Slate Gets Ripped To Shreds For Attacking George H.W.’s Service Dog

Ashley (Kimber)

A few days back I wrote about Sully, George H.W.’s loyal service dog.

The picture quickly went viral after being shared by Jim McGrath, Bush’s longtime aide and personal friend.

Many of us got a case of the feelings on this one, because how could you not?

Well, the insufferable liberals at Slate reminded us we’re all just stupid for thinking this is sweet in a lovely little piece entitled “Don’t Spend Your Emotional Energy on Sully H.W. Bush.”

[I]t’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? Also, if dogs are subject to praise for obeying their masters, what do we do about the pets who eat their owners’ dead (or even just passed-out) bodies?

The photograph, in other words, is not proof that Sully is a particularly “good boy” or that “we don’t deserve dogs,” as countless swooning tweets put it on Monday. On its own, it says almost nothing other than the fact that Sully was, at one point in the same room as the casket of his former boss. This is simply a photograph of a dog doing something dogs love to do: Lie down. The frenzy around it captures something humans love to do, too: Project our own emotional needs onto animals.

Can you imagine being this much of a cold-hearted troll?

I can’t. And neither can the rest of the internet.

Don’t be petty, Slate. It’s not a good look.