(cross-posted to The People's Republic of Seabrook)

Romney's Cruel Canine Vacation

The reporter intended the anecdote that opened part four of the Boston Globe's profile of Mitt Romney to illustrate, as the story said, "emotion-free crisis management": Father deals with minor — but gross — incident during a 1983 family vacation, and saves the day. But the details of the event are more than unseemly — they may, in fact, be illegal. The incident: dog excrement found on the roof and windows of the Romney station wagon. How it got there: Romney strapped a dog carrier — with the family dog Seamus, an Irish Setter, in it — to the roof of the family station wagon for a twelve hour drive from Boston to Ontario, which the family apparently completed, despite Seamus's rather visceral protest.

In a Presidential election season sorely lacking in ANYTHING resembling entertainment value, leave it to Mitt Romney to be the first to have his past come back and poop on him. OK, I recognize that this incident took place 24 years ago- not that time mitigates the crime of animal cruelty, of course- but I'd like to think that Romney has grown and matured over the past 24 years. Man, if some of the things I did in 1983 came back on me, I'd have a helluva lot to answer for.

This incident, while certainly regrettable and horribly abusive, happened long ago. What I'm more interested in is how Romney and his merry band of apologists handle damage control. Cue the photo op at your local ASPCA shelter, eh?

I can hardly wait to see what jumps out of Tom Tancredo's closet....