Dogs Against Romney

Seattle Reporter Arrives at Film Festival Riding in Crate Strapped to Roof of Car

2012-05-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

UPDATED WITH VIDEO!

Nancy Guppy, our wonderful pack member who arrived at the Seattle Film Festival last weekend RIDING IN A MITT ROMNEY-INSPIRED ROOFTOP DOG CRATE sent me this terrific video of the event. You have to check it out and then tell her awesome she is on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/azwithnancyg

Nancy Guppy, a Seattle reporter, arrived at the red carpet outside the Seattle Film Festival today riding in a crate strapped to the roof of a car.

Two "WOOFS!" for Nancy!

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Puppy Power: The Women Against Romney Project

2012-05-24T09:24:00.001-07:00

Barbara & Darby

Are you a woman against Mitt Romney? Do you have a great photo of yourself and your pup? Be part of our new project, "Puppy Power: Women (and their dogs) Against Romney," which will also be published as an E-book before the election this Fall.

Take a stand. Send a message. Show the world that women do NOT support a mean person for president of the United States.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Step 1: Go to the Dogs Against Romney Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/dogsagainstromney

Step 2: On my page, click "Photo/Video"

Step 3: Then click "Upload Photo/Video."

Step 4: Then enter YOUR first name and YOUR DOG'S name, YOUR CITY, YOUR STATE in the box where shown below.

Step 5: Click "Choose File." Then locate your photo on your computer.

Step 6: After you select your photo from your computer, click "Post." You're done! Note: Your photo WILL NOT remain on my wall. Don't worry, I have it!

To print these instructions, GO HERE.

Note: By uploading your photo, you confirm that you understand you are participating in a voluntary promotion and that your photo may be selected for publication and that you give Dogs Against Romney and its publisher permission to use your photo for promotional purposes. Due to limitations on the size of our publication, not all photos can be used.

ABC News: "Seamus The Immortal"

2012-05-23T08:33:00.005-07:00

Seamus the Irish Setter is immortal. That's the opinion of ABC News after learning that Dogs Against Romney will be partnering with Touchstone/Simon & Schuster to help promote a new book about Seamus by NPR personalities and political satirists Bruce Kluger and David Slavin. The book, "Dog on the Roof! On the Road with Mitt and the Mutt," goes on sale June 19.

According to ABC News, "while the story has incited pet lovers, pestered the presidential candidate [linking to an article about us], and punctuated attack ads, a national book tour devoted solely to propagating the ... event will likely reinvigorate the Seamus saga, which Romney has tried to put to sleep."

Scott Crider, founder of Dogs Against Romney, was interviewed for the story. He told ABC News that the book is the latest addition to a growing grassroots advocacy movement using the Seamus story to point out Romney's "overall meanness."

"It's a character-illuminating anecdote about Romney for a lot of people," Crider said. "A lot of people are just pure dog lovers and see what he did as being abusive; others see it as a little window about what kind of guy he is."

Romney's treatment of Seamus represents a "pattern" of "meanness" from Romney, he said, that is amplified by the recent controversy over his high school bullying and his comments that he "likes being able to fire people."

Crider, who is promoting the book to his 55,000 Dogs Against Romney Facebook followers, said the book "makes Romney look silly."

But, while the book is humorous and satirical, he said it communicates a serious issue in a way that people who don't follow politics can relate to.

"Politics is hard for most people, including me, to keep their head around," Crider said. "Big discussions about universal healthcare and the debt issues and these things are really big and complex for busy people to really be able to wrap their head around."

"This thing with Seamus cuts right through all of that," he said.

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ABC News: Romney's dog cruelty "wrong for his children to witness."

2012-05-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

Meanie Mitt. Grrrr.

ABC News reported the shocking story of Mitt Romney's cruelty to his own dog, saying "Republican presidential candidate...Mitt Romney...has angered animal rights activists for strapping his dog to the roof of his car on a family trip from Boston to Ontario, Canada.

During the 12-hour trip, Seamus (the Romney's Irish Setter) lost control of his bowels in fear, to which Romney's response was to stop at a gas station to give the poor dog an "emotion-free" hosing-down before returning to the highway for hours more driving with Seamus still frightened, lonely, wind-buffeted, uncomfortable, and now dripping wet.

The ABC News strory also quotes Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals as saying "It is commonsense that any dog who's under extreme stress might show that stress by losing control of his bowels: that alone should have been sufficient indication that the dog was, basically, being tortured."

