February 12, 2020

I have a tag for "dogs," but only one dog breed has its own tag.



ADDED: I'm looking at the Wikipedia entry for "Poodle." It begins: "For the political insult, see Poodle (insult). For the security vulnerability, see POODLE. For the archaeological site in Peru, see Kanichi, Peru."

So I read the entry for "Poodle (insult)":
In politics, "poodle" is an insult used to describe a politician who obediently or passively follows the lead of others....

In June 2001, Colette Avital unsuccessfully tried to have the term's use banned from the Knesset.

During the 2000s, it was used against Tony Blair with regard to his close relationship with George W. Bush, and the UK's involvement in the Iraq War. In July 2002, singer George Michael infamously used it in his song "Shoot the Dog", the video of which showed Blair as a "poodle" on the lawn of the White House....
Check it out:



That's really something. I don't know if you can make it through the whole thing. (I couldn't.) But it's interesting to go back to the day — this video is less than a year after 9/11 — when George W. Bush was vilified as a dangerous war monger and a complete idiot.

37 comments:

traditionalguy said...

At least it's not French. As I understand it, poodles are very neurotic with easily hurt feelings. Too high maintenance for me.

Eleanor said...

No, standard poodles are incredibly smart and sweet tempered. They need a lot of grooming because they have "hair", but the upside is they don't shed very much. They're water retrievers. Not pampered idiots.

Ann Althouse said...

These show dogs are supposed to exemplify the breed and these breeds are created for a specific purpose, so the personality goes with that. The poodle is a hunting dog. From the Wikipedia page: "Traditionally the Standard Poodle, the largest of the breed, was a retriever or gun dog, used in particular for duck hunting and sometimes upland bird hunting. The breed has been used for fowl hunting in the US and Canada since the early 1990s, in and out of hunting tests. The modern Standard retains many of the traits prized by their original owners: a keen working intelligence that makes the dog easy to command, webbed feet that make it an agile swimmer (all of the poodle's ancestors and descendants had or share the love of water) athletic stamina, and a moisture-resistant, curly coat that acts like a wool jumper in damp conditions. Towards the second half of the nineteenth century their use in hunting declined in favour of their use in circuses and status symbols of the wealthy, so that by the 20th century they were only found as companions or circus dogs.[24] However, in the past 20 years to 2008, some breeders in the United States and Canada have been selecting for dogs with drive for birds in order to revive the breed for hunting, with some success."

Ann Althouse said...

"a wool jumper"

Edited by Brits, presumably.

Greg Hlatky said...

My wife is an AKC judge and has perfect pitch for movement. She gagged at the choice, as she didn't think the Poodle was moving well. The Boxer, Whippet or Golden would have been her pick.

Chris said...

Evergreen statement: "When (insert republican president here) was vilified as a warmonger and complete idiot."

Ugh..

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

"George W. Bush was vilified as a dangerous war monger and a complete idiot."


Gee, how could that be? Oh, he was in the process of starting the most stupid war in this country's history. A war that cost the lives of thousands of US troops, millions of civilians, trillions in US treasure, destabilized the middle east for decades, destroyed the credibility of the GOP establishment and still isn't fucking finished.

Other than that a peace-loving stable genius.

Darrell said...

Our sweater is the British jumper. Our jumper for women is something Twiggy wore in the 1960s. Google now is conflating that with "jump suit."

Ralph L said...

I didn't realize BDS started that soon after 9/11, or that Labourites turned on Blair before the Iraq invasion.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

It was not BDS to point out how insanely stupid the Iraq war was. Unless, of course, you think Trump and all his voters have BDS.

Greg Hlatky said...

A war that cost the lives of thousands of US troops, millions of civilians, trillions in US treasure, destabilized the middle east for decades

Thank goodness we had a Nobel Peace Prize winner and all-around Smartest Guy in the World to put an end to all that.

Rory said...

Poodles have run the Iditarod.

MayBee said...

The dog show was great fun. I was rooting for the sheltie, but that poodle was something else.

Speaking of which: people cross breeding dogs with poodles are driving me insane because they are trying to cheat and create "Doodles". Like sure, there's "labradoodle". But the "d" for the "doodle" comes from Labrador. Now I hear people say, "Oh, this is an Aussiedoodle. This is a Bernadoodle". But they should be oodles!

Connie said...

Resist! until they name the Golden the champ! (I hear the poodle was helped by the Russians, or their enemy the Ukrainians. Maybe the French)

traditionalguy said...

