'Wag the Dog': A White House Holiday Priority

21 Dec 2006 @ 12:41 | Permalink | Comments

The White House spends time and money on producing a film featuring Barney the Scotty.

Barney Bush the Scotty is soft-spoken, well-behaved and cute. He is the star in a professional short film shot by the White House. President Bush also makes a cameo appearance. Is it worth the time and energy of the leader of the free world and the White House staffers?

In the film (Windows Media,
Real Player, Quicktime), the White House is a warm, fuzzy, inviting holiday fantasy and not the cold ice castle of ruthless realpolitik that has led to wars and deaths. The film, a P.R. product, speaks nothing of war, poverty, unemployment or climate change.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his black lab Koni.

No other executive branch in the world spends as much time using the First Pets as public relations tools. Russia's Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is often seen with his black lab Koni, but his public affairs office does not cast her in holiday films. But unlike the choreographed appearances of Barney, Koni appears to roam free around Kremlin, eating treats from the press corps.

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