Attack poodle
Encyclopedia
Attack poodle is a political epithet
or pejorative
that typically denotes a vociferous but utterly servile defender of a given political leader, party, or faction. It gained popular currency in 2002 when a member of the British Parliament
who ran afoul of the Labour party
Chief Whip
charged that Prime Minister Tony Blair
was setting out "one of his attack poodles" to bring him or her into line. It is a partly facetious expression that has been used in British
and American
politics, equivalent in meaning to a party hack.
The term was further popularized by the American culture critic James Wolcott
in his 2004 book, Attack Poodles and Other Media Mutants: The Looting of the News in a Time of Terror
, a critique of popular right-wing TV news personalities who he claims are increasingly dominating the mainstream media in America.
The term was also used in 1998 by Saddam Hussein
's regime in Iraq
which scorned the British as "America’s attack poodle" in response to air raids undertaken by the latter as part of Operation Desert Fox
. http://www.ericmargolis.com/archives/1998/12/bill_youre_no_d.php
Epithet
An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...
or pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
that typically denotes a vociferous but utterly servile defender of a given political leader, party, or faction. It gained popular currency in 2002 when a member of the British Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
who ran afoul of the Labour party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Chief Whip
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires.-The Whips Office:...
charged that Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
was setting out "one of his attack poodles" to bring him or her into line. It is a partly facetious expression that has been used in British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politics, equivalent in meaning to a party hack.
The term was further popularized by the American culture critic James Wolcott
James Wolcott
James Wolcott is an American journalist, known for his critique of contemporary media. Wolcott is the cultural critic for Vanity Fair and contributes to The New Yorker. He also writes a blog....
in his 2004 book, Attack Poodles and Other Media Mutants: The Looting of the News in a Time of Terror
Attack Poodles and Other Media Mutants
Attack Poodles and Other Media Mutants: The Looting of the News in a Time of Terror is a book by American media critic James Wolcott.-Summary:Wolcott takes as his subject matter popular right-wing pundits whom he dubs "attack poodles"...
, a critique of popular right-wing TV news personalities who he claims are increasingly dominating the mainstream media in America.
The term was also used in 1998 by Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
's regime in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
which scorned the British as "America’s attack poodle" in response to air raids undertaken by the latter as part of Operation Desert Fox
Operation Desert Fox
The December 1998 bombing of Iraq was a major four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets from December 16–19, 1998 by the United States and United Kingdom...
. http://www.ericmargolis.com/archives/1998/12/bill_youre_no_d.php