First Dog Barney Bites Reporter at the White House

Though President Bush has been quite gentlemanly, polite, and reserved in his rebuttals of the rampant press bias aired nearly daily pertaining to his administration, the same can not be said of the First Dog, Barney.

This morning at the White House, Barney bit a correspondent as the reporter bent down to pet him. Barney snapped at the hand of the man and drew blood. The startled media rep was treated by the White House medical staff for his wound and will survive the assault I am happy to report.

Jon Decker, Washington correspondent for Reuters, was the victim of this vicious attack. "I simply wanted to pet this cute, loveable dog...when he snapped at me, bit me, and drew blood...he apparently was in a surly mood...maybe he was upset with the results of Tuesday night, maybe he knows he's being replaced as First Dog...." Jon related as he showed his bandaged hand to the MSNBC interviewer.

Barney is a Scottish Terrier, a breed not known to be overly aggressive nor mean spirited. I am sure he knew something that we don't? Dogs are very instinctive and savvy in judging which human is their friend and which are foes. Did the reporter disrespect his master or mistress? Maybe. Has the reporter been fair with the President in his reporting? Maybe not; not many have been. For whatever reason, Barney chose not to be friends with the surprised - now chewed - would-be petter.

Eight year old Barney has been a fixture in the White House for some time now. I can't recall any other transgressions - if this actually was one of those - by Barney in all this time. He, in fact, has been quite the ambassador of good will at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Among other accomplishments and devious adventures, he's quite the movie star having been the lead actor in at least nine films. His 'Barneycam' exploits are legendary. The Christmas movies have been my favorites as Barney really gets into the Christmas spirit and puts anyone watching his exploits in the same mood. One of his best efforts has to be "Barney's Holiday Extravaganza" which made its debut in December, 2006.

I am going to miss Barney when he no longer is First Dog. Thank goodness we have one more Christmas with the engaging White House 'Scrooge'.

The dog - bitten man now may be the story of the day. I am sure much will be made of it now that the election is over and the media people are frantic for any news which will get them on prime time. Lord knows, they are scrambling for any tidbit nowadays. Geez, this morning Andrea Mitchell commenting on MSNBC spent five minutes discussing with another talking head the absurd observation that McCain staffers had actually seen Sarah Palin wrapped in a towel when they came to her hotel room to brief her. Duh? What should she be in having just come out of the shower? Besides, Andrea, she has the figure for it.

"Astonishing!" exclaimed Andrea. No, Andrea, you are the astonishing one devoting such an unwarranted amount of time on such a non-story as that one - you and the rest of your biased and petty 'meanies' who are also gleefully detailing how much money Sarah supposedly spent on her wardrobe. I don't recall any stories concerning Hillary's wardrobe nor Michelle's. You and your wayward cronies should get down to the real business of the day and drop the character assignations of "The Wild Woman from Wasilla".

My only regrets in hearing of this biting caper by Barney is that it wasn't the vile MSNBC talking head Keith Olbermann, 'Countdown' blasphemer, who has posted GW to his nightly 'Worst Person in the World' list on numerous occasions as well as denigrated the President in many countless ranting and raging sessions coming, at times, close to being treasonous. Or, maybe his newly coached sidekick and distaff imitator, Rachel Maddow, herself an extremist newly appointed to a one hour left wing opportunity on MSNBC during which she is also dropping snide and nasty comments concerning GW or any Republican who comes to her Keith - like mind.

So, good for you, Barney. That will teach those irreverent media types to be more careful when they errantly consign your master to any and all ills of the country and the world. You didn't bite the hand that feeds you, but you sure bit the hand of one of those members of the press corps who have made disparagement a daily routine.

Postscript: Mrs. Bush has issued a statement: "Barney is in the dog house!"

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