No, not the puppy. June’s WoB Award goes to the cops that shot him, after first tazing him.

That’s right. A couple of real tough protector’s of the peace from Blue Ash, Ohio killed “Jack,” a 5-year-old chihuahua Scott and Sharon Bullock had given to their 12-year-old son for his birthday a few years ago.

The Bullocks returned home from a family member’s funeral Friday to find blood and three bullets on their front porch – along with a note to call the Blue Ash Police Department about their dog.

According to the police, Jack had gotten out of the back yard. Two patrolmen responded, cornered the dog on the front porch, and that’s where things escalated out of control.

Before they knew it, the dog had the upper hand, so to speak. Both officers said they were bitten.

According to WCPO.com, “Blue Ash police say one of the officers was bitten on both hands. One hand was bitten 17 times and the other was bitten nine times.”

The Bullocks wonder why the SPCA wasn’t called before lethal measures were employed on the chihuahua. Their 5-year-old-son is crying himself to sleep.

“He ‘barks’ for him,” said his dad. “He’d ‘bark’ and Jack would always come to him, so he’s outside, going, ‘Bark bark bark,’ hoping he’s going to come back. It’s heartbreaking.”

June 2009 Winner: The Blue Ash Police Department Chihuahua Killers

PAST WINNERS

May 2009 Winner: Gov. Rick Perry

Some Whores of Babylon are so deserving of the title we don’t even know where to begin in listing their accomplishments. Take Texas Gov. Rick Perry. (Please.)

Elected the state’s first Republican lieutenant governor in 1998 — on the same arch-conservative wave that swept former President and failed serial entrepreneur George W. Bush into the statehouse — Texas’ “Gov. Goodhair” ascended to the state’s highest office in December 2000 when, despite repeated promises to the contrary, Bush left midway through his first gubernatorial term to assume the presidency. As Bush’s handpicked successor, Perry won re-election twice: in 2002 and 2006. He has said he plans to run again in 2010.

Oddly, the man who now enjoys a reputation as one of the country’s most conservative Republicans was elected to his first term in the Texas legislature as a Democrat. Five years later, in 1989, he switched parties. Immediately thereafter, he ran for and was elected to the office of Texas Agriculture Commissioner, where he remained until stepping into the governor’s mansion.

Since then, Perry has led the state on a wild ride.

• Although early in his first term he pushed through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, he neglected to insure the program was funded.
• In 2002, he vetoed a ban on executing mentally retarded prison inmates.
• In 2003, he spearheaded the movement to cap medical malpractice awards with a state constitutional amendment (a move wholly coincidental to the amount of campaign contributions he received from insurance and medical sources, we’re sure).
• Also in 2003, Perry was one of the foremost proponents of now-disgraced U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s congressional redistricting plan. Perry called three consecutive special sessions until the legislature approved DeLay’s scheme, which carved up the state’s voting districts into unrecognizable chunks favorable to Republican candidates.
• In 2004, Perry authorized the Texas Enterprise Fund to issue a grant of $20 million in taxpayer monies to Countrywide Financial in return for a promise to create 7,500 new jobs in the state by 2010. Fewer than three years later, the troubled mortgage company, way behind on its promise already, went down in flames and was acquired by Bank of America.
• A notorious “tax waffler,” Perry has both supported increases in spending on education and actively worked to prevent equitable distribution of funds to poor districts.
• An evangelical Christian, Perry repeatedly has come under fire for insensitive remarks elevating Christianity above all other religions.
• He opposes abortion and signed a bill requiring girls younger than 18 to notify their parents if they are considering the procedure.
• He is outspoken in his belief that homosexuality is a choice and homosexuals are due no “special protection” under the law.
• In 2007, he signed an executive order requiring Texas girls be vaccinated with the anti-human papilloma virus drug Gardasil. HPV is one known cause of cervical cancer. Gardasil, manufactured exclusively by Merck, is expensive at $360 a dose. News reports have linked Merck and Perry financially. Thirty-six Texas women died after receiving the vaccine.
• Perry is the lead proponent of the Trans-Texas Corridor, a $145+-billion project that is part of a multi-national effort to link Canada, the U.S. and Mexico via a superhighway system. The Texas portion will be financed partially by tax monies and wholly operated under a 50-year contract by the Spanish company Cintra, which will collect tolls on the corridor. The project is at the center of a heated battle over imminent domain in Texas.
• Perry fast-tracked permitting and limited public comment on environmentally sensitive utility construction contracts. He has said greenhouse gas regulation in the state would have “devastating implications” for the economy due to impact on the energy industry.
• Perry is an outspoken critic of President Barack Obama’s administration, particularly the administration’s handling of economic issues. He turned down approximately $555 million in stimulus money because he said acceptance of the funds would have placed Texas too far under the thumb of the federal government.
• Perry has been criticized for allegedly secessionist remarks he made on two occasions in April. In both cases, Perry’s words were interpreted to indicate strong support for Texas to leave the Union.
• According to an investigative report in the Dallas Morning News, “Perry has accepted nearly $5 million in political campaign donations from people he has appointed to state boards and commissions since taking office in 2000.” Because he has served in the office longer than any previous governor, Perry has appointed someone to virtually every appointment-subject office in the state.

April’s Winner: Rod Dreher

We didn’t have to look far to find the perfect candidate for our inaugural Whore of Babylon Award. Rod Dreher pretty much nominated himself with the following execrable comments on his Crunchy Con blog.

If homosexuality is legitimized — as distinct from being tolerated, which I generally support — then it represents the culmination of the sexual revolution, the goal of which was to make individual desire the sole legitimate arbiter in defining sexual truth. It is to lock in, and, on a legal front, to codify, a purely contractual, nihilistic view of human sexuality. I believe this would be a profound distortion of what it means to be fully human. And I fully expect to lose this argument in the main, because even most conservatives today don’t fully grasp how the logic of what we’ve already conceded as a result of being modern leads to this end. (Emphasis added.)

We emphasized the bolded phrase because it so concisely expresses what is perhaps the most seminal issue in a culture war that is remains merciless: an individual’s right to define his or her own sexuality. How amazing that those such as Dreher who believe sexual truth is eternal and universal should be emboldened enough to say as much so abashedly. We appreciate the honesty if not the sentiment, sort of. It may have been directed at the LGBT community, but make no mistake: Dreher’s position holds true for anyone who dares to live out his or her own inimitable sexual fantasies, orthodox or otherwise.

Please, can we have no more warnings about Big Brother from the right?