Bo: Rescue dog or broken promise?
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iuK4RrdQYakZgAF3_iK0WphHFmPwD97HSRD01
By Randall Rasmussen
Forget the Somali pirates. Forget the war in Afghanistan. Forget bailouts and TARP and Wall Street bonuses.
What Mount Blogmore really wants to know is: Did Barack Obama break a campaign promise to rescue a dog from an animal shelter?
The Obama family dog is a Portuguese water dog given to the Obama girls by Sen. Ted Kennedy, who, appropriately enough, has several of them. No word on whether Kennedy’s water dogs are trained to rescue people from submerged automobiles.
Where was I?
Oh, yes. Did Obama break a campaign promise? Obviously, a pedigreed Portuguese water dog from the Kennedy Hope and Change litter is not a rescue dog from a shelter.
Hope and Change litter? No, I am not making that up.
You can read the breathless AP account here. The watchdog press never sleeps. Get it? Watchdog press.
Does anyone who voted for Obama based on his promise to get a shelter animal feel like they’ve been lied to? Is this just another promise broken for political expediency?
The dog’s name is Bo, as in “Bo” Diddley.
April 14th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Wouldn’t accepting a dog from Ted Kennedy somehow be classified as rescuing the dog? I know if I was a dog, I would rather be in the company of those two girls, instead of him. Actually, even as a human I would. Broken promise? That might have been the only promise Obama made that would have caused me to vote for him, but it is one I could live with.
April 14th, 2009 at 5:50 am
Actually, the Obama’s spent a lot of time going from shelter to shelter, looking for a dog with a haircoat to match Barrack’s coife. They even had the CIA and the FBI looking for information on just the right hair. And all this did did not include the money spent on infiltrators at pounds and shelters or local snitches on government payroll.
Alas, the Obama’s were running out of time to explain to the world about the expense of time and money, or the fact that they really didn’t like to visit those smelly dog pounds.
So, they called one of their political “friends” who just happened to have a dog with the perfectly coifed haircoat. Now, old Joe Kennedy might not have approved on how some of his bootlegging fortune was spent, but he left enough for his family to live quite comfortably, even comfortable enough to breed exotic animals and influence presidents.
Was this done for political expediency? How dare some journalist ask this question while knowing politicians, especially in Washington D.C. and Massachusetts, would never do anything for “political expediency”.
April 14th, 2009 at 6:04 am
its not lying its pandering.
April 14th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Yes, it is now clear. If Obama takes decisive military action in a part of the world Bush was too afraid to engage, announces federal spending on infrastructure programs is being done ahead of schedule and under budget, and proposes a military budget that stands up to lobbyists and special interests to help America fight the wars of the future all in the same week, Randall Rasmussen and the right wing will still find something to whine about.
April 14th, 2009 at 7:42 am
Even if he got it from a shelter it would have been surrendered by Ted the day before. The God obama list will make george look like a saint before year two. Barrack has sold your kids future without a twitch. It is good for you. Popcicle hasn’t a clue and two years down the road he will be in hiding.
April 14th, 2009 at 8:14 am
The stimulus is all demo agenda. Buy votes of the stupid and hopeless. Get me a dog from Ted. You will learn too late what you voted in. Pelosi and frank and dodd are running the show and pelosi can’t eat pablem without help. You voted in death.
April 14th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Bunge–
Welcome back, friend. I’ve missed your well-reasoned, thoughtful posts.
Why would I need to go into hiding?
April 14th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Wait a second Poplicola,
Your suggestion that Afghanistan is “a part of the world Bush was too afraid to engage” and that the US has not taken “decisive military action” in Afghanistan is false and is insulting to the 600 US troops who have died so far in Afghan fighting and to the thousands of US troops and their families who are fighting, or who have fought, in Afghanistan.
We did go into Afghanistan under Bush. As of July of 2008 there were 28,300 US troops in Operation Enduring Freedom and, in January, 2009 there were an additional 23,300 US troops in the International Security Assistance Force. That’s over 50,000 US troops fighting in Afghanistan.
