After this photo of George H.W. Bush’s service dog Sully, with the slug “Mission Complete,” went viral, Slate writer Ruth Graham made one of the great counter-narrative moves in the history of digital journalism with a piece headlined, “Don’t Spend Your Emotional Energy on Sully H.W. Bush.”
The key graf:
It’s wonderful for Bush that he had a trained service animal like Sully available to him in his last months. It’s a good thing that the dog is moving on to another gig where he can be helpful to other people (rather than becoming another Bush family pet). But it’s a bit demented to project soul-wrenching grief onto a dog’s decision to lie down in front of a casket. Is Sully “heroic” for learning to obey the human beings who taught him to perform certain tasks? Does the photo say anything special about this dog’s particular loyalty or judgment, or is he just … there?
Some of the reaction:
Slate torched over article about George HW Bush’s service dog Sully – The Hill
Twitter Users Bite Hard Over Barking Mad Story on Sully – HuffPost
Slate belittles George HW Bush’s service dog Sully – Washington Times
George HW Bush’s service dog ‘Sully” isn’t a Democrat or Republican—It’s doggone crazy to attack him – Fox News
Critics bite hard over Slate Magazine’s article – CBS
Slate Trashed for Attacking George H.W. Bush’s Service Dog – TheWrap
Slate slammed for article about George H.W. Bush’s service dog Sully – Yahoo
Slate Writer Gets Ripped to Shreds After Attacking George H.W. Bush’s Loyal Service Dog – dailywire
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