Paw Thing

When I had no furniture except a few old packing cases and a sofa with disturbing stains, I used to try to disguise the true horror of these objects by hurling shawls over them before visitors arrived. In a similar manner, politicians often attempt to disguise rats' nests of disgrace and corruption under anodyne statements of the "I want to spend more time with my family" variety. Most of the time, these verbal shawls are pretty dull. Occasionally though, one comes along that makes you - or me anyway - laugh out loud:

I think it's partly the indefinite article that I like about this. A dog - it just appeared on the hearth rug, we don't own one but suddenly there it was. No wonder she fell over it. Who wouldn't?