Why didn't you say it's a gun dog used for hunting. When Bloomberg throws them out of New York with the guns, we can import them south to hunt ducks and quail. And I thought it was a grown up Toy Poodle.

Robert Cook said...

"Gee, how could that be? Oh, he was in the process of starting the most stupid war in this country's history. A war that cost the lives of thousands of US troops, millions of civilians, trillions in US treasure, destabilized the middle east for decades, destroyed the credibility of the GOP establishment and still isn't fucking finished."

Word!

"Thank goodness we had a Nobel Peace Prize winner and all-around Smartest Guy in the World to put an end to all that."

Another disgraceful war criminal and mass murderer. (The Nobel committee impeached forever its legitimacy with this pick.)

Darrell said...

Newspaper columnists and pundits were asking if enough time had passed to bash Bush like they had been doing before, two weeks after 9/11. They were chomping at the bit.

Darrell said...

I'd like Cookie and ARM to have something in common with Laika, the Soviet space dog.

cubanbob said...

Hey ARM, what's your take on HST and Korea or JFK and LBJ in Vietnam?

Fernandinande said...

CAN WE AT LEAST AGREE THAT DOG LOVES US MORE THAN WE CAN KNOW?

Fernandinande said...

Fun fact: The "Best in Show" title has been won by a domestic dog 144 years in a row!

rehajm said...

Poodles are out- I can’t have a dog that’s smarter than me...

...there’s a place in the Georgia what will train you a proper hunting poodle. Very cute...

rehajm said...

He’s going to look back on that haircut and wonder what the hell they were thinking...

Anonymous said...

One of those days when I find myself in agreement with both BCARM *and* Cookie in a comments thread.

Probably an omen from the gods that I should crawl back into bed and write the day off.

Anonymous said...

Eleanor: No, standard poodles are incredibly smart and sweet tempered.

Indeed. Among the best and most noble of dogs.

They get such a bad rap being associated with their ghastly neurotic little shark-bait cousins.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Lefty a-holes thru the ages.

rehajm said...

Here’s a Garden & Gun story on the hunting poodles:Rich Louter

Tom T. said...

Kind of funny that Westminster can produce a black winner, but the Democrats can't.

Marc in Eugene said...

CAN WE AT LEAST AGREE THAT DOG LOVES US MORE THAN WE CAN KNOW?

Ha, ha... am still smiling, two minutes after reading this. Ha.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Not one of the favored breeds in the Phidippus home. I'm sure it was a good example of what it was, though. Alas.

At least it wasn't a Pug. Who wants a dog that looks like a maggot? Some people, obviously. Go figure.

I was rooting for the Saluki (aka Whippet), having attended SIU for a couple of semesters in 1973. Go Salukis!

Maillard Reactionary said...

My daughter has a Labradoodle. Dumbest thing on four legs, including Joe Biden when he's drunk.

Hunter said...

If Al Gore had won in 2000, Tony Blair might never have been a called a poodle and Gore himself might never have been called a crazed sex poodle.

Hunter said...

It really makes you think.

Bilwick said...

"But it's interesting to go back to the day — this video is less than a year after 9/11 — when George W. Bush was vilified as a dangerous war monger and a complete idiot." Re the idiot part, as I often say, if you're a "liberal" or some other kind of Eloi for the State, and believe all the stupid stuff they believe in, you have no business casting aspersions on Bush's intelligence. Pluck the beam from thine own eye, etc.

Martin said...

A good example of why no thinking person should give any credit to the Democrats' or any entertainers saying a Republican is stupid and/or evil. EVERY Republican since Eisenhower has been fitted for that shirt, and the only reason they didn't do it to Ike is that too many of them had served under him and knew different.

Temujin said...

Was sitting in a hotel room in Dallas, watching the Spartans try to blow another game, this time against the Illini. I couldn't take it. I flipped the channels and ran into the Best of Show round. The Golden Retriever and the Sheltie were both gorgeous dogs. And happy! You could tell they were just happy dogs. They smiled when they walked. Well, maybe not a real smile, but you could see their happiness. (My dog at home actually smiles when she sees anyone she knows. It's weird.)

They couldn't pick the Wire Haired Fox Terrier because they've become like the Patriots, winning every 2 out of 3 years. Great dogs, though.

Standard Poodles are also great dogs. But the people who cut them up the way these people do should have their eyebrows and ball hair plucked out. They make a great dog look like a presenter at the Oscars.

Anyway- I flipped back in time to see the Spartans pull one out.

Michigan and Trumbull said...

I prefer Zappa's Poodle Lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y2QnbTOD6E