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The Medusa Factor

  Imagine it.  Medusa was a terrible monster who, as a beautiful maiden, dared to challenge the spectacularly beautiful Athena.  Now that was a mistake because Odysseus, the king of all warriors was Athena’s patron and ally.  In addition to being physically endowed, Athena had introduced many arts and crafts to civilization but above all, Athena was Wise.  Therefore the divine sponsor of warriors and heroes, in her infinite wisdom, turned Medusa’s vanity against her, changing her beautiful ringlets into hissing serpents.  How fitting!  Medusa became so ugly that no person could look upon her without being turned into stone. 

Medusa became more and more evil so the great warrior Perseus was called upon to kill her.  Not lacking in battle strategy, he approached Medusa while she slept.  Taking great care not to look directly at her, Perseus sliced off her head and presented it to Athena! 

Cool eh?  So what does Greek Mythology have to do with PAWS?  Well, this amendment with all its writhing ramifications is so ugly that people are afraid to look at it.  Knowing they could be turned to stone by Medusa, many in our sport are petrified with fear from just thinking about PAWS.  Fearful of losing stature or advancement in the sport, they stand with other statues outside the dark and devious cave where Medusa lives. Like Medusa, PAWS is a monster although it may seem beautiful to those whose eyes and minds are sealed. 

Ahh but the myth can’t end there.  We must find a Perseus.  Someone from our ranks who can defeat Medusa!  Her head must be severed but with those snakes looking out for her, it could be difficult.  Legend has it that if we name each snake, they become vulnerable but to do so we must look closely at them.  Oh c’mon, I’m game, how about you?  

See?  There’s the most poisonous one on the left.  Its fangs are already sunk into every facet of our lives.  Its cold scaly body is wrapped around our common sense, constricting ever tighter to squeeze the very breath out of our God-given and Constitutional rights.  It slithers unseen into our homes and following the path of least resistance, burrows into our judicial system and classrooms.  Yes, this one is very dangerous so we will call it Politics. 

There’s one right in the middle, its beautifully colored body weaving to and fro.  It invites us to come closer, promising to soothe our need to stand out among our peers, hissing its message softly.  This one we know as the Dog Club.  Wait! Look more closely, there, do you see them?  Lots of little Dog Clubs around the base of the big one.   

Would you look at that green one!  Its whole body is a giant belly stuffed with greenbacks and enemies it has swallowed.  Its mouth is huge, open, smiling sweetly, inviting us to fill it with more and more greenbacks.  We refuse but it doesn’t care.  It knows there are others it can cajole and hypnotize to serve its needs.  Whoa!  Would you look at that?  It has smaller ones too, there’s the one that Medusa pets because it enacts her most outrageous thoughts.  Obviously this bloated green snake is the richest, the most accepted, and the most insidious of all.  Obscuring its real agenda, it is constantly moving from generosity to kindness to need, and it is therefore called Humane Movement.   

Perseus!  Is that you?  What?  Speak English!  Many warriors?

You say it will take many leaders who have no fear?  You say we must have an army, that this is not ancient Greece, it’s the 21^st century?  Wait, is that Athena standing behind you?  It must be she, her beauty is beyond description!  Sssshhhh, what is she saying?  Ahhhh, yes, yes.  Of course.  I get it.  Why it’s so simple!  Thank you Athena, yes, I’ll tell them. 

Okay, here it is.  The Goddess of Wisdom says Medusa is a multi-factored monster that has her fangs deep into our society but that we can disarm her.  We start with those snakes watching out for her and protecting her from our sword.  Athena said many warriors, each with a special sword, can cut the snakes off, one at a time, right down to her hideous scalp.   

Start with Politics.  It must become admirable to be honest and forthright, to represent the wishes of one’s constituents, whether it is an individual customer, a club, or a country.  Brandish the voting sword and cut away the crooked Politics, showing no mercy.  Only bad things grow from Medusa so each must declare itself separate and against her or be cut down.  Athena says Politics are weak and cannot rise high enough to strike without support so we must remove that support! 

And the Dog Clubs?  Easy!  Although they are many, they are within our reach and control.  The Goddess of Wisdom says those not too deeply rooted in Medusa will welcome an opportunity to wriggle away from her.  We show them the sword of authority and if they opt to stay rooted in her head, whap!  We lop them off and be done with it. 

Now the last one, the Humane Movement.  Athena whispered that this may be the most difficult one to deal with because it’s so entangled with Politics and most people can not see how truly evil it is.  She says their many insidious movements must be exposed so that no one will feed them.  We must convince Media that the heroic (and profitable) thing to do is expose their duplicitous agenda.  When Media runs a story such as the one 20/20 did, we must thank them for exposing the dark side, especially the one that Medusa Pets.  Those snakes don’t advertise so there’s no reason for Media to cover for them.  We hold the Consumers Sword, the most powerful of all!   If we praise true Generosity and expose the Humane Movement it will wither and die from lack of food. 

Athena says if we do those things, the three ugliest snakes will forsake Medusa and she will then allow golden tresses to grow in their place.  She explained that this whole age was unforeseen but mankind should have learned a lesson by now and if we follow her sage advice, we can get rid of evil Medusa.  She smiles, saying Medusa has finally put aside her vanity and would like to be rid of her headache.   

Interesting eh?  We have an abundance of warriors among us, accomplished at in-fighting.  But that is negative energy.  With strong leadership it is becomes power that can be re-directed at the real snake-in-the-grass, uh, hair.  

So who can organize a political force to stamp out the biggest snake and weaken its supporters so that the agenda can never rise up to strike at us again??  Who?

Does anyone have the courage to demand their club state its position and then require the Delegate to vote the wishes of the club, in a public roll call?

And then, can we rise above fear and spread the truth about the bad humane movements?  Who can mobilize us to write to the networks, radio stations, politicians, etc and insist that the public know the truth even at the expense of political correctness?  After all, it can become very correct to recognize snakes that poison our society and even heroic to stamp them out!

Let us hear from you if this makes sense.  And if it doesn’t, go right ahead, register your objections with Athena.  She has the power to send Perseus…..   Me?  I’m for standing up to the Medusa Factor and I have not yet become a statue of stone.  What about you?

Barbara J. Andrews

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