I really don't think there's anything nefarious about the press focusing on the dog. Dogs are cute, and the general public seems to like stuff like that. I really doubt they are doing it to keep our minds off other things.

It is interesting that this thread is called "King Obama". Why not "Boring Press" or "Dogs are Boring"? I'm left with the idea that gnu thinks there is some fault on Obama's part that is revealed by the press taking pictures of his dog. Given his repeated statements that the story is silly, what's that say about this thread?