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Letters to Globe Magazine

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

January 22, 2012

(Photograph from Anne Romney )

Dogging Romney

The story of Mitt Romney’s dog has fascinated me, so Neil Swidey’s revisiting the origin of the tale was required Sunday reading (“Mitt Romney’s Dog & Me,” January 8). Unfortunately, Romney’s critics are not the only ones who “focused on the wrong part of the anecdote” – you have missed the key issue as well. Even if children were not routinely strapped into their car seats in 1983, car-top carriers designed to transport luggage and other inanimate objects did exist. To opt for placing the dog on the roof instead of the clothing and food reflects on the cold (not logical) decision-making process used by Romney. For me, clear logic would have placed the dog in the car with the kids, and the bathing suits, chips, and sports equipment in the roof carrier. (Besides, think of all the time he would have saved by not needing to stop and hose off the car.) Based on this anecdote alone, I question how anyone would want Romney to decide on his or her well-being.

Deborah Walsh Kantor / Marietta, Georgia

I relish every column by The New York Times’s Gail Collins on Romney, waiting for the moment when Seamus (the write-in candidate, according to her latest piece) appears. Thank you for adding the precious nugget from Bill Wasik about Romney seeking to “tie us all to the roof of the car.” Truer words never spoken. It hardly matters whether the cruelty involved the act of putting Seamus on the roof in the first place or leaving him there long after anyone with a beating heart would have relented and put him in the car. The anecdote says everything any voter needs to know about the character of the likely 2012 Republican candidate for president.

Linda L. Fleck / Roslindale

In my opinion, the Seamus story shows another aspect of Romney: the tendency of the GOP to place problems (the smelly, the sick, the distressed in our country) out of their sight and out of their minds as they travel to their destinations. Even in the days before car seats, a sick family member was a sick family member.

Bonnie Rudner / Waban

Family Matters

As the wife of a stay-at-home dad, I have to say how refreshing it was to see this subject being discussed (Perspective, January 1). I work at two mental health clinics and I just started graduate school for a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy. My husband is beyond supportive of my career, and he loves being at home. Yes, it has its challenges and, yes, there is something about “Mommy” that makes my 3-year-old cling to my leg when I’m home for the day, and my four daughters also love it. But I still wanted to thank you. I read it to my husband as he was driving on Sunday, and he thanks you for your support, too.

Julie Jacobs / Boston