Attacking Joe Biden's dog Champ is a low blow
CNN)
Juliana Silva
For
conservative media looking to throw Joe Biden for a loop, these are
lean times. It's not for lack of trying. Tucker Carlson scraped the
bottom of the partisan-attack barrel a couple of days after Valentine's
Day, insinuating that Joe and Jill Biden's love story was nothing more
than PDAs: "Pretend Displays of Affection." He said the first couple's
devotion was "as real as climate change." I guess for some people,
denial springs eternal. In response, the President's granddaughter Naomi said she thought Carlson "needs a hug."
But
if you thought the right-wing couldn't get any more petty and pathetic,
Newsmax, that journalistic bastion, went after the Bidens' German
shepherd, Champ. It aired a segment claiming that he was "dirty,"
"unpresidential" and looked like a "junkyard dog." Between the pandemic
and the weather disaster in Texas, clearly there wasn't enough news for
them that day.
The
accusations that Champ, who is 12 years old (84 in human years) is
over-the-hill and unsuitable to take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue is a broadside that his owner can easily relate to. That's the
failed strategy Biden's opponent tripled down on in the presidential
campaign by attacking
his age and mental acuity. Perhaps in these bitterly partisan times,
the old expression, "love me, love my dog," needs to be changed to,
"attack me, attack my dog."
Belittling Champ's canine dignity was like questioning Dr. Anthony Fauci's scientific chops. Year in and out, German shepherds rank among the top three breeds in a variety of qualities. "Overall, they are the top dog," said Tina Zinn who runs ARK Charities,
a non-profit organization in Fairfield County, Connecticut, that
specializes in rescuing German shepherds. "They are the most
well-rounded, loyal, smart, loving, affectionate dogs. They're MVPs:
Most Versatile Pooches."
What
the Newsmax crew failed to realize is that German shepherds are
"working dogs." They are a breed you're more likely to see in the
trenches of a war zone than in an expensive grooming salon. They are
rough and tumble by nature, not some perfectly coifed designer dog.
And
yet, German shepherds have been deemed noble enough to play a prominent
role in first family history. They graced the White House grounds for
the administrations of the Democrats Franklin Roosevelt and John F.
Kennedy. Herbert Hoover and Calvin Coolidge, both Republicans, also had
German shepherds.
But
just as the majority of American voters decided in November that Joe
Biden, despite his age, has the necessary vigor to occupy the Oval
Office, the same could also be said for Champ.
In
just a little over a month, he and his cohort Major, a three-year-old
German shepherd, have been put to work in a Covid-19 prevention public
service announcement and an inspection of the White House grounds on
Valentine's Day. Together, they have also been amassing Twitter
followers at a staggering pace. At this rate, they could pass Newsmax's
Greg Kelly by summer.
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The
absurd swipe at Champ was a thinly veiled dig at the Bidens,
questioning how much love and attention they give him. The timing of the
implication by conservative media that Champ is somehow neglected makes
one wonder whether this was a "wag the dog" situation, an effort to
divert attention from the ongoing crisis in Texas and the saga of poor
Snowflake, Ted Cruz's family dog. A reporter learned that Snowflake was
left home while the rest of the family flew to Cancún. While Newsmax may
have missed that story of canine neglect, it did not go unnoticed on
social media, where "Justice for Snowflake" was trending for days.
Ask
any dog which they'd prefer, Snowflake's solitude in a dark, cold house
or Champ lying in front of a roaring fire in the Oval Office, and the
results would likely be a landslide.
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