Was the dog distressed? Was it illegal under Massachusetts law as cruelty? There is some evidence that both are true. During the trip, the Boston Globe reported, Romney’s oldest son, Tagg, looked around through the rear window and yelled,“Dad — gross!” A brown liquid was dripping down the back window — diarrhea from an animal that just might have been caused by the stress of being inside a cage for 12 hours on top of a car going 60 mph.And what did Romney do, even after knowing of the dog's diarrhea? Did he realize that perhaps Seamus should be shown some mercy, cleaned up and allowed in the car, to sleep on someone’s lap? No.Here’s how the Globe described what Romney then did:
“As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.”Emotion-free crisis management??!I love animals, especially dogs. I don’t like people who are cruel to animals. I am told it is illegal in Massachusetts to put an animal on a car roof while driving. Had I been the local sheriff, I would have arrested him.
I have thought about Romney and what it is that bugs me beyond his liberalism and it is this: (you mention emotion free, I think it goes past management. I do not think he has emotion at all, it is as though he get external cues on how to express emotion, there is nothing inside him)
affect
vb (mainly tr)
1. to put on an appearance or show of; make a pretence of to affect ignorance
2. to adopt the character, manner, etc., of those around them
“There he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway.”
Great, so for the rest of the trip, not only was the poor dog scared and battered by the wind, but now he was soaked to boot.