Newkirk went on to say Romney's treatment of Seamus was "a lesson in cruelty that was ... wrong for [his children] to witness."

Join my pack. Help me stop meanie Mitt.

Grrr.

Rusty

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The Ballad of Seamus Romney (Music Video)

2012-05-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

Check it out, pack. 2012 Grammy nominee Linda Chorney teamed up with Venga video to create "The Ballad of Seamus Romney," a hilarious look at just how mean Mitt Romney is.

CAUTION: This video is rated for mature audiences.

Dogs Against Romney Coordinating with Touchstone/Simon & Schuster on Launch of DOG ON THE ROOF: On the Road with Mitt and the Mutt

2012-05-15T16:20:00.000-07:00

Dogs Against Romney will be coordinating with Touchstone/Simon & Schuster next month to help with the launch of the new book, DOG ON THE ROOF! On the Road with Mitt and the Mutt by political satirists Bruce Kluger and David Slavin, with illustrations by Colleen Clapp.

Touchstone/Simon & Schuster began notifying media today of the book’s impending release, saying, “they were the typical American family on a typical American road trip – Dad behind the wheel, Mom in the passenger seat, their five adorable kids piled in the back seat. And, of course, their beloved dog strapped to the roof. Wait…what?”

Scott Crider, founder of the grassroots phenomenon Dogs Against Romney, was contacted by representatives of the publisher last month, who asked him if he would help promote the book via social media. “I am delighted to help promote DOG ON THE ROOF,” Crider said, “because it provides a hilarious look at a character-illuminating issue about Mitt Romney.”

In June, when the book is released to the public, Dogs Against Romney will be offering its more than 53,000 Facebook page members the opportunity to win free copies of the book and other promotional items.

“It’s a testament to not just the public’s continuing interest in this story,” Crider said, “but to the growing influence of the Dogs Against Romney community. They contacted us because can have a big impact on this book’s success.”

DOG ON THE ROOF! On the Road with Mitt and Mutt chronicled by political satirists Bruce Kluger and David Slavin, and cleverly illustrated by Colleen Clapp, will be available from Touchstone / Simon & Schuster June 19, 2012. It is the inside (well…overhead) look at the Man Who Would Be President and the wild ride that’s sweeping – and bewildering – the nation.

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Bullying, Seamus, and Mitt Romney's War on Empathy

2012-05-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

Empathy is at the heart of humanity. According to Col. Eric Kail, West Point’s course director of military leadership, empathy is also at the heart of leadership. “Empathy,” Col. Kail writes, “is far more critical to good leadership than any technical knowledge, skill or ability.”

Empathy is the capacity to put oneself in the place of others – to experience what they are experiencing; to feel how they feel. It is the ability to care not just for individuals, but for all living creatures (including dogs).

We have long believed that Mitt Romney’s decision to transport his dog on the roof of his car, rather than inside with the family, demonstrated a troubling lack of empathy. Our concerns were cemented by his admission that he once hosed-down the poor dog after it became ill, only to continue a 12-hour trip with him still atop the car.

Now we know of even more troubling behavior. The Washington Post revealed today that Romney’s inability to empathize extends as far back as high school, where he was nothing more than a bully. Not just a bully - but the ringleader of bullies.

According to the report, five high school classmates of Romney’s recall a particularly terrible incident of his bullying very well. Romney says he doesn’t remember it at all.

Four of the classmates spoke on the record with The Washington Post individually, and each recalled the incident “similarly.” Romney led a group of other bullies in an attack on another student who had a hairstyle Romney didn’t like. The victim, John Lauber, was “a soft-spoken new student” who was “perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality.” Lauber was tackled by the group and held down, screaming for help, while Romney “repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors.”

“It was vicious,” said one witness, an attorney named Phillip Maxwell.

“It happened very quickly, and to this day it troubles me,” said Thomas Buford, a retired prosecutor who participated with Romney in the attack. Buford later apologized to Lauber.

David Seed, a retired principal who witnessed the attack, ran into Lauber at an airport decades later. Seeing an opportunity to get something off his chest, Seed brought up the incident and apologized to Lauber for not doing more to help stop it. “It was horrible,” Lauber said. “It’s something I have thought a lot about since then.”