And, despite that significant troop presence and the thousands of troops from other nations fighting and dying in Afghanistan, the Taliban is making progress. Obama is using that progress to justify his war mongering. Which means we’re about to relearn the lesson of Vietnam, the lesson the Russians learned in Afghanistan, heck, the lesson the British learned 200 years ago in this country - fighting a motivated, entrenched local force is a losing cause. Always has been, always will be.
But Poplicola, you and so many of those “right-wingers” you despise are eager to sacrifice the lives of others to relearn that lesson yet again.
I’ll agree with you on this, it’s silly to spend much time on Obama’s little lie about his family pet when there are far more grave mistakes by this President to consider. Such as sinking the US deeper into the Afghan quagmire.
April 14th, 2009 at 9:53 am
For what it’s worth the dog thing didn’t come up until the victory speech so no one voted for him on a promise to get a shelter dog.
April 14th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Wonder if Obama has quit smoking. Did he promise to do that?
Selection of a dog from a shelter or accepting a gift pooch is surely a matter that will determine the future of western humanity.
How much time should they spend searching for the appropriate mutt. I do think he and Michelle might have better things to do. She has to pick out a new dress so the fashion industry can have fits of elation or despair and fill a half hour of import TV time with revelations.
Heaven help us if they ever decide to get a cat.
The reason it took so long to get a dog was to do a thorough background check on Bo. We can reasonably be certain that Bo has paid all his taxes. — R.R.
April 14th, 2009 at 10:42 am
I am unsure what to make of this comment from Art Oakes, “looking for a dog with a haircoat to match Barrack’s coife.” Is this kind of observation appropriate for the highminded political discussions one looks for at Mount Blogmore?
April 14th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Precisely when and where did Obama “promise to get a dog from a pound”? I heard him discuss getting a dog from a pound and the difficulty in finding one that his children were not allergic to.
Petty, trite and basically pointless discusssion here. Obama’s children now have a dog and I for one am happy for them.
Having been a person to pay attention to political dsicourse for sometime it has always been easy to discern between campaign promises and political discussion. The shelter dog allegations are jsut one more feeble attempt to discredit President Obama by the directionless consrvative right.
I see this for it is, petty.
April 14th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
That was sure nice of Ted Kennedy to offer them a Portugese Water Dog, but I wonder what did Ted did with those one hundred and one Dalamations he’s been keeping locked up.
April 14th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I said “what did Ted did with” when I meant to say “what did Ted do with” …………Dang those faulty teleprompters anyway.
April 14th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
You’re all a bunch of sick puppies!
April 14th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Yep, I guess he did break a campaign promise, time to start impeachment proceedings immediately! That poor dog will now forever be known as the broken promise and a symbol of everything that’s wrong in american politics. We are surely doomed now. Maybe one of the dead pirates had a dog obama could have rescued from last night’s stew, who knows.
April 14th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Pretty pathetic. The reason he did not get a shelter dog is because his daughter has an allergy and only certain breeds would work. You all must have missed that bit of news. but, by all means, make a big issue out of this. Must be a slow day for you guys.
April 14th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Aldo–
I was talking about the pirates. The ones that Bush didn’t deal with that Obama just did. You should clarify next time before you accuse me of insulting Americans in the line of fire.
April 14th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I knew that it would be very difficult to get a dog from a pound or shelter that would be suitable for the girls, particularly a pedigree dog.
From what I understand, this particular dog was adopted and then returned. I also think that this specific breed is not hypoallergenic, but does not shed as much as other kinds of dogs. Not sure the choice of this particular breed was the right one. Why is probably a good criticism of OBama, since he’s had trouble with his picks before.
Eh, It looks cute and it will go to a good family.
April 14th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Poplicola,
Right. Nice try.
April 14th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
http://media.lasvegassun.com/media/img/photos/2009/04/13/scaled.Smith041409color_t655.jpg?23d0d85dc3029222a8299eec08aff692318f4809
It is a cartoon if you can get link to work.
