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Within moments of Martha’s coronation, internet users flocked to their devices to register comments. A few were amusing, such as a Yahoo! News comment saying, “Proof positive that somewhere in the past a dog mated with a walrus.” A whole lot of them, though, took the opportunity as one more excuse to link a news story with their political opinions, no matter how imponderable the connection. (As one woman wrote after reading a bunch of the comments on TMZ, “How is it that you manage to interject politics in even a dog contest?”) But interject them they did.
On TMZ: "That dog is beautiful when you compare it to Hillary's angry rat face." And,"One of the best pictures of Michelle Obama yet." And, "Better looking than Maxine Waters and probably smarter."
On USA Today: "I thought it (Martha's photo) was the cover of the New Women of the DNC calendar." And,"Hillary a close second. Chelsea edges Patti Murray in a runoff for third."
On Yahoo News: "Nancy Pelosi after her last facelift." And, "I thought I was looking at a picture of Maxine Waters or Nancy Pelosi."And, "Big, lazy and gassy … just like Trump."
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Mocking a politician’s physical appearance isn’t a 21st-century invention, of course; Abe Lincoln was the target for all sorts of ugliness. Still, the drivel that passes for political discourse on social media sort of makes you long for the kinder, gentler days when politicians were merely referred to as sneaky, lying crooks.
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Or, as Lincoln was characterized in Harpers Weekly: “Filthy Story-Teller, Despot, Liar, Thief, Braggart, Buffoon, Usurper, Monster, Ignoramus Abe, Old Scoundrel, Perjurer, Robber, Swindler, Tyrant, Field-Butcher, Land-Pirate.”
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