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Before the band Pink Floyd went into the stratosphere with "Dark Side Of The Moon" in 1973 (half a century ago!), they released an album called "Meddle", said to be a soundtrack for a non-existent movie, in 1971. Dominated by the PF classic "Echoes", which takes up the entire Side Two of the album (back when albums had sides), there was sort of a throwaway track called "Seamus" at the end of Side One, that was mostly sung by a dog. The record executives were horrified by this track and did their darnedest to get it removed from the album...

A one-year-old dog swept away in California floodwaters was rescued and returned to his owner thanks to firefighters – and technology. Seamus, an Australian shepherd, was on a walk with his owner in San Bernardino and broke away Monday, the fire department said in a news release. His owner tried to catch him, but Seamus went into a storm drain and began to float away.... ...An employee at an RV facility stopped a fire crew, saying they heard a dog barking and then saw one floating down a channel....

A Coast Guard lieutenant assigned to the service's headquarters in Washington, D.C., has been arrested on drug and gun possession charges, and is accused of plans to "murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country," according to documents filed in Maryland District Court. Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson, an acquisitions officer for the National Security Cutter Acquisition Program, was arrested Feb. 15 and charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition by an unlawful user or addict of controlled substances, and possession of Tramadol, a Schedule IV pain medication. A motion for detention pending trial, filed by U.S....

A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and self-identified white nationalist was arrested after federal investigators uncovered a cache of weapons and ammunition in his Maryland home that authorities say he stockpiled to launch a massive domestic terror attack targeting politicians and journalists. Christopher Paul Hasson called for “focused violence” to “establish a white homeland” and dreamed of ways to “kill almost every last person on earth,” according to court records filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland. Though court documents do not detail a specific planned date for an attack, the government said he had been amassing supplies and weapons since...

“The poverty of an aspiring immigrant’s nation of origin is as irrelevant as their race. The sentiment attributed to POTUS is inconsistent with America’s history and antithetical to American values. May our memory of Dr. King buoy our hope for unity, greatness, and “charity for all.”

Watch the video. Romney laughs almost the entire video. Although it was against the law to transport people or animals on top of vehicles, Romney's excuse was that he didn't know about the law. Nevermind the fact that the dog had diarrhea in the kennel during the trip.

The Globe's disclosure this week that Mitt Romney put his Irish setter into a dog carrier on the roof of his station wagon for a 12-hour trip to Ontario in 1983 has become a surprising flashpoint in the presidential campaign. TIME.com has been flooded with more than 200 comments from readers complaining of animal cruelty, YouTube viewers have posted videos, and hundreds of blogs are brimming with opinions. For some, the story has become an occasion to consider larger issues of ethics and animal abuse. Romney, who has built an image as a strong manager, is now facing concerns about...

PolitickerNY has a report out Tuesday that Seamus, the dog Romney famously put on the roof of the car when the family drove to Canada in 1983, may have actually run away once the Romneys reached the Great White North. As any Gail Collins readers will know by now, a 2004 Boston Globe story revealed that Mitt Romney strapped his dog's crate to the roof of the family car, terrifying the pooch in the process. Though it was intended as an illustration of Romney's quirky crisis-management, pet lovers everywhere have let it live on as evidence of candidate's cruelty. PolitckerNY's...

As Mitt Romney considers whether to run for an open US Senate seat in Utah, the person who can most influence him is encouraging him to get into the race: his wife, Ann. Ann Romney — a confidante for nearly all of Romney’s adult life and frequent catalyst for his political ambitions — is fully supporting a campaign for Senate, another strong indicator he will run, according to four people close to the Romneys. Her own battle with multiple sclerosis is not a major factor, with all signs indicating that her health remains strong, the people said.

Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump responded to the most recent attack from 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney on Saturday morning on Twitter, saying Romney calling Trump racist is untrue.

