Oh dear Lord, I leave my blog and politics alone for a few days, and what should happen but a conspiracy theory crops up involving... the new First Dog. Yes, really:

Barack Obama and his wife Michelle said during the presidential campaign that they had promised their two girls a dog after the election.

The Obamas repeatedly said they wanted it to be a rescued dog such as one from a shelter. Their search was complicated by daughter Malia's allergies, which would rule out many of the "mutts" the president has said he would prefer.

Enter Bo, a 6-month-old puppy given up by his first owner and matched with the Obamas through his breeders. Because he was given up by his first owner as a poor fit and is now with his second owners, the Obamas, but never spent time in a shelter or with a rescue group, Bo is a "quasi-rescue dog," says Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of The Humane Society of the United States.

Here's where the intrigue comes in:

—Bo's breeders happen to have bred Sen. Edward Kennedy's Portuguese water dogs. The Massachusetts Democrat, an Obama friend and political ally, also acquired a pup from Bo's litter. Bo's breeders are fans of Obama and named Bo's litter the Hope and Change litter. ...

Sweet:

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Connecticut U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd now trailing former Republican Congressman Rob Simmons and two other possible GOP challengers for the 2010 election.

[...]

The poll shows Simmons defeating Dodd by a 50 percent to 34 percent margin.

Oh yeah, Dodd's approval rating, per the same poll, is now down to 33%.

I have to wonder if/when top Dems are going to begin trying to convince Dodd to just go.  Clearly, the good people of Connecticut want him to... [intro]

Readers of this blog will know that I've never been 100% sold on the idea that President Obama is the answer to collective US prayers to have our image overseas vastly improved. But today, he stepped in it in a way that makes his diplomatic screw ups feel just a tad more personal for me. Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal's Real Time Economics blog:

The goods news out of London is that Barack Obama has reaffirmed America’s “special relationship” with the U.K. The bad news is that the “affinity and kinship” that the U.S. president spoke of apparently only extends to England.

[...]

On Wednesday at a joint conference with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Mr. Obama made a pass at acknowledging the special relationship. Unfortunately, he inadvertently broke a cardinal protocol by at one stage using England to denote U.K.

“We owe so much to England; that when you come here there’s that sense of familiarity, as well as difference, that makes it just a special place,” he said, leaving Wales, Northern Ireland and Mr. Brown’s home country of Scotland out in the cold.

Yes, indeed-- Obama did break a cardinal protocol-- and I can't help but imagine that even if Brown himself knew what Obama was getting at, the PM was no doubt a tad offended because that's how Scots respond to this kind of thing. There's a good chance that a good portion of 5 or-so million people, plus descendants who self-describe as "Scottish" in some form are going to be left feeling a little, well, peeved at the President (note the author of the above piece's name)....