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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Well, Mitt Romney isn’t exactly my favorite pseudo-conservative… and I hadn’t even heard of this story before this was posted here.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>But the article asks: “People, does any of this sound appealing?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Yah, actually, it kinda does.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>If Romney is in his mid 60’s now… that means he was in his mid 30’s back in 1983. I can think of quite a few things I’ve done in my “early adult” years that in retrospect I probably wouldn’t do again… <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I can remember MY parents loading up the car to the gills with 4 of us kids and driving (to who knows where)... and it would have been around that 1983 time frame. 2 of us kids were stashed in the ass-end of the stationwagon… no seat belts… (hardly even seats… we just laid blankets and pillows down). My brother and I were probably just a single rear-end collision away from getting killed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Horrifying by today’s standards… and something I’m sure Dad shakes his head at today… but at the time? Nothing unusual or illegal about it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>“Emotion-free crisis management”. That’s a plus. *<b>IF</b>* Mitt gets the nod, and *<b>IF</b>* he beats Obama… he’ll be handed the keys to our nation. What would I rather have? A guy that (I assume) calmly did what it took with the situation at hand regarding the family dog and the current circumstance? Or a guy that became emotionally enraged, pointed his finger at someone else in the car and shouted, “THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Folks love to hold up little stories like this in an attempt to find a crack in the form of a character flaw… even if it’s an out-take from a family vacation nearly 30 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I can’t really “identify” with his wealth (though I would love to)… I can’t really identify with his “liberal in conservative clothing” political history. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>But a story recalling a minor disaster during a family road-trip? Yah, that’s probably a topic many people could sit down and trade endless stories about over a beer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Jay<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> vision2020-bounces@moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Art Deco<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, March 08, 2012 8:01 AM<br><b>To:</b> vision2020@moscow.com<br><b>Subject:</b> [Vision2020] Dogging Mitt Romney<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p><h6 align=right style='text-align:right'>Advertisement<o:p></o:p></h6><h6>Op-Ed Columnist<o:p></o:p></h6><h1>Dogging Mitt Romney<o:p></o:p></h1><h6>By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/gailcollins/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More Articles by Gail Collins">GAIL COLLINS</a><o:p></o:p></h6><h6>Published: March 7, 2012 <o:p></o:p></h6><div id=articleToolsTop><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></div><div><p>I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this, but Mitt Romney once drove to Canada with the family Irish setter on the roof of the car. <o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p>Seamus, the dog-on-the-roof, has become a kind of political icon. You cannot go anywhere without running into him. There are Seamus T-shirts and endless Web sites. This week, the story was a New Yorker cover, with Rick Santorum playing the role of the Irish setter. <o:p></o:p></p><p>Neil Swidey, the Boston Globe reporter who first broke the Seamus story in 2007, wrote recently that he had been avoiding a return to the topic for fear that some day the dog would wind up in the lead of his obituary. <o:p></o:p></p><p>Which I can totally understand. <o:p></o:p></p><p>The story took place in 1983, when the Romney family made a 12-hour pilgrimage from Boston to a vacation home in Canada. Romney, his wife, Ann, and five sons were in the station wagon. Seamus was in a crate, or kennel, on the roof. <o:p></o:p></p><p>At some point — possibly in response to the excitement about being passed by tractor-trailers while floating like a furry maraschino cherry on top of the car, Seamus developed diarrhea. And Romney, who had designated all the acceptable rest stops before beginning the trip, was forced to make an unscheduled trip to a gas station. Where he kept the family in the car while he hosed down the station wagon and the dog, then returned to the highway. <o:p></o:p></p><p>“It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management,” Swidey wrote. <o:p></o:p></p><p>People, does any of this sound appealing? Elect Mitt Romney and he will take the nation on the road to the future. Some of us will be stuck on the roof. The rest of us will be inside singing camp songs and waiting for the day when the master plan lets us stop to visit the bathroom. Plus, anybody who screws up on the way to the future gets the hose. <o:p></o:p></p><p>Anyhow, we are now at a post-Super-Tuesday lull in the campaign, and I am ready to answer Seamus questions. <o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>Haven’t you brought this episode up like about 10 million times already?