You may not like Bush anymore, but Barney still loves you.
White House Launches Barney.gov
Dan Froomkin - Washington Post
There's a new top dog on the Internet.
Barney, the rambunctious 3-year old Scottish terrier who hangs out in the Oval Office, now has his own .gov Web site.
Barney.gov features a Barney photo of the day, a Barney bio and videos.
White House pets have long exerted a fascination over the American public. (See, for instance, presidentialpetmuseum.com.)
Barney has had his own Web page for years, within the White House Kids area of the White House Web site. But the page was recently expanded, and Barney got his own domain.
The daily photos are amusing. Here, for instance, is Barney escaping from the heat. Here's Barney looking wistfully out an Oval Office window. Here's Barney ferreting out a weapon of mass destruction (just kidding).
I'm looking forward to seeing Barney eating a cicada.
And of course there's BarneyCam, which dates back to Christmastime, 2002.
Like the rest of the online Barneyfest, BarneyCam was the brainchild of Jimmy Orr, the enthusiastic 37-year-old press office staffer who doubles as Internet director.
The first BarneyCam movie came in at 4 1/2 minutes. Orr had originally intended to put a tiny camera on Barney's collar, but Barney would have none of that. So instead a camera crew got to chase Barney around as he skittered after Christmas ornaments.
Out in time for Christmas 2003, BarneyCam Reloaded, which clocks in at seven minutes, has higher production values, many significant cameo appearances, and even a plot of sorts.
"The most memorable experience that I will ever have in the White House is briefing the president as to what his motivation is in BarneyCam," Orr told me.
Barney was a gift from Christine Todd Whitman, then governor of New Jersey, for the first lady's birthday in 2000. He already had several fan clubs, and at least one unofficial Web site.
Spot, the Bushes' 14-year-old brown-and-white English springer spaniel, died in February. The Washington Post's Mike Allen wrote an appreciation.
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