The political opinions of animals

George Galloway in TO,
originally uploaded by mjemirzian.

I walked into Cato's (my Siamese cat) room last week to find a poster of the Respect Party MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, George Galloway, plastered on his wall.

I was thrilled to think that he was going to turn out to have the same politics as his mother, one with a sense of humor and anger, combined with a Molotov cocktail. I imagined hearing my son cry "Just kill him!" rather than the usual meow of disgust when George Bush appears on TV.

Imagine my disappointment when he said, instead: "Any member of parliament who tries to emulate a cat will get my vote anytime." The photo was, of course, of Galloway imitating a cat on the UK version of Celebrity Big Brother, an appearance that definitely jeopardized Galloway's standings in his own district.

Any discussion of Galloway's appearance in front of the U.S. Senate's Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, where Galloway sought to defend himself against accusations of selling oil for food, goes right over Cato's head. As do the epithets Galloway lobbed at Republicans who control the committee, calling them "crazed, pro-war, lickspittles of the president."

To Cato the political views of politicians are obscure. "Who cares what they think? I don't care if the President deceived everyone about Iraq. I don't even know where Iraq is. I am much more interested in knowing whether Galloway will grow his own tail or use a prosthesis."