Sarah Palin, the television salesperson who moonlights as a former Alaskan governor, has outraged animal rights activists and dismayed many of her own supporters by sharing photos of her youngest son standing gleefully upon the family dog.
Palin shared a New Year’s Day post on Facebook which began innocuously enough. In it, she employed a tedious metaphor about “stepping stones on the path forward” for the new year:
Happy New Year!
May 2015 see every stumbling block turned into a stepping stone on the path forward. Trig just reminded me. He, determined to help wash dishes with an oblivious mama not acknowledging his signs for “up!”, found me and a lazy dog blocking his way. He made his stepping stone.
– Sarah Palin
That post was followed by three photographs of Trig, in which he ascended, mounted, and stood upon the family dog. Note that, in the metaphor above, the dog is the stumbling block:
It’s also important to note that six-year-old Trig, who has Down syndrome, is not the one coming under fire here. The criticism is being leveled at Palin, who’s standing there taking pictures while a dog’s shoulders and ribs are getting compressed like a doomed diver’s lungs. Her characterization of the dog as “lazy” is more than a bit silly, too; dogs have legs, and healthy ones–the kind that aren’t being stood upon–can use them to move out of the way when you need to use the sink. And, if you do want your six-year old at the sink without supervision, a stepstool is a much sturdier aide.
Mitt Romney could not be reached for comment.
(Photo credits: Gage Skidmore; Sarah Palin)
