Talk:Socks (cat)

Latest comment: 10 months ago by Robertsky in topic Requested move 15 December 2023

Socks and Barney

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I removed the reference to the webcomic Socks and Barney since its only 3 panels old, and not established. Seems to me like advertising more than anything. JoDB 21:53, 12 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

Notability?

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I believe Socks may not be notable on its own. Articles about kids of Ronald Reagan and JFK were deleted as the kids died young and more importantly, as they were not notable on their own. Also, as it is a short article with less than 1000 words, I doubt if this can be considered DYK material. --Gurubrahma 05:39, 28 November 2005 (UTC)Reply

Cats always get top billing over kids! --malber 14:26, 28 November 2005 (UTC)Reply
Absolutely right. But apart from that, a glance at the list of presidential pets indicates that US presidents overwhelmingly prefer dogs. Many of the cats on the list apparently belonged to presidents' wives. Which is unsurprising - you'd sort of expect someone who spent their time rising through the ranks of the state to be more into dogs (pack animals) than cats (individualist). That makes Socks fairly unique; plus those pictures are just great :-). --Last Malthusian 12:12, 30 November 2005 (UTC)Reply
First off, what the other's have said. Socks got plenty of media coverage while in the White House, kids who die young and DON'T have media coverage just need a stub on their parents' page(s). Also, plenty of stubs get DYK'ed. Staxringold 12:56, 30 November 2005 (UTC)Reply

Just to add for the rationale for notability: Presidential pets are noteworthy due to the fact that the pet is specifically chosen by the president. A president's choice of pet might reveal something internal about the person, though this is left up to individual interpretation. Children of presidents, on the otherhand, are born not chosen. And they have a voice for themselves. They'd have to do something remarkable, like say underage drinking to be noteworthy. --malber 15:29, 30 November 2005 (UTC)Reply

Polydactyl

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Does anyone know if Socks is a polydactyl? Those paws look big! --malber 14:23, 28 November 2005 (UTC)Reply

Video game

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I removed this, inserted by an anonymous editor:

"Socks the cat also got his own videogame, Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill. it was unrealeased."

because it was unverified, and I don't understand how he could have been said to have got his own game if it was unreleased. --Last Malthusian 15:58, 30 November 2005 (UTC)Reply

I remember hearing about this in video game mags at the time. I didn't realize that it was ultimately not released, but it happens with videogames (such as Tattoo Assassins and Dino Rex). There is a page on the game at [1].--216.165.33.63 00:13, 4 February 2006 (UTC)Reply

Wow, and I thought it was referring to some kind of Flash game. I'm putting that back in. --Malthusian (talk) 00:30, 4 February 2006 (UTC)Reply
Done, and much kudos to 216.165 for finding that article. I removed one of the photos to make way for the game's cover art, which I didn't really want to do but the article doesn't seem big enough for three photos on the right. I tried to put the box art on the left but it made the text go behind the picture, and even if it hadn't the article would have been a bit cramped. If anyone can manage to get all three photos on the page without making the pictures dangle past the text, that would be great. (Best case scenario would be if we could expand the article another paragraph, of course.)
I think if worst comes to worst we should have the box art instead of a second photo, because if someone reads that Socks was going to have a computer game, their natural reaction would be "er... what?" Of course we have the external links to prove it, but much better to have a picture right next to the paragraph, in the article. --Malthusian (talk) 00:56, 4 February 2006 (UTC)Reply

Well, article's been expanded, based mainly on the Purr 'n' Fur article, and is now long enough to have the three pictures. Using that website as a source may skirt standards of verifiability, but I'm going by the bold-revert-discuss cycle here. --Malthusian (talk) 01:26, 4 February 2006 (UTC)Reply

Category:Living people

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I removed Category:living people, I think, its wrong. Do exist a similar category about animals? --Nolanuss 20:55, 3 August 2006 (UTC)Reply

Still alive?

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The article says Socks WAS the cat of the Clinton family. According to his birth in 1991 he could still be alive, being 15 years old right now. Does anyone have information? --89.54.161.82 23:09, 23 September 2006 (UTC)Reply

Socks is alive ? Gridge 11:59, 6 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

  • I don't think we know for certain. If he was alive he'd be about 15, which is getting very old for a domestic cat (though they can live longer). I would have thought that if he had died, it would have been in the news - when Humphrey, the Downing Street cat, died it was reported by the BBC at least, and Socks seems to have had similar fame in America. --Sam Blanning(talk) 15:24, 6 December 2006 (UTC)Reply
Thanks. I guess... Gridge 12:43, 8 December 2006 (UTC)Reply
I could well be wrong about the possibility of his death being reported - stereotypically the British care more about cats and dogs than most, so perhaps an American presidential cat wouldn't have the same attention. In which case we might just have to put a '?' after his birth date in maybe one or two years' time, when he'd be pretty ancient if he was alive, and leave it at that. --Sam Blanning(talk) 16:59, 8 December 2006 (UTC)Reply
Sounds like a good idea. Gridge 19:28, 8 December 2006 (UTC)Reply
There are photos of Socks taken in 2005 at Andrews Air Force Base with his new owner, and I located a website which attests that the animal was still extant as of mid-06. Fishhead64 17:25, 29 December 2006 (UTC)Reply
Wow, yeah, a lot of cats live until their late teen's. Gautam Discuss 01:24, 17 May 2008 (UTC)Reply

Breed

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So what breed is Socks? Doesn't seem to be mentioned in the article. —Lowellian (reply) 09:54, 25 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Democat. --NEMT 13:26, 28 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Tuxedo cat {black/white} —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.53.145.162 (talk) 03:25, 21 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

