Listening to the pundits, pontificators and prevaricators on today's political scene, its' easy to think that we're at new levels of hyperbole in communications. But politics has always had a good dose of the fantastic. Take today's anniversary of FDR's 1944 defense of his dog Fala:
Roosevelt's Republican opponents had circulated a story saying that he had mistakenly left Fala behind while visiting the Aleutian Islands and sent a Navy destroyer to go back to pick up the dog, costing the taxpayers $20 million. (Back when $20 million was a lot of money)
As part of a campaign dinner address on September 23rd, Roosevelt claimed the right to "object to libelous statements about my dog", accusing his critics (only half-jokingly) of attacking the reputation of a defenseless dog to distract Americans from more pressing issues confronting the country.
Comments