The Obama-eats-dog story is needed to nullify the Shame-of-Seamus tale.

I understand why Obama opponents are frying this story to a crisp, e.g., James Taranto:

One time Barack Obama went to an Indian restaurant and ordered the lassi. Was he ever disappointed when the waiter brought him a yogurt drink!

And Instapundit... just go over there and scroll. It's brimming with Obama-eats-dog nuggets. Like this link to "Dogs Against Obama" — which corresponds to the much promoted "Dogs Against Romney."

My preference would be for everyone to stop talking about the dog stories, but that's not how speech works. No one notices that some speakers are refraining from speaking. In a free-speech marketplace of ideas, you've got to provide more speech. You might say, well, let's be high-minded about this and say things like: Let's avoid distractions and discuss things that really matter, like the economy. But that won't drive the Seamus story away. You've got to offer an equivalent product in the marketplace of ideas, and Obama-eats-dog is that product.

ADDED: The Obama-eats-dog meme makes jokes — especially visual humor — incredibly easy. Everybody's suddenly a photoshop comic genius with stuff like this:



You can scream for mercy now, but the cat is out of the bag the dog is out of the strapped-to-the-top-of-the-car kennel.