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The 'Purrrfect' Press Pandering Over Biden's New Cat
Townhall.com ^ | February 4, 2022 | Tim Graham

Posted on 02/04/2022 3:13:36 AM PST by Kaslin


Source: Twitter, Jill Biden

One of the memorable scenes in the 1993 movie "Dave" involved the president and first lady walking their dog in front of the cameras and promptly dumping him on staff when they walked into the White House. Having a pet is an easy way to get positive press that "humanizes" any politician, so almost every president does it -- and milks it.

For example, there was Socks the cat, who came in with the Clintons in 1993. Then the Clintons added Buddy the dog at the end of 1997, weeks before the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke. Hillary Clinton came out with a children's book in 1998 titled "Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets." But when they left office in 2001, the Clintons took Buddy to New York, and Socks got left behind with Clinton aide Betty Currie.

This promotional wave happened all over again on the last Friday in January, when the Bidens announced they were bringing a cat named Willow to the White House. All three networks announced the news. NBC offered several syrupy stories from Kelly O'Donnell, their senior White House correspondent. She was a stenographer to pet power.

It's a little embarrassing that ABC gave this happy "cat's out of the bag" story 45 seconds on "Good Morning America," which Geoffrey Dickens of NewsBusters reports was twice as much time as the 23 seconds ABC's morning and evening newscasts devoted to the torture and genocide of the Uighur Muslims in Communist China. Because apparently, genocide doesn't go with toast and jam -- or with Disney sucking up to China.

One of the memorable scenes in the 1993 movie "Dave" involved the president and first lady walking their dog in front of the cameras and promptly dumping him on staff when they walked into the White House. Having a pet is an easy way to get positive press that "humanizes" any politician, so almost every president does it -- and milks it.

For example, there was Socks the cat, who came in with the Clintons in 1993. Then the Clintons added Buddy the dog at the end of 1997, weeks before the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke. Hillary Clinton came out with a children's book in 1998 titled "Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets." But when they left office in 2001, the Clintons took Buddy to New York, and Socks got left behind with Clinton aide Betty Currie.

This promotional wave happened all over again on the last Friday in January, when the Bidens announced they were bringing a cat named Willow to the White House. All three networks announced the news. NBC offered several syrupy stories from Kelly O'Donnell, their senior White House correspondent. She was a stenographer to pet power.

It's a little embarrassing that ABC gave this happy "cat's out of the bag" story 45 seconds on "Good Morning America," which Geoffrey Dickens of NewsBusters reports was twice as much time as the 23 seconds ABC's morning and evening newscasts devoted to the torture and genocide of the Uighur Muslims in Communist China. Because apparently, genocide doesn't go with toast and jam -- or with Disney sucking up to China.

Get a dog ... or you might be a Nazi.

By contrast, Willow the cat drew gushes on "The 11th Hour" from usually scowling fill-in host Mehdi Hasan.

"Forget SCOTUS. The hashtag #COTUS has been trending all day after the first cat finally made her White House debut. Willow is a 2-year-old gray and white Tabby named after the first lady's hometown of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania," he said. Hasan noted press secretary Jen Psaki was asked if we'll be seeing Willow in the briefing room, and she tweeted, "She has a standing invitation. It would be purrrfect." He touted, "Comedy gold there from the press secretary."

Presidents should feel free to bring a pet to the White House -- or resist the syrupy stories and abstain. But even on the lightest topics, the liberal media can ably demonstrate the clunkiest partisan double standard of light and dark, of cloying sugar and ranting acid.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: cotus; leftwingmedia; leftwingmediabias
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1 posted on 02/04/2022 3:13:36 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

The cat is smarter than its owner. Cleaner, too. Now if we could just get Biden to s**t in a box instead of his pants.

CC


2 posted on 02/04/2022 3:21:00 AM PST by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: Kaslin

Willow looks like an excellent cat to me. Big contrast to his owners.


3 posted on 02/04/2022 3:26:45 AM PST by married21 (As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)
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To: married21

You said it.


4 posted on 02/04/2022 3:30:38 AM PST by Kaslin (Joe Biden, aka president Milk Carton)
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To: Kaslin

Got to have something to blame Joe’s “accidents” on.


