I was going through some old computer files earlier today and came across this relic from a simpler time – specifically, February of 2010. We'd just adopted a cute, pudgy, harmless little puppy. We kept the name he had from the shelter, even though we thought "Bernie" was sort of a silly name for a dog. He seemed so perfect, so innocent. Linda poisonously loathed him for a week and wouldn't have anything to do with him. Then she seemed to surrender to the inevitable and decided to become his friend. This video was taken a week or two after that.

In retrospect, the signs of bin Ladenism are all there. The relentless refusal to give up and leave Linda alone, no matter how often she swats him away or squashes him with her head. Preventing her escape with repeated assaults, including walking underneath Linda to bite her in the belly until he annoys her into paying attention to him. She tries to distract him with a toy. It doesn't work. He's zeroed in on her as a target, and there's just no hope after that. These are Linda's last days of innocence – the last time she'll be able to squash Bernie into submission. The last time she'll ever win an argument with him or get her own way about anything. The rise of Bernie bin Laden has begun…