Gerald V. Casale of Devo is running a campaign to keep the story of Seamus, a dog presidential candidate Mitt Romney had during the 80’s, in the minds of the voters during this election yea
Gerald Casale of Devo photo by Ros O'Gorman
He has called for 2012 to be the year where “animals like Seamus are valued and honesty praised” and voters received “the dog’s honest truth.”
For those who aren’t aware of the story, here’s an explanation from Casale’s new web page rememberseamus.com.
Seamus ( shā’məs / ˈʃeɪməs / SHAY-muss ) an Irish Setter, was an active, outgoing dog, and was the Romney family’s first dog. In June 1983, Mitt Romney and his family were preparing for their annual vacation from their Belmont, Massachusetts home to a family cottage in Beach O’Pines, Ontario. Seamus was transported in what Governor Romney says was a “completely air tight kennel” that he had strapped onto the roof of the family’s Chevrolet Caprice station wagon. Sometime during the 650-mile trip from Massachusetts to Ontario, the dog became afflicted with diarrhea, causing excrement to flow down the windows of the car. Romney then stopped at a gas station to wash Seamus down and put him back in his “roof-top carrier,” and continued on with the 12-hour drive to Canada.
Unfortunately no pictures or renderings of the “completely airtight kennel” have been made available to the press. As a result one can only speculate as to exactly how the kennel functioned. Nonetheless, it is interesting to note that, according to Russell Cummings, a professor of aerospace engineering at California Polytechnic State University, a dog could have as much as three pounds (ten pounds per square foot) of air pressure pressing against his head during the trip were it a kennel of conventional design.
The latest part of the campaign is a new track by Devo, Don’t Roof Rack Me, Bro! (Remember Seamus).
Have a listen to it here:
