Wednesday 22 April 2015

Election special! Gromit or a husky?

It may have escaped the notice of some of my more far flung readers that here in the UK we are in the middle of a general election campaign.

Now I do recognise that the United Kingdom is no longer the power it once was when a large part of the globe was coloured in British Empire pink, but still, I feel our election is worthy of attention. And, of course, I am interested in which political party us pups should be encouraging our humans to support.

I have conducted extensive background research, using the following search terms on Google:

"David Cameron (Conservative) + dog"
"Ed Miliband (Labour) + dog"
"Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat) + dog"
"Nigel Farage (UKIP) + dog"
"Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) + dog"

Sadly, I have to report that none of our main party leaders appears to own, or indeed to be particularly fond of, the canine species.

All, however, is not lost.

Our current Prime Minister, Mr Cameron, was famed early on in his leadership for certain 'hug a husky' photos purportedly indicating his concerns about global warning. The photos are still circulating on the internet ...


… and it will only be trivial minds (such as Gail's) which look at this image and think gosh, was Dave's hair really that brown just a few short years ago?

Huskies have, however, been absent from this year's Conservative election publicity, and I am struggling to find alternative reasons for telling Gail to put her X by the box of the Tory candidate in Aberdeen South.

The rather startling image below is the result of the Miliband/dog search.


To any mystified readers, may I respectfully suggest you head straight to YouTube and acquaint yourself with those wonderful British cartoon creations, Wallace and Gromit. And decide for yourself if the less intelligent of the man/dog comic partnership in any way resembles the UK's current Leader of the Opposition.

Here in Scotland, we are of course most interested in the position of SNP leader/First Minister Ms Sturgeon. Disappointing, then, to learn that she recently confessed to being a wee bit frightened of dogs. A surprising admission indeed, in a pro-Independence politician, so feisty and apparently well able to take care of herself, as these are traits which surely suggest an affinity with the native terrier population?

Followers of British politics are well accustomed to hearing Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader, being described as Cameron's "poodle" in a way that is, frankly, insulting to poodles, and I feel that to illustrate this point with an image would be dragging down standards on this blog to an unacceptable low.

Oh, Gail says it will be OK. All right then:

So dear readers in the UK, I do hope this mini-review has helped you make up your mind about who to vote for come 7th May.

And to those who would complain that I have unfairly ignored the UK Independence Party and its leader Mr Nigel Farage, let me assure you this was entirely intentional, and we here in this household wish the rest of the world would do the same...


PS: On the radio yesterday morning, I kept hearing that everyone in England is worried about "the SNP tail wagging the Labour dog". WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT?

22 comments:

  1. My momma LUVS Wallace and Gromit.

    And if ya think your choices are bad, ya should see what we got over here. If it winds up bein Clinton vs. Bush, momma are wonderin if she will go back to Kindergarten too.

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  2. We wouldn't wish any dog with our leader.

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  3. Our president has a dog ... butt... well, you know... :o) It's a ritual here that all presidents have a lab... maybe it helps to make some things better, there are a lot of things humans can learn from their dogs :o)
    easy rider

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  4. Really, Nicola Sturgeon is frightened of dogs!!! After her Rottweiler performances in the TeeVee debates I am amazed!
    Loves and licky kisses
    Princess Leah xxx

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  5. Well, not being in the UK, I'll go with which ever one you and Gail find most suitable.

    Dogs (and sometimes cats) often play a role in our elections. Like our last presidential campaign where one of the candidates used to strap the family dog to the roof of his car on trips and later lost the dog (because it was so frightened and ran away) during a camping trip.

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  6. Well, we are not the first to say this here, but it is worth repeating:

    Even Politics in the UK seems more fun and more amusing than ours here in the US

    However, y'all have had a bit more practice.

    Gus n Teka

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  7. Mum shudders whenever a politician kisses a baby so we hope the doggies are safe from them too. No worries and love Stella and Rory

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  8. Well Bertie mom says pets are extremely good judges of good humans. Here in my casa we think a home isn't complete w/o a 4 legger.
    There was recently pet info on the folks who plan to run for President of the USA...about 1/2 have pets one is extremely allergic
    Hugs madi your bfff

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  9. Hmmm Nicola Sturgeon is afraid of dogs. That gives me food for an idea which may or may not include a dark alley and a large Alsation. Thanks Bertie!

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  10. Hari OM
    Interesting survey. He who shall not be named is duly assigned to the waste paper (and marked 'not for recycling').. am so with you on that one Bertie lad.

    BOL - Wall-Ed pretty much sums him up. Poo-clegg??? Naah,,, more a trufflehund, snuffling around trying to find the treasure... the only climate the huskateer is interested in is the one immediately around Westminster... There are several minnows in the moat who have grown some larger fins and might help to keep things interesting for him...

    The Sturgeon 'shoal' fight the fight, for they have seen their species be netted, gutted and their eggs spread on toast of the bigwigs. Little wonder they are wary of barkers. Wagging the dog??? What seems to have been completely overlooked by the commentators is that we are talking two entirely different species!

    Doesn't mean they can't form channels of communication. Fish at least do know how to wag their own tail... a wise dog will wag in return. Wagging together, recognising difference. ...Oh dear, does that sound a bit too much like 'walking twixt land and sea'???

    Soon be over Bertie. Then we can get on with the serious stuff; like Blogville Soccer matches and such like!

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  11. WE think that the PEEP Politicians are mostly NUTTY... OUR PAWliticians in Blogville are MUCH Better.

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  12. Hey Bertie!
    Wow, must be entertaining campaigns there! Ours are mostly nutty entertainment too. Dang, I know I'm just a dog, but politician peeps confuse the heck outa me. BOL
    Lots of our presidents have had dogs in the White House, so that's cool.
    Grr and Woof,
    Sarge, Police Commish

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  13. I can't believe that NONE of the candidates own a dog! We've had dogs in the White House for years -- I don't remember the last US President who didn't have one. They've got TASTE.

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  14. When I first started dating Jack, he introduced me to Wallace and Gromit and it was love at first sight...W and G as well as Jack!!! Do you allow write-in candidates????

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  15. Hmmm. Interesting options you've got there Bertie. Shocking that not one single candidate has a dog. That's just wrong.

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  16. We have been following your election with interest and some concern in re: Farage/ La farge . We also wonder why all the SNP leaders seem to be named after fish. [Salmon, Sturgeon]. We assume this must be an important quality in Scottish Nationalist politicians for some reason.

    Sadly, our next presidential electioneering has already started and the actual voting is 18 months away! As has become the depressing norm, it appears to be shaping up as yet another election for sale to the highest bidder.

    At least our Dear Leaders have figured out it plays well to have a dog, whether they really want one or not. But still only one Great Dane has made it into the White House. Not sure about WFT's. We'll have to research that.

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  17. Hmmm dog free candidates stay home
    Retro rover

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  18. Luckily we are a ways away from an election.

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  19. We remember when Tony Blair was referred to as George Bush's "poodle." Again, did any actual poodles weigh in on this?

    -Ruby

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  20. Our Mum keeps moaning the recycling bin is filling up quicker these days...... Postbox keeps filling with political "junk"
    Molly, Taffy, Monty and Winnie

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  21. Just to further what Casey spoke about some ex-president said if you want a friend in DC, get yourself a dog. The Bushes all had numerous dogs, Clinton had Buddy the lab, Obama has Beau the Porty Water Dog.
    I hope the pups made good friends for all.

    Jo, Stella and Zkhat

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