Presidential politics: gone to the dogs
It’s come to this: dueling unshaggy dog stories.
So, is it worse to put a dog in a crate on the top of a car, or to have eaten dog as a child?
I love dogs, but my answer would be: neither. Romney’s not a dog abuser, and Obama’s not a dog killer.
But it’s not the first time dogs have played a part in politics. A dog played a rather special role in Richard Nixon’s political life:
Not to mention FDR’s:
Note how shameless Nixon is (and awkward) in trying to wring pathos out of his dog story, and FDR’s genuinely funny comic delivery.
[NOTE: By the way, have I ever mentioned how much I love YouTube? To be able to conjure up these two clips so easily is profoundly satisfying.]
I see you are not up to speed with the “Throw Bo a Bone”
This is from Hope and Change Cartoons page:
Obama’s “Throw Bo a Bone” campaign is asking donors to cough up $10 to celebrate the dog’s 3rd anniversary in the Whitehouse (after the similarly themed “Throw Joe a Bone” Campaign failed miserably, despite pictures of Biden begging and making “sad eyes”). And the fundraising website assures us that “the first dog is wagging his tail in anticipation of four more years.” No doubt because he’d rather keep eating gourmet table scraps than have to switch to the cheap, canned supermarket dog food which the unemployed are eating in the Obamaconomy.
FDR made good use of Fala in his Satrurday morning radio addresses to the nation. I remember my mother’s father, a hard core Republican, imitating/mocking one of FDR’s fireside chats: “I love you, Eleanah loves you, and Fala adores you. You are in our thoughts at all times.”
Never underestimate the value of Man’s best friend to sway voters emotions.
Obama’s “Throw Bo a Bone” campaign is asking donors to cough up $10 to celebrate the dog’s 3rd anniversary in the Whitehouse
Trying to fatten him up?
They’re having way too much fun with this at Ace’s.
And have you seen S. Weasel’s photoshops?
http://sweasel.com/archives/9988
Actual quote: “Fundamentally transform a Maltese.” #obamadogrecipes
Palin said it: “Obama hangs out with Terriers.” #ObamaDogRecipes
The Birth Certificate was eaten by his dog, out of spite. #ObamaDogRecipes
Did he say Maldives, or Maltese? #ObamaDogRecipes
Pugnut Brittle #ObamaDogRecipes
Obama recommends Heinz 57 States Sauce. #ObamaDogRecipes
“Can I eat my Shih Tzu? C’mon fellas, can I eat my Shih Tzu?” #ObamaDogRecipes
Double-Double, Animal Style #ObamaDogRecipes #In-N-OutBurger
I love this photo: “Obama did WHAT?” https://twitter.com/#!/GayPatriot/status/192446146285813760/photo/1
The gleeful fun which results from Barack’s culinary adventure is not sourced in a child Barack eating dog in Indonesia. That is no big deal.
Rather, the glee is sourced in the Obama Campaign’s major effort to turn Romney’s dog transportation into an impactful campaign issue, and in the internet left’s lockstep support of that Obama Campaign effort. When you have seen the internet left, off and on for weeks and months, scornfully reference Romney’s dog transportation, then you cannot help but the enjoy the gleeful hilarity of their inane dogged efforts being masticated by fate. The left took that Romney dog stuff seriously. Hilarious.
And, last night on Twitter, many left persons were genuinely offended, and angered, at the gleeful hilarity which was being purveyed at #obamadogrecipes. Sweet hilarious irony.
Wonder what would have happened if, during the campaign, a lot of attention had been paid to Obama’s formative years in Jakarta–from ages six through ten–when he was living and being educated as a Muslim in the household of his step-father Lolo Soetoro–the eating dog thing the least of the, shall we say, “oddities.”
But, of course, our grand MSM did not want to dwell on such things and, in fact, barely reported on them (I am not aware of any army of reporters– al la Palin and Wasilla–that flew into Jakarta and turned the place upside down looking for information or, as in the case of Plain, dirt) and the only detailed information about this time period that I am aware of, outside of a few mentions in “Dreams From My Father,” is what is on the Internet, and that was gathered by some curious Australian or New Zealand bloggers, who went to Jakarta and nosed around a little, found and looked at Obama’s elementary school registration, and talked to some of his teachers, schoolmates, and neighbors.
The issue of Obama’s Muslim roots was buried during the campaign, with even the mention of his middle name of Hussein supposedly racist.
