US President Bush may call the shots around the White House. But now there is video proof that his dog Barney doesn't listen to him.
Barney is the star of his own annual Christmas movie, the Barney Cam, so named because the first one, shot in 2002, featured a dog's-eye view of the White House Christmas decorations.
This year's Barney Cam, posted on whitehouse.gov on Wednesday has a high-powered cast: Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, makes a guest appearance, the first time any world leader other than Bush has shared the small screen with the Scottish terrier, now seven. The president's daughters, Barbara and Jenna, also have a cameo.
Like all things Bush, the Barney Cam has a message. Barney and Miss Beazley, the Bushes' other Scottish terrier, dream of becoming junior park rangers: a plot that fits in nicely with this year's White House Christmas theme of national parks and, not coincidentally, Bush's plan to invest more than US$1 billion in the parks over the next decade.
Barney and Miss Beazley earn their junior ranger stripes in the end. "It's always good to see the Scots doing well," Blair says.
The credits roll and then the movie cuts to an outtake of Bush trying to shoot the first scene, in which he informs Barney that the White House grounds are themselves a national park.
Barney, unimpressed, runs away, ignoring presidential orders to come back.
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