Lauber passed away in 2004. Seamus, too, passed on long ago. Those with empathy, however, will never forget them.

Faced with stories such as these, Romney has no choice but to wage a war on empathy. Seamus “loved it” and PETA is “not happy my dog likes fresh air,” he sneered. Likewise, Romney brushed off his bullying, including the attack on Lauber, as “high school pranks.”

By denying that suffering existed at all, Romney calls into question the motives of those who express normal human empathy for his victims. Indeed, he attempts to call into question the validity of empathy at all.

I wonder how Col. Kail would judge Mitt Romney's qualifications as a leader - not just as Commander in Chief, but as the President?

Mitt Romney: Serial Abuser of Power

2012-05-12T11:26:00.001-07:00

"One can draw a straight line from the young man who pinned down a terrified teenager and walked a blind man into a closed door, to the adult who put the family dog in a kennel and strapped it to the roof of the car, to the businessman who laid off hundreds of people, cancelled their health benefits, and paid himself millions while their company went bankrupt."

- Paul Begala

Hari Sevugan on Romney, Seamus, Bullying and the Empathy Gap

2012-05-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

Hari Sevugan, former National Press Secretary of the Democratic National Committee, gets it. She understands that Seamus is part of a long and disturbing pattern in Romney that demonstrates a lack of empathy.

The bullying wasn't a teenage one-off. Seamus, slashing jobs. It's all telling of a lack of empathy and compassion - Presidential qualities.
— Hari Sevugan (@HariSevugan) May 10, 2012

Maddow to Romney: "Whats so funny about bullying, closing factories, and strapping your dog to the roof?"

2012-05-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

Rachel Maddow gets it. Mitt Romney's decision to strap his dog to the roof of his car was just the first indication that he suffers from a troubling lack of empathy. She highlights several more instances in which Romney "chuckles" when discussing what he did to Seamus, a high school classmate he bullied, and factories that were closed by his father. Troubling indeed.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Mitt Romney's Pattern of Cruelty

2012-05-10T07:52:00.001-07:00

For years we've said that Mitt Romney's decision to transport his family dog strapped to the roof of his car - at least once for 12-hours, while the dog was ill - is indicative of a possible character flaw that should be investigated. During the campaign, Romney has said things that perpetuated our concerns. "I'm not concerned about the very poor," the multimillionaire said on CNN. "We have a safety net there."

Now the Washington Post has uncovered news that Romney was an anti-gay bully in high school. He didn't just participate in name-calling, either. He led a group in a physical attack on another student who was thought to be homosexual.

Matthew Friedemann, now a dentist, lived in the same dorm as Romney. According to Friedemann, another student, John Lauber, caught Romney's attention. Lauber was a "soft-spoken new student" who was "perpetually teased for his noncomformity and presumed homosexuality."

Romney didn't like the way Lauber wore his hair, which was bleached-blonde and draped over one eye. After a few days of complaining about Lauber's appearance, Friedemann said, he saw Romney leading a group a students, shouting about their plan to cut Lauber's hair.

Friedemann followed Romney's mob to a nearby room where they tackled Lauber and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber screamed for help, his eyes filling with tears, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors, the Washington Post reports.

When asked about the report yesterday, Ed Gillespie, Romney's senior campaign adviser, said Romney "doesn't remember that at all."

Five other students remember it, though. Each witness was interviewed individually. Each, the Washington Post says, remembered it "similarly." Four spoke on the record.

Thomas Buford, a retired prosecutor who participated with Romney in the attack that day said, "to this day it troubles me." Lauber, the victim, was "terrified," Buford said. Buford subsequently apologized to Lauber.

"It was a hack job," said Phillip Maxwell, a lawyer and friend of Romney's who saw what happened that day. "It was vicious."

David Seed, a retired principal who witnessed the incident, ran into Lauber years later at the Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Seeing an opportunity to get something off his chest, Seed brought up the incident and apologized to Lauber that he "didn't do more to help in the situation." Lauber told Seed "it was horrible," explaining how frightened he was during the incident. "It's something I have thought about a lot since then," Lauber said.

A dentist, a lawyer, a prosecutor, and a principal all remember the incident clearly. The only person who doesn't remember it is the GOP nominee for president of the United States.

Lauber died in 2004, but he is remembered by those who cared about him. Just like Seamus.

