SINCE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DOG-EATING, WHAT ABOUT ROMNEY'S ANCESTORS?

A lot of people have mocked Mitt Romney for once setting out on a family vacation with Seamus, the family dog, strapped to the roof of the car. Now, as you probably know, the right has gotten (or thinks it's gotten) its revenge:

The Daily Caller noted that in President Obama's best-selling memoir, "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance," the president recalls being fed dog meat as a young boy in Indonesia with his stepfather, Lolo Soetoro.

"With Lolo, I learned how to eat small green chill peppers raw with dinner (plenty of rice), and, away from the dinner table, I was introduced to dog meat (tough), snake meat (tougher), and roasted grasshopper (crunchy)," the president wrote.

This story has gone viral, particularly on Twitter. (Among those joining in the #ObamaDogRecipes fun? Yeah, you stay classy, Jennifer Rubin.)

But, um, what about the Romney ancestors who may have eaten dog?

You see, Mitt Romney traces his family history to a great-grandfather named Miles Park Romney. His family was one of the so-called first families of Mormonism, the ones who left the early Mormon settlement in Illinois for the journey west along the Mormon Trail to what ultimately became the state of Utah.

So I'm looking at an officially sanctioned LDS Church publication called Church History in the Fulness of Times, specifically Chapter 27. And what do I see?

...the winter of 1848–49 was very severe and created serious needs among the people. It snowed frequently, and the snow remained on the ground throughout the entire winter, making it difficult for the cattle to feed. Heavy snowfall in the mountains made it difficult to gather wood. Excessive cold and violent winds often made life miserable for the settlers.

Food was again so scarce that the people ate wolves, hawks, crows, dogs, and animals that had been dead for some time.

So it's quite possible that some of Mitt Romney's storied ancestors ate dog, too.

Hey, Republicans, if you're going to pursue a ridiculous line of attack, I'm going to pursue it, too.