</strong> <o:p></o:p></p><p>I’ve made a kind of game of trying to mention Seamus every time I write about Mitt Romney. This is because the Republican primary campaign has been an extremely long and depressing slog, and we need all the diversion we can get. <o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>It’s as though you’re saying this is the most important fact about a possible future president of the United States.</strong> <o:p></o:p></p><p>You could argue that the Seamus story puts Romney in a more human context. This is not just a quarter-billionaire with approximately the same gift for the common touch as Scrooge McDuck. This is a real person. A person who once drove to Canada with the family dog tied to the roof of the car. <o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>In a kennel, right?</strong> <o:p></o:p></p><p>“This is a completely air-tight kennel, mounted on the top of our car. He climbed up there regularly, enjoyed himself,” Romney told Chris Wallace in a Fox interview that began with Wallace, a dog owner, demanding: “What were you thinking?” <o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>Wait a minute, if the kennel was air-tight, how did Seamus breathe?</strong> <o:p></o:p></p><p>Excellent question. Also hard to envision the animal continually trying to leap on top of the station wagon in order to enjoy its delights. <o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>So that’s it from Romney?</strong> <o:p></o:p></p><p>He did once suggest that the Seamus publicity was a plot by PETA to get even with him for allowing rodeo performances at the Winter Olympics in Utah. <o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>I bet President Obama would never put Bo on top of a car.</strong> <o:p></o:p></p><p>Yes, the Obama campaign has been eager to point this out. Although, really, if you’re the president of the United States, you can give the dog his own helicopter if you want to. <o:p></o:p></p><p>I should note that when it comes to presidents and dogs, Romney would have to go a long way to match Lyndon Johnson, who once held up his beagles by the ears for photographers. <o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>Is it even legal to drive around with a dog on top of your car?</strong> <o:p></o:p></p><p>Chris Wallace did ask Romney if he knew that he was breaking a Massachusetts law against cruelty to animals. Mitt did his heh-heh-heh thing and pleaded ignorance. The law is actually kind of vague. But I will point out that a member of a group called Dogs Against Romney drove to a protest in Colorado with a model of Seamus on top of his car and was stopped by the police. <o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>I heard a rumor that when the family got to Canada, Seamus ran away.</strong> <o:p></o:p></p><p>Seeking sanctuary? Mitt’s sister, Jane, told Swidey that the dog developed a tendency to wander, and that she took Seamus to her home in California where there was more space. She also gave The Globe an extremely cute picture of Seamus cuddling with some kittens. <o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>Does Romney have a dog now? I’m not sure I want to see Seamus II in the White House.</strong> <o:p></o:p></p><p>Romney occasionally says, “We love our pets. Heh. Heh. Heh.” The Romney camp hates talking about Seamus-related issues, but there’s no evidence of an actual family dog at the present. If there is one, I’d hate to think of how it travels when they fly between campaign stops. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><div><div><div><div><h6>A version of this op-ed appeared in print on March 8, 2012, on page A31 of the New York edition with the headline: Dogging Mitt Romney.<o:p></o:p></h6></div></div></div></div></div><div><div id=Bottom1><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" style='width:100.0%'><tr><td style='padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/opinion&pos=Bottom1&sn2=57f847fc/12bd60ac&sn1=bf8e7366/71c21872&camp=nyt2012-circ-footer_clickhere-36H9U&ad=051110-footer_clickhere-36H9U&goto=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enytimesathome%2Ecom%2Fhd%2F101%3FSPTR%5FID%3DhdNYT%26MediaCode%3DW16AK%26CMP%3D36H9U"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=40 height=27 id="_x0000_i1025" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/ads/circulation/icon-newspaper.jpg" alt="Get Home