Willkommen Leser aus Deutschland

2012-05-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

Ein besonderes Willkommen auf unserer Hunde-liebende Freunde aus Deutschland! Mitt Romney will Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten sein, aber er ist bis mittlere Hunde. Er macht uns Angst. Grrr! Wenn Romney jemals nach Deutschland kommt, protestieren, ihn mit uns!

Wuff!

Note to our English-speaking readers: We were featured in a German newspaper this morning and we are getting lots of visitors from Germany.

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VIDEO: Hey, Mitt Romney: Journey Won't Ride on the Roof

2012-05-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hey, Mitt: Journey Won't Ride on the Roof!

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Mitt Romney's Cone of Shame

2012-05-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

Mitt Romney admits he strapped his dog to the roof of his car for a 12-hour ride. For this, he has been listed in two national animal cruelty databases.

See the video: "Registered Pet Offender"

Download the poster: Neighborhood Pet Offender Advisory

Join the Super Pack: Dogs Against Romney Facebook

Couple Arrested for Strapping Children to Car Roof: "The Kids Loved It," Man Says

2012-05-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

Two Northern Indiana parents were arrested Monday after police said they strapped their four children to the roof of their car. "The kids loved it," father claims.

9:39 p.m. EDT, May 7, 2012
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Two Northern Indiana parents were arrested Monday after police said they strapped their four children to the roof of their car. Ft. Wayne police were called to the Belmont Beverage liquor store in the 2100 block of Fairfield Avenue around 5:30 p.m. Witnesses said the parents had visited the liquor store before driving off.

A U.S. Marshall reportedly spotted the car travelling on Fairfield near the liquor store. The couple was immediately pulled over.

"The kids loved it," the children's father said in his defense. "Yes," the mother agreed. "They get excited every time we go somewhere."

The U.S. Marshall demanded to know why the couple thought it was a good decision to travel with the children on the roof of the car. "Well," the mother said, "one of the kids has the runs. She ate the turkey off the counter."

"I was just going to that gas station to hose her down," the man added, pointing down the street.

While being handcuffed, the man became agitated, screaming, "I built them a special windshield! They were in an airtight container!"

The officer told reporters on the scene that he has been in law enforcement for over 25-years. "I've never seen anything so dangerous and cruel in my life. The minute I got those kids down from there, they tried to run away."

"They 'Seamused' their own kids," the officer said.

-Note: This story is true. The parents' "excuses" are satire, previously made by Mitt and Ann Romney in defense of their own decision to strap their dog to the roof of their car for a 12-hour drive to Canada-

Dogs Aren't Luggage

2012-05-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

Mitt Romney admits to transporting Seamus, his family's Irish Setter, on the roof of his car for very long trips, at Interstate highway speeds (at least once for 12 hours). Romney also admits to leaving Seamus on the roof of the car after the dog became sick, stopping only to hose Seamus down after he soiled himself in his crate atop the car - and then continuing the trip.

Think about it - a loving, loyal member of the Romney family, strapped dangerously atop the car, lonely, wind-whipped, uncomfortable, sick and now wet. We believe this is wrong - and a clear indication that Mitt Romney possesses a degree of detached coldness not easily comprehended by families who love their pets.

Dogs aren't luggage.

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Colbert on Today Show: Election Comes Down to "Who Has Been Crueler to a Dog"

2012-05-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

Steve Colbert, host of The Colbert Report, was on the Today Show this morning. He was asked by host David Gregory to give his opinion about what the presidential race hinges on. Colbert said, "It comes down to who was crueler to a dog."

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Don't Strap Students to the Roof

2012-05-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

Rusty says,

"Tell Congress: 'Don't strap students to the roof!'"

Don't let student loan rates double. Grrr.

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Conservative Columnist: Obama "blew the oxygen out of" dog-eating story

2012-05-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

Debra J. Saunders, conservative columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, published a column on May 1 in which she analyzes Mitt Romney and the dog-on-roof story. Her conclusion, basically, is that Romney is screwed.

Ms. Saunders did not use the word "screwed" of course - but here is what she did say:

"Romney has not figured out how to put the 30-year-old story behind him. So critics continue to use the episode as the defining anecdote about the GOP hopeful."

Saunders describes the Romney campaign's attempt to derail the criticism two weeks ago by introducing a passage from President Obama's 2004 book, Dreams From My Father, in which Obama described being introduced to dog meat by his stepfather as a young child in Indonesia.

