Posted on 01/02/2015 5:51:31 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Is this an actual fake outrage, where partisans pretend to be offended at something to play up the supposed inhumanity of their opponents, or is it a fake fake outrage, where only a few even bother to pretend but the media seizes on it anyway because it’s a “controversy,” sort of, and they’re bored? For the moment, it looks like it’s being pushed not so much by American liberals but by foreign press — the Independent, an Irish newspaper, and the always buzz-hungry Daily Mail. Turns out Facebook commenters grumbling at a former VP nominee now qualifies as international news. Who knew?
Good news for Slate, though, as this takes care of January 2nd in next year’s “Year of Outrage” round-up.
Happy New Year!
May 2015 see every stumbling block turned into a stepping stone on the path forward. Trig just reminded me. He, determined to help wash dishes with an oblivious mama not acknowledging his signs for “up!”, found me and a lazy dog blocking his way. He made his stepping stone.
- Sarah Palin
Click for pics. American news outlets like the New York Daily News and The Blaze picked it up this morning, with a full-blown Twitterstorm now shaping up as lefties and righties wearily assume their designated roles. I’m going to guess that if little Trig’s weight caused the dog any pain, the dog would have made that clear to him in ways that dogs are wont to do but I’ll defer to experts in the comments. In the meantime, let’s pray that the number of hideously overwrought Smart Takes this incident produces remains small:
Eagerly awaiting Andrew Sullivan's smart take on what Trig Palin putting his foot on a dog means for the future of our republic.
— Popehat (@Popehat) January 2, 2015
To answer my question, I think this still qualifies as a “fake fake outrage” for the moment but has potential to become an “actual fake outrage” simply because there’s a dog involved. Remember how the story of Mitt Romney putting his dog in a kennel on the family car’s roof during a trip years ago became a thing, at least on the left, during the 2012 campaign? Stories of possible animal abuse by Republicans grab them, I think, because they support the liberal narrative that conservatives are heartless. They’re a Window onto the Conservative Soul in a way that, oh, say, abortion without restriction is most certainly not a window onto the left-wing soul. And of course they disdain Palin singularly for a mess of reasons, so any chance to score a point on her is a chance that must be taken. It’s really a perfect post-New-Year Friday story — nothing else is going on in the news, everyone wants to get back to holiday revelry before the deep-breath plunge into normal order in January, and one of their favorite whipping boys has given them something to chatter about. I figure they’ll reach “actual fake outrage” intensity by mid-afternoon today, with the storm dissipating this evening as everyone eases into the weekend and stops thinking about this even a little.
Liberals aren't human. They aren't exactly animals either. But they're not human.
Goats will knock you down, eat your shoes right off your feet, walk all over you, and butt you when you try to get away. And poop.
“Learning experiences,” we say, when the children do something the pets don’t like. “The cat doesn’t LIKE James!” James wailed, after the cat made it clear, with claws, that she didn’t like him.
This is amazing that it is a story.
I’ve seen many a kid do something like this as the dog subjected himself with open-mouthed, tongue-lolling bonhomie.
It isn’t like the architect of The Great Society holding his baying beagles up by their ears...though I will say, beagles can be odd dogs, no predicting what they would enjoy in certain circumstances.
It is part of the growing experience. As a kid, I learned to read dogs pretty well, except one big German Shepherd named Sigfried who was my best friends dog.
I tuned into dogs, and I knew all the signs and could distinguish between bravado and Find a Tree and Climb it.
When a dog is unhappy, you can generally easily tell. My wife is fond of saying “People should have tails.”
I know exactly what she means.
So far that’s about the stupidest reply I’ve seen on FR this year.
But it’s waaay early yet, and odds are you’ll soon be mercifully displaced.
I'm surprised no one mentioned the condition of the mat.
BTW, Is that Saint Petersburg seen through the window?
I think Sarah took the picture thinking its an adorable pic of her son with his dog..and it is cute..just like when Ellen Degereres posted a similar picture on her facebook page..its a cute pic of a girl and her dog..now I can understand if this were a small dog, and Im a dog owner I have two dogs myself, they are small so obviously I would never recommend this being done to a small dog..but this is a little boy having fun with his dog, and its absolutely harmless..and I think that is what Sarah thought as well so she took the picture. I dont think she sits around saying to herself “Gee what should I post to piss people off today” its New Years Eve, and she posted an innocent photo of her son and best buddy..I thought it was cute. My cousins do the same with their white lab Maggie, its completely innocent
Very manly of you. That kid you’d like to beat up on is Sarah’s little Down Syndrome boy.
1. He means no harm to the dog.
2. If the dog didn’t like it he’d let the boy know.
3. I have a few more choice words but I’ll not waste them.
Where can I get a Moose switch plate like the Palins?
Dogs are a much better judge of human character than the vast majority of, if not all humans.
I’ll side with the dog on this one. If Sarah’s son were annoying the dog, it would let him know.
Maybe Hobbylobby?
You forgot the sarc. tag........you wouldn’t want anyone to possibly think you meant that idiotic PDS nonsense would you? Nice punctuation by the way.
Twitter oftentimes is nothing more than the cyberspace version of “pile-on”.
Its great fun to play as long as you are not the kid at the bottom of the pile.
Most of the “Twits” also possess the intelligence of 1st graders.
Good quote and SO true. I often quote what he says just after this. Thank you for posting.
The first Wag the Dog story of 2015...
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