Althouse: Oh, this is the civil rights issue of our time. Good to see Obama's on it.

August 22, 2013

Oh, this is the civil rights issue of our time. Good to see Obama's on it.

"Obama Comes Out Against Dog Breed-Specific Legislation, Joins The Fight For Pit Bulls."

46 comments:

traditionalguy said...: Talk about "wag the dog." While the fate of constitutional government in the USA and free western civilization in Egypt is at the crucial tipping point, this is the only news we are allowed to see or hear.; 8/22/13, 1:59 PM
Spiros Pappas said...: I don't get this. These dogs are tremendously aggressive. If pit bull owners had insurance, took parenting classes and consented to weakly doggie welfare visits then I'd be okay with my neighbor having a pit bull.; 8/22/13, 2:02 PM
Tom said...: Michael Vick was unavailable for comment...; 8/22/13, 2:03 PM
FullMoon said...: Where do gun control people stand on registering pit bulls?

Incidentally, Obama is not a dog guy. He did not want a dog. He evaded the " will you get a dog" question.

Ted Kennedy made a surprise gift of Bo to the family. I was surprised at the time that Kennedy possibly had a sense of humor.; 8/22/13, 2:09 PM
From Inwood said...: Obama heard the 3 AM bark; 8/22/13, 2:25 PM
MadisonMan said...: What horrible optics.

My one question: Is the person who wrote this article actually trying to sabotage Obama, or are they so dense they think this is actually good PR?

The mind boggles.; 8/22/13, 2:26 PM
Hagar said...: Now, that is just sarcastic.

Speaking of annoying misuse of language, is there anything that is not a "fight" for something or other these days?; 8/22/13, 2:26 PM
FleetUSA said...: He fiddles while Rome burns....jobs disappearing.; 8/22/13, 2:30 PM
Lucien said...: Somewhere Vicki Hearne is smiling.; 8/22/13, 2:33 PM
The Commercial Traveller said...: I hate breed specific legislation, but how on earth is this a federal issue? I guess for BSL laws on military housing bases, but that's about it.; 8/22/13, 2:43 PM
Levi Starks said...: Is there Any - Any issue that Obama might consider leaving up to state and local authorities?
I recently went to the Humane shelter in St Louis county MO, and we walked up and down the isles looking at dogs, and it was like this: Pit bull, pit bull, lab/pit bull, pit bull, beagle/pit bull, Most of those dogs came into existence because of irresponsible owners, and will not be adopted. What kind of dogs to responsible owners purchase? Oh I don't know, maybe a Portuguese water spaniel? You see this is what tick me off, If he feels strongly about this issue as he claims, he could have made a tangible statement, He could have gone to a local shelter with the kids (great photo op) and picked out a nice pit bull/ border collie mix for his daughters to take home an play with. You see, his children will never have to live in the ghetto next door to a Pit Bull that spends all day outside at the end of a 20 ft chain, lunging at every one passing by.
But don't worry, when the police show up and put down a mad dog after it's just mauled a child, he probably says to himself "If I had a pit bull it would have looked just like that"; 8/22/13, 2:47 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/22/13, 2:51 PM
AustinRoth said...: As our family is the owner of two rescue pits, I can tell you they are the sweetest dogs we have ever owned.

I also remember all the previous 'bad breed' scares - Shepherds, Dobermans, Rottweilers, etc.

There are no 'bad breeds', just bad dog owners.; 8/22/13, 2:54 PM
tim maguire said...: Does the president have to focus on THE most important thing to the exclusion of all others until it's solved? Nobody believes that.

I live in a place where Pit Bulls are banned. Thousands of great dogs were destroyed and hundreds of families suffered for no reason and no publc benefit.; 8/22/13, 2:58 PM
Levi Starks said...: Ok, I probably shouldn't post twice on this, but after mulling over my first response, I realized why he must speak out, Pit Bull are a proxy/dog whistle if you will for african americans. Now I get it.; 8/22/13, 2:58 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/22/13, 2:59 PM
Original Mike said...: If Obama had a pit bull, he'd look like Rex.; 8/22/13, 3:09 PM
Michael said...: Classic. Perfect. Our president is a creation of The Onion. Right? Surely he is....; 8/22/13, 4:23 PM
Kelly said...: My neighbors pit almost took my daughters eye. He got her jaw line too. Luckily, a pediatric surgeon happened to be on duty that night, so the scaring has been minimal. After attacking an adult the dog was put down.

I have no love for this breed. However, I'm puzzled as to how this involves the Feds.; 8/22/13, 4:37 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Levi,
Duh.; 8/22/13, 4:42 PM
Carol said...: just bad dog owners.

OK but that's a lot of people. Too many people do not know how to train dogs and can no more control them than control their own kids. They think you just get a dog and..feed it and stuff.

So, a little indirection is in order.; 8/22/13, 4:49 PM
Agim Zabeli said...: Did the Google guys identify a pit bull voting micro market for next year's Congressional elections?; 8/22/13, 4:49 PM
jacksonjay said...: Sunny (when does a dog stop being a puppy-she is a year old) and BO gonna wicky wacky and make some puppies! This will be the news story of the decade!

Just sayin!

Pit Bull embrace is aimed at the gangsta rap constituency!; 8/22/13, 4:54 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: AustinRoth, the previous "bad breed" scares all had two things in common: The dogs were large and powerful, and the breed had become popular very rapidly, which meant that the US population had to have been rapidly inbred just to get enough puppies to the shops.

Now, I grew up with Doberman pinschers. (My Mom is with a Dobie rescue now.) We had some great dogs (and my parents have three terrific Dobies now), but one of the dogs we had when I was growing up had a congenital heart defect associated with inbreeding, and another a sort of dementia that made him basically dangerous for anyone to be around. My parents ultimately had both euthanized.

