Attacking Sully

She then imposed the false narrative of a power struggle between a dominant master (who had Parkinson's and needed a service dog to help him function throughout his day) and a helpless creature conscripted into training and forced to help 41.

James Aaron Brown "Ruth Graham, in an article published at Slate, demonstrated one of the worst vices of American media. Specifically, she sought to provoke and entertain the audience she writes for by unnecessarily criticizing Sully H.W. Bush, the service dog to George Bush, the 41st president of the United [S]tates.

"As the photo of Sully resting in front of 41's casket reached into every American's home and phone, Ruth felt that her greatest contribution would be to point out that Sully was simply an employee and not a beloved family pet.  Furthermore, she sought to do what many in her camp might do: impose a postmodern and deconstructionist interpretation upon a photo.  She then imposed the false narrative of a power struggle between a dominant master (who had Parkinson's and needed a service dog to help him function throughout his day) and a helpless creature conscripted into training and forced to help 41.  Her rationale?  This is what Sully was trained to do as an employee." . . .

Why was Sully lying in front of the casket of 41?  According to Graham, "it's a bit demented to project soul-wrenching grief onto a dog's decision to lie down in front of a casket."  Well, if we use science, then we will take stock of previous observations and compare similar accounts of dogs with funerals.  We will then look at studies or seek out experts like Dr. Coren to see if there is any meaningful correlation.  If we don't apply our own confirmation bias, as it seems Graham did in her article, we will find that Sully is doing what many a child with the same cognitive abilities and what other dogs in Sully's situation do.
If our society's goal is to entertain ourselves with false criticism, Slate proves this point.  . . .

 Critics did not like Graham's tacky article. Was she assigned this article, or did Slate's editors just happen to like it?
Other opinion articles by Graham