Today, the National Republican Congressional Committee on its Website posted an article titled, “NRCC Welcomes House Dems To Congress with Official Lap Dog Kit” (preceded with the hashtag “PelosiLapDog”).

The release reads in part:

The National Republican Congressional Committee is welcoming Patrick Murphy to Washington with his very own official Nancy Pelosi Obedience School Lap Dog Kit. … “Patrick Murphy wasted no time showing his true colors by casting his first vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House – he’s now a Nancy Pelosi lap dog,” said NRCC Communications Director Andrea Bozek. “He is officially part of the club that has led Florida families and small businesses into the worst economic recovery in American history.”

The accompanying brochure, adorned with a cute dog on the cover, is titled “Nancy Pelosi’s Obedience School: Official Lap Dog Kit” and reads, “Congratulations! Now that you’ve voted for Nancy Pelosi, you’re officially a Lap Dog! Here’s your kit to get started.” Four listed items follow, including a ‘Yes, Nancy’ rubber stamp, because it “makes following her lead that much easier!”





The NRCC has long had a vendetta against the Democratic Leader in the house – this past November, they ran an unsuccessful “Help Us Retire Nancy” campaign. You can tell they’re especially proud of their latest lap dog lark, tweeting out a link to their side-splitting witticism four times in one hour:

A distinguished group that was founded over 150 years ago, the NRCC was established as a body whose purpose was to elect congressional Republicans. If you’re not quite sure how the ‘Pelosi Lap Dog’ brochure fits into the NRCC’s mission statement, you’re not the only one. Perhaps it’s meant as a party-building exercise (and goodness knows the Republican House members could use some party building). However, literature that promotes the idea of ridicule as the result of voting for or with your own party probably isn’t the best way to go about strengthening party solidarity. It seems a lot more like petty, nasty, immature, and needless bullying.

This isn’t the first time the NRCC has demonstrated exceptionally childish behavior, if you consider prank calls to be childish. According to the Washington Post, back during the 2006 elections, the NRCC barraged households with robo-calls that appeared to be from Democratic candidates in the hopes that the irritated callees would take their ire out on Democratic candidates.

This month, as part of the nation’s anti-bullying movement, No-Name-Calling Week will be taking place Jan. 21-25, 2013. We can only hope the NRCC, their members and supporters will take a lesson from it and move forward with the goal of setting a better example for the nation’s children while working toward solutions with some attempt at dignity.