The thing about pit bulls is not that they are innately mean; it's that they are a large amount of basically solid muscle, adorned with teeth, that can bloody well be trained to be mean, generally by owners who want meanness in a dog and instill it through abusing the animal. The primary victims are dogs; the subsidiary ones are the people they are made to maul. The perpetrators are the human scum who want to use a dog as a weapon and care nothing for whom they hurt, least of all the dog.; 8/22/13, 5:20 PM
gadfly said...: Barry must have talked to Mike Vick because the convicted dog killer is now the starting QB for the Iggles.; 8/22/13, 5:23 PM
Mountain Maven said...: This is a standard from the playbook. Have a daily announcement or a press release that makes the administration look like it's doing something good. That is supposed to distract us from the crimes and scandals. Worked for Clinton.; 8/22/13, 5:24 PM
Levi Starks said...: Well I guess he's locked up another special interest group for the Democratic vote tally.
I mean really, don't Republicans know they'll never get the dog owners vote until they stop their war on aggressive dogs?; 8/22/13, 5:28 PM
Anonymous said...: Into every corner of our lives this asshole thinks he has a right to stick his nose.; 8/22/13, 5:29 PM
Bryan C said...: Dog bans are a pretty good example of stupid and arbitrary government overreach based on dishonest media sensationalism. Never a bad thing to oppose.; 8/22/13, 5:36 PM
Beorn said...: As the owner of two pit rescues, I would not be averse to having higher standards for high-risk breeds - a AKC Canine Good Citizen Certificate for each high-risk dog would be a good start. Responsible owners would gladly take the minimal training, and hopefully irresponsible people would be discouraged from owning these breeds.; 8/22/13, 5:51 PM
Matt Sablan said...: Remember when dalmatians and collies were the terror dogs of the age? It goes in cycles; pit bulls are popular, therefore, there are a lot of irresponsible pit bull owners.; 8/22/13, 5:57 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: The reason for breed specific laws isn't that certain breeds are inherently mean, it's that while one breed's mistake may be painful, another's is catastrophic.; 8/22/13, 6:06 PM
Pettifogger said...: If we fail to enact federal legislation prohibiting breed-specific bans, we will impede the interstate market for dog fights. Obviously the states have no business messing in such vital economic matters.; 8/22/13, 6:25 PM
Sam L. said...: Still hasn't commented on the murder in OK, so far as I know. Dogs are soooooooo much more important.; 8/22/13, 7:07 PM
Sam L. said...: Like Levi S., my wife looked for a dog, and all the shelters had seemed to be pit bulls.; 8/22/13, 7:09 PM
Almost Ali said...: Give the guy (Obama) credit; he comes up with more ways to say eff you, America - than Al Sharpton and Rev. Wright put together.; 8/22/13, 7:26 PM
Henry said...: Good for him.; 8/22/13, 7:48 PM
Henry said...: The more nothing he does, the better. And he's right on this issue.; 8/22/13, 7:49 PM
Henry said...: Shark-specific legislation is another story.; 8/22/13, 7:51 PM
Imalwaysangry said...: Pit Bulls are inherently aggressive, unpredictable and vicious. Which is probably why a certain demographic traditionally supportive of Obama - the ethnic urban thug culture - likes them so much. In our city we sometimes refer to them as "penis dogs" (much like "penis cars") because the owners are so obviously over-compensating for their inadequacies. I work in a profession that deals with the results of dog attacks - it may be only anecdotal, but I agree with Judge Judy's comment, "it's always the Pit Bulls, never the Golden Retrievers!" The problem with pit owners is that they're usually as stupid, violent and irresponsible as their dogs. Sorry, responsible pit owners, there's NOTHING you can do in terms of compensation, payment or anything else if your erratic dog kills a toddler. Grow up!; 8/22/13, 8:05 PM
Imalwaysangry said...: Pit Bulls are inherently aggressive, unpredictable and vicious. Which is probably why a certain demographic traditionally supportive of Obama - the ethnic urban thug culture - likes them so much. In our city we sometimes refer to them as "penis dogs" (much like "penis cars") because the owners are so obviously over-compensating for their inadequacies. I work in a profession that deals with the results of dog attacks - it may be only anecdotal, but I agree with Judge Judy's comment, "it's always the Pit Bulls, never the Golden Retrievers!" The problem with pit owners is that they're usually as stupid, violent and irresponsible as their dogs. Sorry, responsible pit owners, there's NOTHING you can do in terms of compensation, payment or anything else if your erratic dog kills a toddler. Grow up!; 8/22/13, 8:06 PM
Beorn said...: "Pit Bulls are inherently aggressive, unpredictable and vicious"

An ignorant statement with which I used to agree. Watching Cesar Millan's dog "Daddy" changed my mind (Google it). That dog put up with a lot, and never lashed out to harm another person, or dog.; 8/22/13, 9:20 PM
FullMoon said...: Any dog might snap or bite. A good kick or a sharp word will usually dislodge them.

A pit will latch on and try to shake you to death, that is what terriers are bred to do. You will usually need some sort of weapon to get them off.

Multiple gunshots sometimes fail.; 8/22/13, 10:16 PM
SteveR said...: An ignorant statement with which I used to agree. Watching Cesar Millan's dog "Daddy" changed my mind (Google it). That dog put up with a lot, and never lashed out to harm another person, or dog.

Thus the "unpredictable"

Bad dogs, bad breed; 8/22/13, 11:39 PM
ilvuszq said...: Pit Bulls must taste good.; 8/23/13, 6:53 AM
Beorn said...: Thus the "unpredictable" Bad dogs, bad breed

Thus the ignorance.

GIGO; 8/23/13, 9:59 AM