And here's the article: "What Presidents Talk About When They Talk About Dogs."
If a politician can’t talk about dogs without sounding slightly deranged, what hope does he have?
March 9, 2012
Romney's dog.
Sorry, I'm fond of the Romnster, but I love this New Yorker cover:
And here's the article: "What Presidents Talk About When They Talk About Dogs."
And here's the article: "What Presidents Talk About When They Talk About Dogs."
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35 comments:
I'm right with you on this one. Love the cover.
Here's the article link:
What Presidents Talk About When They Talk About Dogs
The FDR clip is really terrific.
* * *
One thing about the Seamus stories is how emotionally elaborate they have become in the retelling. My dog-loving republican-hating friends never fail to include novelistic details about Seamus's emotional distress whenever they invoke the memory of that terrible day.
See? Now this dog stuff is what is important!
When Breitbart tries to run video of Obama in his Harvard days, it distracts us from the important issue of Seamus the dog.
Henry,
I know, right?
My brother-in-law loves to use that story to slam on Romney. BUT, at Christmas Dinner, when he brought it up, I reminded him that we all watched National Lampoon's Vacation together at his house a few years back, and He (bro-in-law) laughed far and away the loudest at the dog leashed to a moving car scene.
p.s. The political message -- "Elect Mitt Romney and he will take the nation on the road to the future. Some of us will be stuck on the roof", as Gail Collins puts it -- would resonate more if Obama and Nancy Pelosi hadn't already driven us over a cliff.
The guy who overmanages a long trip may be disturbingly efficient, but he sure beats Toonces, the Driving Cat.
"They" say if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.
Poor mittens! :-P
The supposed dog/human in the picture looks like Santorum. What am I missing?
laughed far and away the loudest at the dog leashed to a moving car scene.
I think the animals were strapped to the top of the car in Eddie Murphy's Dr Doolittle, weren't they?
That's probably the real reason Murphy was booted from the Oscars. Uggie was saying he wouldn't attend if an animal H8er was hosting.
I will admit that the Seamus story is a negative in my mind in regards to Romney. He does come across as somewhat cavalier about his dog.
So question for the dog lovers on this blog: What do you think? How does strapping a crate/kennel to the roof of a car sound to you? Are some crates better than others for that? How does it compare to shipping a dog in a crate by air?
So question for the dog lovers on this blog: What do you think? How does strapping a crate/kennel to the roof of a car sound to you? Are some crates better than others for that? How does it compare to shipping a dog in a crate by air?
I have a dog and I love him.
I guess I don't get the difference between putting the dog in the crate on top of the car and letting him ride with his head out the window, or in the back of a pickup.
Henry said...
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Good question. Maybe it was a hi-tech climate controlled crate.
Ann helps out everybody about how to get out of a sticky situation, latest being of course Limbaugh. What does she think Romney's response should be for his dog conundrum? I think it will be somewhat of a negative for him.
When I was growing up, a lot of people still left their dogs in a doghouse in the backyard in almost all weather. Dogs were fed table scraps as often as they were fed any specialty dog foods.
Even in my neighborhood now, a lot of people let their dogs and cats spend the whole day outside (becauses of coyotes, a lot of cats and small dogs don't survive).
I really don't see how that is appreciably different than the car thing.
I honestly can't believe this is supposed to be important in a presidential election. But it is- important enough for Obama and Axelrod to distribute a picture of Obama and Bo in the limo.
Yes, Santorum makes Milton look sane and reasoned. Not hard.
Sit, Santorum.
Heel, boy.
Is the "n" in "Romnster" a typo, or is it meant to suggest that Romney is a monster for putting his dog on the roof of his car?
Don't forget, she keeps saying she doesn't want a dog.
(but, yeah, Chip's right and she's weakening)
Even in my neighborhood now, a lot of people let their dogs and cats spend the whole day outside (becauses of coyotes, a lot of cats and small dogs don't survive).