"Did Obama go on the defensive? No," Saunders observes. "He took ownership of the tale" by cracking jokes about it last week at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. "By being cool, Obama blew the oxygen out of the story."

In conclusion, Saunders says "there's no point in telling reporters about how crowded the family station wagon was." If he had it do over again, she advises, "Romney should say he would have hired a car and driver for his dog."

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You Can't Outrun Pet Abuse, Mitt

2012-05-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

This is the scene that greeted Mitt Romney as he arrived at the Ritz Pentagon City tonight. You can't outrun pet abuse, Mitt.

@Grrr_Romney @ThisWeekABC @GStephanopoulos twitter.com/CheetahPizzas/…
— Cheetah Pizza (@CheetahPizzas) May 3, 2012

The People Have Questions. Will ABC's Stephanopoulos Help Get Answers?

2012-05-02T12:45:00.000-07:00

Today, George Stephanopoulos asked the public to submit questions for his show this Sunday, This Week with George Stephanopoulos. As you can see from the screen captures below, the most prevalent thing people want to know more about is Mitt Romney's dog-on-roof issue.

Specifically, most people are now asking how Seamus, Romney's dog, got home from Canada - if he came back from Canada at all. There are rumors, supported by Romney's former brother-in-law, that Mitt and Ann Romney have not been truthful about Seamus' fate during that trip to Canada.

How a person treats his pet is window into his character. If he lies about the fate of that pet, it is an even bigger window into his character. Will Stephanopoulos, and ABC, help the people get answers to this question? We have a right to know.

Screen captures from: https://www.facebook.com/ThisWeekABC

Pizza-Carrying Romney Heckled: "Don't Just Put 'Em on the Roof of the Car!"

2012-05-01T13:30:00.001-07:00

"Don't just put 'em on the roof of the car!"
-Unknown heckler

Mitt Romney just can't win.

Today, on the anniversary of the death of Osama Bin Laden in a daring mission ordered by President Obama, Romney decided to mark the occasion by joining former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in delivering pizza to a local New York firehouse.

But Romney's planned tribute was spoiled when, as he left Joe's Pizza on Carmine Street, carrying a stack of pizzas, a passing New Yorker yelled: "Don't just put 'em on the roof of the car!"

It made The Atlantic's "Photo of the Day."

You can't outrun pet abuse, Mitt.

Hat tip: The Atlantic
Photo by Rick Gorka/Instagram

Official Dogs Against Romney Bumper Sticker

2012-05-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

The Official Dogs Against Romney bumper sticker store is the only store that contributes a portion of all our proceeds to an animal welfare organization. Members of our pack on Facebook will get to choose the organization we support when the election is over.

SHOP NOW

President Obama Upon Learning Seal Team Included a Dog: "I want to meet that dog."

2012-05-01T07:11:00.001-07:00

One year ago, President Obama authorized a face-to-face meeting between Osama Bin Laden and members of America's elite SEAL Team 6 commandos. The president could have ordered a simple missile strike on Bin Laden's compound, but then we might never have known for sure we got him. Not only that, but we'd have killed Bin Laden's wives and children as well. Obama bet his entire presidency on doing the right thing.

Mitt Romney, for his part, said he would never have gone after Bin Laden at all. In 2007, at the height of America's effort to bring Bin Laden to justice, Romney said: "it's not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." Think about that. If Romney had become president in 2008, Bin Laden would have been allowed to go free - and would be plotting his next murderous attack on us as you read this.

About Dogs

Prior to the Bin Laden raid, no one knew Seal Team 6 included a dog, named Cairo, as a member of the team - not even the president. The moment he learned this news, however, the President said: "I want to meet that dog." The President and Cairo met at the SEALS' base in Kentucky 5-days later. The President made sure the dog was included in the SEALS' recognition for valor.

Mitt Romney has never even mentioned Cairo. I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise, considering how carelessly and cruelly he treated his own dog.

In summary, President Obama is a man who will make the gutsy choice, do the right thing for America, and make sure everyone - even the dog - is included in the recognition.

Mitt Romney, by his own admission, is a man who will let terrorists have a free pass, do the wrong thing for America, and exclude even his own dog by forcing it to ride strapped to the luggage rack of his car.

Rusty

Mitt Romney Dog-On-Roof: A Compliation

2012-05-01T06:03:00.001-07:00

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