There was even an AP story, early in the campaign, telling how Obama’s African relatives were not really Muslims and that Obama’s paternal grandmother was a Christian, which was only corrected later in the New York Times, when she was quoted as saying that she was a life-long Muslim, and “strong in Islam.”
Later in 2010–when it could do no harm–it was reported that grandma Obama went on the Hajj to Mecca with several other Obama relatives, reportedly courtesy of a wealthy Muslim from the UAE.
Had this background been fully and truthfully explored and reported, perhaps enough people would have had misgivings that would have prompted them to do a little digging, to look a little deeper, and conceivably Obama would not be President today.
The Obama Campaign, and the left, were intending to use Romney’s dog transportation in the same way in which they used “I can see Alaska from my house.” Romney’s dog transportation was being set up to become a running joke on SNL and on the Daily Show, et al. It was to be used to capture the distracted and politically ignorant and shallow voter. And it was, to some degree, going to work. Think: Journolist 2.0.
And, now, all that Obama Campaign work is wasted; all the left internet snark is invalidated; all the dreams are masticated into unrecognizable goo. I am WAY too happy about this; am smiling WAY too much.
Of course, that could be said of dozens of “oddities” is Obama’s supposed life, times, accomplishments, and associations.
Ridicule is a potent weapon
Boy, this business about Romney and his dog sure has backfired.
I see a lot of great stuff coming out, and I hope we can keep the ridicule going, I particularly like the Romney campaign button someone came up with, featuring the slogan, “At Least I didn’t eat my dog.”
In my brainstorming, the best Romney campaign response would be to model a commercial on the cows in the Chik-Fil-A commercials and billboards, i.e. use Dalmation dogs to urge “Eat Mor Chikin.”
http://www.mindwafers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/eat-mor-chikin-funny-cows-ads.jpg
I have a vietnamese friend who ate dog. According to him it was a delicacy. When he first met my basenji he joking said to him “You’d be good to eat”. Then he laughed uproariously and told me “Dog makes you hot!”
Cultures are different. I do agree that this is going to slow or end the dog on the roof story, because the last thing that Obama wants is to focus the electorate on how differently was raised than the typical american.
Romney’s not a dog abuser, and Obama’s not a dog killer
That’s not really the point. The point is several fold.
First, as Wolla Dalbo and gcotharn point out, it’s effective because it ridicules the Messiah, whose popularity in many quarters relies upon his being “cool.” Now he’s a laughing stock, and that will erode his support among the insecure who flocked to him seeking validation. It is his killer rabbit moment.
Second, it’s telling that Obama calmly recounts this tale (both in “his” book and in the audiotape he made of it), clearly not grasping how this would sound to American ears. It underscores my unease with him, that he’s not culturally an American by any stretch of imagination.
Third, and most important, it represents a sea change in GOP tactics. The usual paradigm was leftists raise a bogus meme, conservatives defensively dismiss and/or refute it on a reasoned (i.e., boring) basis, media ignore the refutation and continue to push the meme for weeks after, rinse, lather, repeat.
Now, for the first time, a GOP candidate has broken the paradigm by learning to counterpunch devastatingly and immediately, and make the enemy (for such they are) sorry he ever brought up the whole thing. The Hilary Rosen/Ann Romney incident last week, and the canivore incident this, constitute an entirely new and much more effective approach.
So put Barry and the Reds on the defensive, make them defend their policies, views, statements, and histories, and keep pushing them to do so. Especially with a candidate as thin-skinned as Obama, collapse is a good bet.
This was one of the reasons I was (and am) for Romney as a candidate. He may not be inspirational, but his campaign (and presumably him to some extent) are getting very good at media judo. The left is spending way too much time setting up memes and attacks, and all of them so far have either blown up in their face, or have been deflated to absurdity. If Obama isn’t able to successfully paint Romney in a negative light, his only fallback is his record, which is a losing argument. I’m starting to get overconfident…which is a bad thing.
Yep, it’s important for a GOP candidate to be able to punch in the clinches. McCain couldn’t/wouldn’t, and Soros & Co. rabbit punched him to death.
re putting Barack on the defensive
On the internet, the political right is organized in a new way … which is independent of either the Romney Campaign or the RNC.