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(A few bloggers have noticed the creepy coincidence too.) In the movie, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) ties Dinky the dog to the rear bumper and then takes off down the interstate with the pooch still attached to the car. Accidentally on purpose, it would seem.<br><br>The actress who plays Griswold's wife bears an uncanny resemblance to Ann Romney -- perfectly coiffed blond,an ultra-perky June Cleaver on steroids, long-suffering and similarly tone-deaf. They have little sympathy for the poor relations they encounter during their journey. When their old Aunt Edna unexpectedly dies (of neglect?) during the road trip, Clark simply ties her corpse to the roof of the station wagon and later dumps it in somebody's back yard under cover of darkness. But not before they go through the old lady's purse for whatever is left of her Social Security check.<br><br>The Romneys and the Griswolds are self-involved Questors of the good life, running roughshod over everyone in their paths and caring not a whit about the mess they leave behind, or even how they appear to others. If Mitt ever does arrive at his Wally World White House, will he take us on a merry-go-round to nowhere, or on a roller coaster ride through hell? One thing's for sure: all the Aunt Ednas will be tossed over the side.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><ol start=1 type=1><ul type=circle><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level2 lfo2'><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/opinion/collins-dogging-mitt-romney.html?comments#permid=1" id=permalink1>March 7, 2012 at 7:12 p.m.</a><o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level2 lfo2'><span class=commentrecommendlinktext>Recommended</span><span class=commentrecommendedcount>668</span><o:p></o:p></li></ul></ol></div><div id="commentActionsBox_5693296"><div><p class=commentreadallreplies style='margin-left:.5in'>Read All 11 Replies<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><div><ol start=1 type=1 id="replylist_5693296"><ol start=6 type=1><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level2 lfo3' id=comment5694774><img border=0 id="_x0000_i1028" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/apps/timespeople/none.png"><o:p></o:p></li></ol></ol></div><div id="commentElement2_5694774"><div id="permid1_15"><ol start=1 type=1><ol start=6 type=1><ul type=square><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level3 lfo3'>lynninny<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level3 lfo3'>NY<o:p></o:p></li></ul></ol></ol></div><div><p style='margin-left:1.0in'>Karen, thanks for the laugh today! That was priceless. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><ol start=1 type=1><ol start=6 type=1><ul type=square><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level3 lfo3'><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/opinion/collins-dogging-mitt-romney.html?comments#permid=1:15" id="permalink1_15">March 8, 2012 at 6:42 a.m.</a><o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level3 lfo3'><span class=commentrecommendlinktext>Recommended</span><span class=commentrecommendedcount>8</span><o:p></o:p></li></ul></ol></ol></div></div></div><div><div><ol start=1 type=1><ol start=7 type=1><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level2 lfo3' id=comment5695098><img border=0 id="_x0000_i1029" src="http://pimage.timespeople.nytimes.com/6442/6522/cropped-64426522.jpg?0.9522959643433699"><o:p></o:p></li></ol></ol></div><div id="commentElement2_5695098"><div id="permid1_16"><ol start=1 type=1><ol start=7 type=1><ul type=square><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level3 lfo3'>John Thomas<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level3 lfo3'>Rockville, MD<o:p></o:p></li></ul></ol></ol></div><div><p style='margin-left:1.0in'>Following Marc from NYC (who suggested John Candy as Chris Christie), I propose Ralph Fiennes as Eric Cantor and Robert Duvall as hapless John Boehner (who really wants to be reasonable but doesn't dare admit it, even to himself). <br><br>To play Seamus, well, .... hmmmm... computer animation will most likely be required.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><ol start=1 type=1><ol start=7 type=1><ul type=square><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level3 lfo3'><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/opinion/collins-dogging-mitt-romney.html?comments#permid=1:16" id="permalink1_16">March 8, 2012 at 6:42 a.m.</a><o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level3 lfo3'><span class=commentrecommendlinktext>Recommended</span><span class=commentrecommendedcount>7</span><o:p></o:p></li></ul></ol></ol></div></div></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><br clear=all><br>-- <br>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<br><a href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com" target="_blank">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>