Animal Crackers

Loath as I am these days to even mention 'murka's favorite concern troll/party crasher (say her name aloud three times facing a mirror and she appears, without makeup, brandishing a straight razor, sort of a political Candyman), there are a couple of seemingly peripheral things that are actually more curious and interesting than the "story" itself:

• While it seems odd that a healthy 6-year old kid that must weigh around 50 pounds or so stands on his dog's back as a step-stool, the dog doesn't seem to mind at all. In a world where the exceptional cruelties of factory farming and canned hunting are routine, this is a big bowl of nothing.
• The only "organized" "response" to the photo is from PETA, which is about as reliable a cross-section of "liberals" as, say, the Oathkeepers adequately represent a meaningful proportion of "conservatives", even the knuckle-dragger types we have these days. PETA has also responded to Palin's typically idiotic response, indicating that they (PETA) are entirely willing to snipe back at Palin and play her little game. Good for them. But to be clear, PETA is an extremist organization, albeit a relatively harmless one (as long as you're not a pet cat or dog looking to get adopted). But you will find no person politically connected with any mainstream liberal organization, or the Democratic Party, who is on record as supporting anything PETA does or says. Yet Palin and her mindless amen corner insist that they are all the same. As is standard with these buffoons, every word, including "and" and "the", is a lie.
• Most curious of all is the dog's name -- Jill Hadassah. The origin and meaning of this name is unclear; the diehard Palin supporters at Powerline (no link because, get this, I don't link to assholes) seem content to believe that the "Hadassah" is a nod to the Zionist women's organization. If true, that weird. Regardless of ideology, I don't know what to make of people who name their pets to accord to their political worldview. (My pet iguanas, Nader and Chomsky, will back me up on this.)
• Scott Johnson at Powerline also averred to the possibility that, since the wives of two recent Democratic vice-presidential candidates (and current VP) are named Jill (Biden) and Hadassah (Lieberman), the dog's name may originate there. That would be pretty pathetic, and seems unlikely, but not impossible to imagine.

The main takeaway is how Palin continues to be able to make (again, solely in the eyes of her deluded supporters, but still) the appearance of something out of absolutely nothing. Her value proposition rests entirely on her perceived ability to tweak the sensitivities of hyper-alert libruls, most of whom exist in their fevered imaginations. It's all just another ankle-biting distraction.