For example, over the last 6 weeks, there have been several Obama Campaign attempts to start new Twitter memes via hashtags which were favorable to Obama. Each time, the political right took over the Obama-favorable hashtags, and huge numbers of Tweeter used the Obama-favorable hashtags in order to ridicule and laugh at Obama. The political right Tweeters far outnumbered the Obama favorable tweeters, and, to my mind, were also far funnier. Obama provides a lot of comedic material; most of it remains unexploited.
Examples:
Conservatives hijack #WhyImIn hastag which was intended to tell why young voters should support Obama. http://twitchy.com/2012/03/21/conservatives-hijack-whyimin/
Conservatives hijack #IlikeObamacare
http://twitchy.com/2012/03/23/conservatives-take-over-ilikeobamacare/
Conservatives hijack #DinnerWithBarack
http://twitchy.com/2012/03/27/barack-obama-drops-another-hashtag-into-conservatives-laps/
There are more examples. Conservatives are fighting back. The good thing about it: these are leaderless, undirected, naturally evolving actions. They are like 19th Century attacks by American Indians: every warrior formulates his own strategy, then everyone swarms like bees.
#DinnerWithBarack?
No thanks. I’m a dog lover!
Heh. Guests at campaign fund raising dinners, with Barack, must now wonder ….
Guests at campaign fund raising dinners, with Barack, must now wonder ….
I thought that too.
Heard all over Hollywood and Manhattan: “You don’t suppose … nah.”
Dick Clark Dies at 82..
who cares about the dogs?
John Nolte, Editor of Big Hollywood, explains why the “Obama ate dog” story has actual significance:
Neo’s slap at Nixon is gratuitous and quite unnecessary. It was EFFECTIVE, just as the Obama dog-eater counters are. But good ol’ FDR, so charming, so comic; one can almost admire the crease in his trousers.
And where is PETA?
An ADULT Barack believed the “eat dog” story was an acceptable anecdote for his book, i.e. an adult Obama endorsed the practice of eating dog (at least among Indonesians).
PETA? Hello?
PETA? Hello?
Forget it. PETA is just a communist front group. They couldn’t care less about animals, just about fomenting the revolution.
Allah links to Ben Howe, points out “the data doesn’t lie.” https://twitter.com/#!/Ben_Howe/status/192655357192052736/photo/1
I think Alinsky recommended using ridicule as a weapon.
These kinds of grassroots mockery campaigns are very heartening, not to mention entertaining. They also seem Breitbartian.
gcotharn and Occam’s Beard, good point about the right taking over and flipping Obama-favorable, Obama-manufactured memes and hashtags.
And don’t forget: Attack Watch! (maybe the first instance of Obama-mocking hashtag riffing– predating the 2012 campaign– and so far my favorite).
Indeed, this Clark Griswold moment is going to blow up in their faces, beyond just giving a laughing point against their Shining Blight, as it makes hash of the whole “Zombney” meme as well.
Another few of Treacher’s gems:
Romney put a dog on top of a car. Obama put a dog on top of rice.
and
I strongly encourage @BarackObama’s staff and supporters to run with this one: “Well, he hasn’t eaten any dogs LATELY.”
and
Romney was too busy hiding his dog on top of the car so Obama wouldn’t eat it.
The thing is, the whole meme would not exist if The Great Big 0’s sycophants hadn’t tried to turn the whole Romney thing into a talking point in the first place, like it was somehow significant. They know there’s no merit in the substance for choosing President Downgrade over Romney, so they figure they have to find little BS like this to make a big deal over.
As I note in other blogs:
===========================
The Left is so busy painting its opposition as stupid that it forgets that The Right has some pretty smart and fast thinking people, too.
… courtesy P.J. O’Rourke.
That’s one reason the Left has been losing so much over the last 30-odd years. They don’t grasp that we’re just as smart as they are. They can’t even begin to imagine it’s so.
Please be sure to click on ALL Obama campaign ads that you come across online. His campaign will need to pay for every click.
I would not go quite this far, as at the least, there are a lot of excessively compassionate Useful Idiots supporting PETA.
I’m put in mind of about 10-odd years ago when Charlotte Ross, of NYPD Blue fame, appeared in one of PETA’s “better naked than wear fur” promos. I saw her about the same time supporting the ASPCA’s efforts recommending people “spay or neuter your pets”. Now, beyond the fact that “honest” PETAfiles don’t like the idea of pets at all, the simple question occurs: “If animals have rights, wouldn’t the rights to their nads be among the most significant of those?”