MayBee,
I live in a (some call it wealthy - let's use that for the sake of the illustration) suburb in Riverside County, CA. The area is bordered closely by hills and more rural horse properties. Coyotes come into our areas at night - not a lot, just one or two, and they also get cats and small dogs. However, one of our dogs is a pit mix, and one night finished off a young (at least small) coyote. We saw the attack but couldn't get that far back to it in time. The wife cried because of the poor coyote. I fed Stockings steak for 3 days as a reward. Have not see a coyote on our street in 2 years - not certain that's the reason, but I like to think it's part of it.
And no, I've never strapped either dog to the top of the car, though I am certain the shepherd would absolutely love it.
Breakup alert!
"I'm very fond of you..."
As a dog lover, the Romney dog story makes me sick. He is not a dog person. Neither is Obama.
Dogs are the best.
tits.
That picture says a thousand words.
Sorry, I'm fond of the Romnster, but I love this New Yorker cover.
Am I the only one who believes Althouse's ostensible "drift to the left" is just cover for her preparing to vote for Romney?
Yesterday Boston Herald liberal columnist Margery Egan, who has the local vantage and all the incentive to write a hit piece, wrote this about Mitt and Ann Romney.
It may explain why, emotionally, Mitt doesn't need a dog.
Mitt Romney’s weaknesses are Ann’s strengths
By Margery Eagan
March 8, 2012
My big Super Tuesday surprise: Ann Romney, who took to the podium in Boston that night with passion, power, pulse, authenticity. Everything we complain that Mitt lacks, Ann’s got. He struggles. She delivers. He’s aloof. She connects. He looks so uncomfortable and pained, sometimes you just have to wince.
But Ann Romney just gets it.
Where has she been?
“I have something to say about some of the women I’ve heard from,” she said Tuesday, and then proceeded to remind the women of America — thank you — that we are more than our reproductive parts.
“Do you know what women care about, and this is what I love. Women care about jobs. Women care about the economy. They care about their children and they care about the debt.
“This is our message. It’s an economic message.”
It’s a powerful message for November 2012.
And it sounded much more convincing coming from her than from Mr. PowerPoint.
Nobody votes for wives, of course. Still, they’re windows into their husbands’ souls. She’s already told us how when she endured breast cancer and multiple sclerosis, Mitt was constantly “there. You can count on him. He won’t abandon you.”
Ann Romney told us that when their five sons were little and driving her batty, Master of the Universe Mitt would call home and tell her — music to an overwhelmed mother’s ears — “your job is more important than my job.”
And while she’s telling us this and more, Mr. Spreadsheet looks at her with a type of adoration I’ve only seen in reverse. Remember how Nancy Reagan would gaze at Ronald Reagan as if he were a Gulliver among Lilliputians?
“It really is like watching a love story in real time,” said Peter Flaherty, senior adviser to the Romney campaign.
I know I’m getting sappy here. So what.
When half of American marriages don’t last, and many that do are filled with resignation, there’s something uplifting and endearing about such an awkward guy referring to his wife as his “sweetheart of 42 years” and meaning it.
A big difference between the Romneys and the Santorums: The Romneys don’t constantly tout their traditional marriage, their faith or Ann’s stay-at-home mothering — as a way of implying, “We’re better than you.”
Ann Romney seems to get this, too: Good luck matters. In a campaign season filled with sanctimony and holier than thous, that’s endearing, too.
For those who think a lashing a doggie crate to the car roof is cruel, answer this.
What's the first thing a dog will do if you're driving a car with a window open?
He'll stick as much of his head and body out the window as he can reach and fit through the opening!
living in farm land I have seen on many occasion a pick up truck with one of those farm dogs (Border Collie?) riding on the roof of the truck, and jumping back and forth from the roof to the flat bed. That dog appeared to be having a good ride. I know all my dogs have loved putting their faces out and letting the wind blow their tongue and jowls like you see in those centrifugal force videos. But if put your face down and blow in the dogs face, that's another story. I can relate that feeling to some of your posts -- and yet I keep coming back like a dog on the roof.
