Marianne Thieme—the founder and chairwoman of the Party for the Animals, a political party in the Netherlands—discusses a bit of her history, and how that led to her co-founding, in 2002, of the Party, which is chiefly concerned with animal welfare, and affecting change in that realm from within…as members of Parliament. 
She recalls the initial reaction to the formation of the Party and its stated goals from other politicians, which involved incredulous comments or ridicule. Thieme goes on to note that this response has evolved over time, to where many of those politicians began cautiously embracing the Party’s work, and some are now offering full-throated support—and even, in some cases, co-opting some of the Party’s policies and bills. Indeed, as yet another measure of the growing impact and sway of the Party for the Animals (in the Netherlands, it’s called Partij
Voor De Dieren), Thieme points out that there are now comparable political parties in more than a dozen other countries, including in the United States: the Humane Party. She also outlines some of the key inroads the Party has achieved legislatively, and in other fields, including helping produce the documentary “Meat The Truth,” which serves as an answer to–or elaboration on–“An Inconvenient Truth,” offsetting the short shrift the Party felt that Al Gore’s film gave to factory farming as a significant cause of climate change. (www.partyfortheanimals.nl)
COMEDY CORNER: Todd Glass’ “Biting A Puppy” (portion) (www.toddglass.com)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” Lee Rocker’s “Running From The Hounds,” Joseph Arthur’s “I Miss The Zoo,” Fela Kuti’s “Monkey Banana,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Buffalo Springfield’s “Bluebird ”
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