Most PETA supporters have no thought processes functioning, or they’d realize their very concept is anathema to the nature of the universe itself: All things exist largely off of feeding off other things. Even plants live off the “slow, gradual death” of the Sun itself. Life, being an ordering process, runs counter to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. It only exists by increased entropy/chaos somewhere else.
At least Jimmy Carter didn’t eat the killer bunny.
This stuff practically writes itself.
I would not go quite this far, as at the least, there are a lot of excessively compassionate Useful Idiots supporting PETA.
Sure, the rank and file, aka the cognitively disenfranchised, honestly think that they’re doing … something … for animals. People that stupid are of no consequence. In other contexts, they’d be perfectly happy to support abortion because it’s for the children.
I was referrring to the commissars who run PETA (and all other leftist pressure groups). They don’t give a rat’s (or anything else’s) ass about the nominal issue per se. It’s just a vehicle for agitation.
Proof: we haven’t heard a peep out of them about Obama’s eating a dog. Any more than we hear a peep out of NOW about women in Muslim countries, or indeed women as White House interns, or out of AGWers about China’s CO2 emissions, or … the list goes on and on.
Any group whose behavior can be predicted not by the objective facts of a given case, but rather by whether that case aids or impedes the Red agenda is, operationally, a Red front group.
My dog loves the wind in her face. If i put her on top of the car, she’d be happier than a pig in s***.
Somebody needs to do a cartoon of the Romneys’ bewildered dog in the soon to be Obama/Osha regulated doggie car seat.
dere santa,
Kan i hav a dog to eat for Krismas? I wood like too be Prenident sum day.
Karl
I’m too biased to judge for genuiness in the FDR v Nixon dog stories, but, in general, humor is so much more effective than pathos for gaining sympathy, especially when the patho-izer is a grown man. Hearing the crowd’s roar of approval for FDR’s performance put me off my dog dinner and so I have decided to donate it to the POTUS. Enjoy.
Don Carlos: nothing gratuitous about it. I’m critiquing style and delivery and personality. FDR had the easy, winning personality, and he knew how to use humor. Nixon was an awkward guy his entire life, one of the oddest personalities we’ve ever had as president, and he was very flatfooted when he came to humor (which of course he isn’t even attempting here). The Checkers part of his “Checkers” speech was terribly off-key—but yes, it did indeed work, according to what I’ve read of the effect of the speech.
I would sooner have an odd Prez than a skilled and dehumanizing (of the people) manipulator, which FDR surely was.
Via Instapundit:
Such a nice double-gotcha.
Good!
gcotharn:
“the glee is sourced in the Obama Campaign’s major effort to turn Romney’s dog transportation into an impactful campaign issue”
Absolutely. Last week, before this broke, I was traveling and the motel breakfast bar had the Bloomberg channel on the TV. They had a stoty about how the Obama campaign was going to give a *million* dollars to some outfit to exploit the dog-on-the-roof story, replete with T-shirts saying “Good dog, bad Romney”. I was appalled but not exactly surprised and my mood was not improved by the fact that the “newscasters” were shamelessly cheerleading this. Like you I am overjoyed at the turn this has taken, not only for itself but for the indication that Romney (or someone) is not going to take their crap lying down but throw it right back in their faces.
Steve H,
I was thinking about dog carrier cartoons too. How about one showing Obama building a dog-friendly carrier. That starts off with someone saying to him, this is a hammer. Obama should naturally be shown wearing a helmet and goggles.
Next, we get a PETA cartoon showing that it is better for a dog to be left in one of their shelters than transported on or in a car.
Finally, we get the Solyndra folks applying for stimulus money to design and build environmentally friendly (read aerodynamically advanced) car top dog carriers. Then the EPA decides that car top carriers take cars over the mileage requirements and have to be banned.
The MSM was well on their way to branding Romney as a dog abuser – NYT’s Gail Collins has already mentioned Seamus fifty times (yes, 50!) in her columns.
That this meme was not only neutralized, but also served as a reminder of Obama’s non-traditional, international childhood was beautiful to behold. The jokes about this are seemingly endless.
but also served as a reminder of Obama’s
non-traditional, internationalbizarre childhood was beautiful to beholdFIFY.
In fairness, we ought let every single voter know that we do not believe this election is about Barack eating dog.