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George W. Bush was a bit of a dog as far as U.S. presidents go, but that shouldn’t be held against perhaps the most tolerable — and in at least one instance, almost admirable — member of his administration, who has just died:

Laura and I are sad to announce that our Scottish Terrier, Barney, has passed away….

Barney and I enjoyed the outdoors. He loved to accompany me when I fished for bass at the ranch. He was a fierce armadillo hunter. At Camp David, his favorite activity was chasing golf balls on the chipping green.

Barney guarded the South Lawn entrance of the White House as if he were a Secret Service agent. He wandered the halls of the West Wing looking for treats from his many friends. He starred in Barney Cam and gave the American people Christmas tours of the White House.

See, this is the kind of crap that White House pets have to put up with.  They have words put into their mouth, cutesy feelings projected onto them, and they’re marketed in awful and embarrassing ways.  Sometimes, they’re even made to wear humiliating costumes… and, unlike their human counterparts in the administration, they never get a chance to write a tell-all memoir to exact some revenge.

Still, however, Barney found at least one opportunity to cut through the photo-op facade and demonstrate some un-Bushite candor, as shown in the video above.  Though I guess his approach can’t be recommended to everyone, it’s not the worst method in the world for dealing with intrusive journalists.

I wonder how coverage of Obama administration would be affected if Bo did something like that.  RIP, Barney!