EDH said...
Sorry, I'm fond of the Romnster, but I love this New Yorker cover.
Am I the only one who believes Althouse's ostensible "drift to the left" is just cover for her preparing to vote for Romney?
Mitt Romney’s weaknesses are Ann’s strengths
Old cowboy saying:
Marry a gal twice as smart as you and you'll come out just about even.
I can roll the window down in my car and my dog, who is big is ok when I am going 35. When I am going 65-he doesn't like it. He puts his head down and then I roll the window up.
It's not good for their eyes either. Shit can blow in them.
Also, their stories about what happened to the dog vary greatly. The son said he ran away when they got to Montreal and the wife said he lived a long happy life.
tits.
Mitt walks like he has a corn cob up his ass.
tits.
"...There may be something to that, and to what one can learn from how a President treats his dogs..."
President Obama treats the women who work for him like dogs, but his supporters didn't learn much from that, did they?
Our Springer just had a litter. All pups gone now to new happy owners. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun for the kids. First and only time for us.
Now when the angry earth-centric types call me a breeder, I can relate on two levels.
Not sure how to put the fancy one-click link on here, but the pups had their won facebook site:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/English-Springer-Spaniels/218778144873852
I am not angry with Mitt about the dog on the roof. I would consider it but my wife would never allow it.
Although different in degree, I remember rolling around the back of the station wagon while the back window was down on cross country trips.
"I fed Stockings steak for 3 days as a reward."
I prefer to feed Stockings with pretty female legs, but that's just me.
Everybody seems to presume that Romney's dog was facing forward on the car roof. Is that an established fact?
Chip - I believe the original story the Romney son told about Seamus's road trip was that Romney bought a pet carrier designed to be mounted on the roof rack of a station wagon but was dissatisfied with the design. Romney thought too many holes faced into the wind and possible rain - so he added a forward windshield to the carrier. A square of plywood.
Apparantly Seamus was a typical dog. Nothing better in such a dog's life than a road trip in the wind, thousands of new smells. Dog by his son's account, aside from one accident, had a marvelous time on that vacation and trips in the same carrier to New Hampshire summer home.
As Romney himself might have assessed his options:
Option A - Buy the 49.99 doggie carrier 1st noticed on cars around NH lake two summers ago. Make note to myself that a centralized pet product respository startup could knock price down at least 10-15 dollars - possible investment opportunity..Products need options like Detroit offers on cars. Why one color only? Why wait 3 weeks after ordering carrier in Boston? Why not a snap-on windshield?
Various B options:
1. Leave Seamus behind. Kennel the dog. Dogs hate kennels. Wife and sons angry Seamus left behind. Unacceptable.
2. No room in station wagon with 7 people and gear in it for Seamus. Option to put a son in the pet carrier. Two youngest would like that. Unacceptable.
3. Take his old commuter car along with Ann's station wagon. But that would split up family, divide vacation experience. Couldn't sing inspirational Mormon songs as a whole family all the way. Unacceptable.
4. Fly Seamus to Ontario, then back to Massachusetts. Cost-benefit option in pre-Romney moneybag days a factor. Too much money. Same with separating family flying two sons to grandparents and putting dog in car. Too much expense.
5. Ann said no to flying Seamus because she read lots of pets were dying on flights in the 80s. Ann not happy, I'm not happy. Unacceptable.
@Cedarford--That sounds like what I guessed the facts would be, but even more favorable to Romney.
Will the facts will deter Althouse from propagating the animal-cruelty meme? They haven't yet.
Quite a few of my liberal friends have worked themselves into a lather over the Seamus story. They seemed so relieved to have something to rage against.
Sorry, I'm fond of the Romster,...
So fond of him you won't vet him:
That'll make you two for two,...
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