5 posted on 02/04/2022 3:32:23 AM PST by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Kaslin

Nothing more than a stage prop.


6 posted on 02/04/2022 3:45:43 AM PST by missnry (The truth will set you free ... and drive liberals crazy!)
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To: Kaslin
Get a dog ... or you might be a Nazi.

Huh?


7 posted on 02/04/2022 3:49:06 AM PST by Moltke (Reasoning with a liberal is like watering a rock in the hope to grow a building.)
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To: missnry

Psaki DID say they would announce the new cat when they needed some POSITIVE coverage!! They’re gonna have to get LOTS of CATS!


8 posted on 02/04/2022 3:51:00 AM PST by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: Celtic Conservative

I was just getting ready to post that. That cat looks more intelligent than it’s owner. By a wide margin.


9 posted on 02/04/2022 3:54:20 AM PST by JustaCowgirl (A vote for Joe Biden is a vote for empty smirking pantsuit Kamala Harris for President)
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To: Kaslin

Wanna bet the new cat is a therapy animal for BiteMe’s dementia?

After all, it’s not like the POTATUS can be caught cuddling one of these...

https://joyforall.com/products/companion-cats


10 posted on 02/04/2022 4:05:11 AM PST by mewzilla (God bless Canada's Freedom Truckers!)
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To: mewzilla

Lots of nursing homes have REAL cats as companions for the residents...this? I don’t know...


11 posted on 02/04/2022 4:09:37 AM PST by who knows what evil? (Yehovah saved more animals than people on the ark...siameserescue.org)
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To: All

Great looking cat. I feel sorry for her. I went through hours of interviews, references, vet records, etc. to be entrusted w/ my cat from siameserescue.com. Something tells me these creepy people didn’t have to do that.


12 posted on 02/04/2022 4:10:59 AM PST by FLNittany
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To: who knows what evil?

They do have therapy pets come in, but I don’t know of any facilities (at least in my area) that allow companion animals to live with the resident.

We got a couple of those Joy For All cats for one of our loved ones who had dementia. He adored it. And it did bring him great comfort.

But the leader of the free world can’t be seen snuggling one of those in his arms, can he?


13 posted on 02/04/2022 4:14:23 AM PST by mewzilla (God bless Canada's Freedom Truckers!)
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To: Kaslin

At least the cat won’t be on the growel like the dog that he had to ditch.


14 posted on 02/04/2022 4:15:16 AM PST by Socon-Econ (adi)
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To: mewzilla

Really? My grandmother’s nursing home had kitties all over the place...and that was in soviet New York. :-)


15 posted on 02/04/2022 4:22:16 AM PST by who knows what evil? (Yehovah saved more animals than people on the ark...siameserescue.org)
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To: mewzilla

Shades of “Of Mice And Men”, then

Hope they don’t let him hug the cat.


16 posted on 02/04/2022 4:26:58 AM PST by Salamander ("Salamander has barbaric tendencies" /Gundog)
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To: Kaslin

Beautiful cat, but I’d bet a LOT of money that “Dr.” Jill and Brandon aren’t the ones scooping out the litter box!

Total prop pet, just like so many White House dogs and cats before ...


17 posted on 02/04/2022 4:36:30 AM PST by twyn1
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To: who knows what evil?

In my neck of the woods people can bring previously approved pets in to visit a specific resident, and therapy animals with their handlers come in to visit residents, but none are allowed to live with residents in the facility.


18 posted on 02/04/2022 4:40:47 AM PST by mewzilla (God bless Canada's Freedom Truckers!)
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To: Salamander

The reason we had to get two of the Joy For All cats, which purr and move, was that our loved one would clutch the cat so tightly that the gears would break when the cat tried to move.

I’m starting to wonder if something like that is the real reason the dog had to go.


19 posted on 02/04/2022 4:43:47 AM PST by mewzilla (God bless Canada's Freedom Truckers!)
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To: missnry

Perhaps the handlers are starting to realize that the ice cream prop has been over used. So they’ve gotten a new dog. No a new cat. I think they’ll adopt a baby next.


20 posted on 02/04/2022 6:09:40 AM PST by j.havenfarm (21 years on Free Republic, 12/10/21! More than 5000 replies and still not shutting up!)
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