Wash.

A gunshot rang out. Whips flew, war cries echoed, and in a cloud of dust two weeks ago, an avalanche of men and horses plunged down Suicide Hill, a 225-foot slope at a steep 62-degree angle to the Okanogan River.

When the dust settled, Chavez, a 7-year-old running quarter horse, thrashed frantically to keep from drowning. George Marchand, the horse's owner, dove into the river in his T-shirt and jeans, and after a rescue boat ferried the horse to shallow water, he pleaded with his horse to stand up, his voice filled with despair: "Come on, son. Come on, son."

The horse had broken its back in a collision during an elimination heat in preparation for this weekend's Omak Suicide Race. After half-a-dozen men struggled to load the horse into a trailer, Mr. Marchand took Chavez home, where he ended the animal's life with a shotgun. "The one thing I will not let a horse do is suffer," says the 31-year-old Colville Indian.

(and from later in the article...)

When Mr. Marchand raced in 1993, his own horse, Wauseka, was killed after suffering a broken pelvis. "I bawled my eyeballs out. That horse was my partner," says Mr. Marchand, who owns about 40 horses.

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Once in awhile, a letter to the editor says something *perfectly* and this was the case today:

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So Mr. Marchand forces his horse into the Suicide Race, ends up having to kill the animal after it's injured and then sobs "that horse was my partner." Remind me never to go into business with Mr. Marchand.

Richard Pallaziol
Napa, Calif.

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And another letter had a different but interesting point, especially in light of the Michael Vick fiasco:

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An American Tradition That Brings Only Pain

George Marchand, who broke his horse's back in an elimination heat on Suicide Hill as part of the annual Omak Stampede and Suicide Race, points out, "They kill more horses on the race track than they do here" ("The Race Where Horses Die," Pursuits, Aug. 11). It's true. Hurting animals for human entertainment is a long-standing American tradition. One day we will look back on that tradition and the various excuses we made for it with much shame.

Karen Dawn
Pacific Palisades, Calif.

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A lot to think about, and I have no easy answers...clearly Michael Vick's behavior was beyond the pale and in my opinion, he deserves more punishment than will be coming to him. But what about horses who get injured racing and then are euthanized? What about cattle and calfs who are kept in inhumane conditions their whole lives and then are Whopperized (or, as the case may be, osso bucco-ized).

It's easy to say that those animals aren't tortured, but to me, it's inhumane to keep a calf in a crate its whole short life, in a space so small it can't even turn around. This is the reason I won't eat veal, and related to the reason I won't eat foie gras. Where is the line crossed from inhumanity to torture? Others would say that it is basically just as bad that I had an In 'n Out Burger for lunch today; the cow may not have been tortured, but it is unlikely that it was treated with much dignity or humanity. And how about leather shoes and belts, which I wear almost every day? Where do you draw the line?