April 14th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
wag the dog.
April 15th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Aldo–
You can tell because I said Obama had done those things “all in the same week.” Whereas the pirates came up in the past week, Obama has been dealing with Afghanistan since he was elected.
But I am quite serious: You really should make sure you know what’s being discussed before you accuse another American of insulting our men and women in uniform in a combat zone.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Better to spend time “dogging the wags”.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:46 am
No sale, Poplicola, no sale.
Your comment that “Obama takes decisive military action in a part of the world Bush was too afraid to engage” makes no sense in the context of Somali pirate activity.
It was the Bush administration that pushed the UN Security Council to expand operations against pirates. As this article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/16/AR2008121602848.html ) notes -
“The U.S.-drafted resolution authorizes nations to “use all necessary measures that are appropriate in Somalia” in pursuit of pirates, as long as they are approved by the country’s transitional federal government. The resolution also urges states to deploy naval vessels and military aircraft to carry out the operations, and it calls for the creation of a regional office to coordinate the international effort.”
and -
“Rice said the United States would help establish a contact group of governments to share intelligence and to coordinate naval and military operations in the region.”
The Navy, under Obama, had an opportunity to engage that was never available to the Navy under Bush. This was the first hijacking of a US-flagged ship.
Obama didn’t step up US Navy presence in the areas plagued by pirates. Obama simply picked up the phone and gave the right answer.
You really should make sure you communicate clearly before you start harrumphing. Of course, that would leave you no exit from posts that insult US war dead.
And, while we’re tossing ideas around, consider worrying less about protocol and more about our President leading us deeper into the Afghan quagmire. Obama’s leadership is going to lead to many more dead (in various uniforms) with no constructive result. Rather than worry about insulting the dead, let’s try to avoid more dead.
April 15th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
what if its all a Kennedy plot to spy on the first family in the residental quarters…what if the dog is implanted with some type of bug? What could the Kennedy family do with insider, private information from the going ons of the residental floor of the White House. Hummmmm
April 15th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
I heard too that the dog had been sold and then returned, which qualified it for shelter status. It is kind of a non issue considering all the really dangerous stuff going on right now. And it is cute and the girls looked happy with it. Obama will break many more promises in the future, already has, and will lie to the populace about increasing taxes etc. Whether he broke a campaign promise about a pet doesn’t really bother me that much. But it probably did get him a few more votes on the campaign trail. Typical politician.
April 15th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Once again I say,” sometimes a dog is just a dog.” but it takes a real box of cigars to try to politicize Bo. ( Hope this makes it past the Swisher Sweet on the kill key.)
April 16th, 2009 at 7:37 am
The dog was returned, not rescued.
That said, the only reason I even paid attention to this story at first is because I love puppies. Who doesn’t?
But it became a story when the White House tried to say they took a well-bred puppy because of the kid’s allergies. Baloney. CBS radio news reported that a simple search by the Humane Society (or something like it, can’t remember the name of the organization) showed that at a rescue dog of this breed was available in Northern Virginia.
Why can’t they just say this is the dog they wanted and leave it at that? No. They have to spin it. Like they did with the “bow” in Saudi Arabia. Nobody would have cared if they just didn’t try to deny it.
April 16th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I don’t love puppies.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
He actually said they would like a dog from a shelter but that a daughter had allergies so it might not be possible.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversations as a dog does.
-Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957)
I wonder if other dogs think Portuguese water dogs are members of a weird religious cult?
-Rita Rudner (paraphrased)
The dog was created especially for children. He is the god of frolic.
-Henry Ward Beecher (1813 - 1887)
If dogs could talk, it would take a lot of the fun out of owning one.
-Andrew A. Rooney
Old age means realizing you will never own all the dogs you wanted to.
-Joe Gores
On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.
-Peter Steiner, cartoon in The New Yorker, July 5, 1993
April 16th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Snoopy in a regurgitated cartoon today,
“I may be man’s best friend, but they never take me to any events” or
something much like that after he was left atop his doghouse.