Romney to label Trump a 'fraud' and a 'phony' - but the Donald goes on the attack before keynote speech calling Mitt 'a stiff' and a 'catastrophe' Mitt Romney will give a 'state of the 2016 race' speech today in his home state of Utah The 2012 Republican nominee has been hitting frontrunner Donald Trump on the issue of taxes and the Ku Klux Klan In early transcripts leaked to media, he's expected to call Trump a number of colorful adjectives 'He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat,' Romney is...

THE NEW MEDIA OUTRAGE

They call it a war -- mainly, to dismiss it. As in: There go the Democrats again, fanning the flames of the culture wars, dividing Americans to win an election. But it's actually something very different that's going on. Under the guise of tolerance and magnanimity, President Obama has been embracing a certain kind of radicalism that undermines the very institutions we've come to rely upon. But where there are wars, there are prophets. There are brave ones who see threats on the horizon, lay groundwork, who make it possible for others to fight, who act as models by standing...

Seamus the Irish Setter is getting his own super PAC. Politico reported today Democrat Bob McDevitt has filed paperwork to launch the super PAC Animal Lovers Against Romney. It will tell the tale, first publicized by the Globe, of Mitt Romney’s decision to put his dog in a kennel attached to his station wagon roof for a family trip from Massachusetts to Canada. McDevitt told Politico his goal is to “get the message out just how callous in temperament Mitt Romney is.” The group’s website, www.mittismean.org, is being launched next week. The super PAC, meanwhile, is aiming Internet ads at...

Seamus the Irish setter may have died years ago, but the now-infamous story of his rooftop ride has been more firmly cemented into the narrative of the 2012 campaign than his retaliatory excrement was plastered to the back window of the Romney family station wagon during that fateful trip 20 years ago. The Santorum campaign has referenced Mitt Romney’s treatment of his dog Seamus four times over the past week as an anecdote that purportedly calls into question the former governor’s character. -snip- “If you can’t be nice to your dog, who are you going to be nice to?”

Mitt Romney may have a new constituency to worry about: dogs and dog lovers. The group “Dogs Against Romney” held a protest outside the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York on Tuesday afternoon to bring attention to the story of how 25 years ago, Mr. Romney drove from Boston to Canada on vacation with his dog, Seamus, in a carrier strapped to the roof of the family station wagon — a tale that political commentators and opponents have seized on it as a window into Mr. Romney’s character. About a dozen people stood outside Madison Square Garden with...

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)-- Trounced in Florida, presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Tuesday used the defeat to declare that he alone is the conservative alternative to GOP front-runner Mitt Romney. Gingrich ignored the fact that the other two candidates in the race -- Ron Paul and Rick Santorum -- chose not to run aggressive campaigns in the state. -snip- Gingrich's defiant pledge to continue on against Romney sets the stage for a bitter brawl for the Republican nomination that could last for months. Gingrich supporters Tuesday night hoisted signs that read "46 States to Go." -snip- "I just want to reassure...

According to the survey, which was released Monday, 28 percent of Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP say they support Perry as their party's presidential nominee, with Romney at 21 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is at ten percent, with Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who's making his third bid for the White House, former Godfather's Pizza CEO and radio talk show host Herman Cain, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, all at seven percent. The poll indicates that Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is at four percent, with former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania at three...

As Michael Buffer, one of America's most famous ringside boxing announcers would say: "Let's get ready to rumble." Forget the "substantive" allegations of "flip-flops" on Amnesty for illegal aliens or single-payer health care, or even the less substantive accusations of "vulture capitalism." If you want real proof the campaign season is in full swing and that the poop (pun intended) is about to hit the fan, look no further than the recent resurrection of allegations of animal abuse against Mitt Romney.

It might be unseemly to bring this up just as Mitt Romney celebrates his win in New Hampshire on Tuesday night and seems to be a strong front-runner for the GOP nomination. But the story of his putting his dog in a carrier on his car roof for a 12-hour family trip is spreading again on the Internet and disturbs me the more I learn about it. And I am betting the more it gets out, the more votes Romney loses — red, blue and purple. When, in a campaign debate, Romney opposed allowing a non-documented worker who has lived...