My surrogate just yak'ed on the carpet

[MonkeyFunk]

He's a big, 18 lb cat. Gah.


But the real point is how the hell did everybody become a surrogate? A surrogate used to be a press secretary - somebody who spoke on behalf of the campaign.

Rangel is not a surrogate - he's an accomplished adult who speaks on behalf of himself. Robert Johnson is not a surrogate - he's an accomplished adult who speaks on behalf of himself. Oprah Winfrey is not a surrogate for Obama. She's an accomplished adult who speaks on behalf of herself.

Can we please stop this crap?

[TwilightGardener]

1. I have 3 cats and two dogs, and at least one of them yaks (or worse)

on the floor every other day, which is why I have no carpeting--and yet they still aim for my area rugs. I feel your pain.

[niyad]

2. huh?

[goldcanyonaz]

3. Shit, seems to be a popular side dish served around here.

[earthboundmisfit]

4. Yup. That unmistakable sound -

and you can never, ever get to them in time :)
I wonder if there's a Wikipedia entry yet for "Cat Yak"...

[TwilightGardener]

7. glurp glurp glurp glurp glurp glurp glurp ACK!!

And me, running with the paper towels before it soaks in.

[MonkeyFunk]

9. lol!

God, yeah.

Last night he puked on the hardwood floors, and I got worried that he was REALLY sick, cuz he usually finds the one scrap of carpet or does it behind the TV on all the wires.

[MonkeyFunk]

11. and by the way

that's a perfect metaphor for what goes on here.

I may steal it.

[TwilightGardener]

14. Feel free--hope your big kitty feels better!

[MonkeyFunk]

16. oh, he's fine

he's been yakking for years. He scarfs his food, throws it up for me to admire, and goes about his business.

He lives off mice and moles, evidently.

[MonkeyFunk]

8. lol

yeah, it sounds like an oil can from my childhood. Some sort of metal bouncing.

[sam sarrha]

5. the air time COST to say surrogate, constantly lie, bash democrats is Illegal campaign contributions

to the Republican party. the cost per minute should be calculated and appropriate fines should be charged..

i am really sick of this shit:puke: it is disgusting

[Rock_Garden]

6. The media doesn't even appear to have to verify the surrogate tag, either.

They report it as gospel. They have a large stake in whippin' up the controversy. Great point, MonkeyFunk.

[MonkeyFunk]

10. yes they do

and that's what pisses me off.

And then it's repeated here as gospel, and THAT pisses me off. Unless you're a high-level campaign official, you're nobody's "surrogate".

[niyad]

12. vinegar usually works on the carpeting and the hardwood.

[redqueen]

13. "Can we please stop this crap?" If only!

It seems the crap is only getting worse.

*sigh*

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. A press secretary is not a surrogate. A press secretary is a press

secretary, and speaks for the campaign - the candidate's words with a different voice.

A surrogate is someone who speaks that which the candidate cannot say. Plausible deniability. It keeps the candidate at a distance from the speaker.

That's the whole purpose of using surrogates.

For instance, Oprah is not speaking on behalf of herself. She is speaking on behalf of Obama - but without official connection to the campaign, he is not responsible for anything she says. If she were to say something offensive, he has no responsibility to apologise for it, and he cannot fire her. If a press secretary says something offensive, that is with the voice of the candidate and the candidate MUST take responsibility and either acknowledge what was said or disavow what was said, and fire the speaker.

[MonkeyFunk]

19. What dictionary do you have?

so a press secretary is NOT a surrogate, but somebody totally unrelated to the campaign IS?

A surrogate is a substitute - a stand-in.

[RaleighNCDUer]

22. There's dictionary definitions, and then there's political definitions.

A press secretary is, in effect, the candidate. Anything that comes out of the press secretary's mouth is assumed to be coming straight from the candidate.

A surrogate, politically, is someone who, under a sub-rosa agreement with the candidate, says things the candidate wants to get out there but cannot say him/herself; in effect, substituting themselves to take any heat for the statement, rather than their candidate. Thus, KKKarl spoke as a surrogate for *, taking heat when what was said was objected to. Ari Fleischer, OTOH, spoke with the full authority of the WH. That's why he was referred to as 'WH spokesman' not 'WH surrogate'.

[Hatchling]

17. I hate that word!

It gives legitimacy where there is none.

[sandnsea]

18. lololol

Fantasyland.

Sheila Jackson Lee is really in the habit of getting on the air and lying. You bet. But she did it yesterday when she said the Obama campaign accused Hillary of causing Bhutto's death.

Surrogates. They're out there on behest of campaigns.

[MonkeyFunk]

20. You're cute.

[pampango]

21. Your "surrrogate" is doing the same thing that the more famous ones have done.

Yak!!!

With that kind of support you should be running for office. ;)

[NoPasaran]

23. I've been dreading the day someone played the Yak Card

[MonkeyFunk]

26. Punkus has been playing the yak card for years

bastard.

[goodgd_yall]

24. I know

It's ridiculous. Who started this misuse of the term?

[hisownpetard]

25. Yeah, this is ridiculous. Thanks for pointing it out.

[NoBorders]

27. What if there's a huge scandal involving 'surrogates'? What would we call it?

Hmmm?