"Tuxedo" is not a breed...it's a coat color pattern (more properly called a "black and white bicolor"). Being a rescue cat originally, Socks was most likely a DSH (domestic short hair)....in other words, a mutt. he was a beautiful cat, and I'm sure Ms. Currie misses him terribly (as anyone who'd had a long-live pet knows, when they leave it takes awhile to get used to them being gone) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.112.239.142 (talk) 22:12, 22 December 2009 (UTC)Reply

Cats vs. dogs

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I have removed a sentence noting that popular surveys showed more Americans owned cats than dogs; it was unreferenced, and it merely added confusion to the material directly before it - if more Americans have cats, then the joke that Socks was replaced with a dog for political reasons doesn't make sense. And really, there is no reason to elaborate on the tangent of how popular cats are versus dogs, anyways. Brianyoumans 16:45, 26 October 2007 (UTC)Reply


Doonesbury got it wrong

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http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2013/04/29

Bush's never had a first cat--that was Socks Clinton Cat! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.83.72.154 (talk) 12:53, 29 April 2013 (UTC)Reply

Fair use rationale for Image:President Veroart.jpg

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Image:President Veroart.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 15:11, 8 March 2008 (UTC)Reply

This article needs to be expanded!

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...as the image of Socks at the lectern surely bespeaks all that is Cat -- this furry friend's indescribably incredible and utterly brilliant --- charisma! As a long time observer of public affairs I assure fellow Wikipedia editors that Socks is the cat of the twentieth century. Just can't wait for an Oscar-winning film treatment of Socks's bio, with some talented performer playing its lead such as Felix the Cat or The Cat and The Hat or a tremendous new talent discovered from YouTube, I'm not sure, but anyway, who cares about that, the persona of this CAT is just SO INCREDIBLE, I think about it and just get dizzy, please, somebody discover and edit in the coordinates for this miraculously gifted companion and personality's final resting place so that faithful fans such as myself can make pilgrimage and leave tokens of appreciation for this supercalfragerlousiexpialadociously whizbangboingingly wonderful feline. Once exposed to the style, grace, and felinity of this cat makes a person rethink their whole approach to life and never be able to look at anything the same way again forevermore. SOCKS THE CAT...AMAZING...TRULY THE CAT OF CATS...FOREVER!...and to sway those inexplicable few who doubt this estimation, I submit the following summation of his personality and being from one who knew Socks themself on a first-person, human-to-cat basis:

"Socks, my cat, is a cat with a great imagination. He likes to watch TV. When there is a show with tweeting birds, his ears perk up. Then he crouches right in front of the TV. He acts like he wants to jump at the images he sees. When he hears cats meowing or fighting on TV, he begins to howl and acts like he wants to join the fight. This Citzen cat named Socks seems to see himself in another place. When he is staring at TV, could he be transporting himself into an imagined adventure? Who knows what is in the mind of a cat!"----FROM THE BACK COVER OF WHEN SOCKS WENT TO THE WHITE HOUSE (1994)

↜Just me, here, now 02:57, 23 February 2009 (UTC)Reply


I think it would be helpful to expand the investigation section in particular- not a lot of detail considering it has its own heading Kayla.kingston (talk) 18:30, 10 October 2016 (UTC)Reply

Name

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"Socks Clinton"

Is there any source that says that the cat's full name was "Socks Clinton"? --Millionsandbillions (talk) 16:50, 26 March 2009 (UTC)Reply

132 for "Socks Clinton" from Google News[2][3]--Caspian blue 16:59, 26 March 2009 (UTC)Reply

Discrepancy?

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In the intro, the article claims that Socks was a stray cat. But then in the first part of his biography, it's stated that Socks had a sibling named Midnight and that he was apparently living with Chelsea's piano teacher. So which was it? If it was both, this could use some clarification. If it wasn't both, then shouldn't one of these claims about his origin be removed?Adrigon (talk) 22:53, 27 January 2010 (UTC)Reply

Perhaps the piano teacher rescued both of them as kittens? 75.76.213.106 (talk) 07:13, 5 September 2010 (UTC)Reply

Uncited material in need of citations

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I am moving the following uncited material here until it can be properly supported with reliable, secondary citations, per WP:V, WP:CS, WP:IRS, WP:PSTS, WP:BLP, WP:NOR, et al. This diff shows where it was in the article. Nightscream (talk) 21:02, 1 March 2021 (UTC)Reply

He eventually lost the position of principal Clinton pet in 1997 when the Clintons acquired Buddy, a Labrador Retriever. Socks found Buddy's intrusion intolerable: according to Hillary Clinton, Socks "despised Buddy from first sight, instantly and forever."[citation needed]

In December 2002, Socks was part of the Little Rock Christmas parade.[citation needed]

In October 2004, Socks made a then-rare public appearance when Currie was guest speaker at an Officers' Spouses Club luncheon at Andrews Air Force Base. Socks accompanied her and took part in a photo op.[citation needed]

It included more than 50 letters written to the First Pets by children and more than 80 photographs of Socks and Buddy.[citation needed]

Socks Goes to the White House – A Cats-eye view of the President's house, written by Kenneth T. Blackshaw with illustrations by Mary Beth Burns was published in 1993.[citation needed]

Socks was a character in If..., Steve Bell's cartoon strip in The Guardian, where he was described as the "world's most powerful cat," and as "Chief of Staff for Fish".[citation needed]

In 1996, Socks appeared on a series of stamps in the Central African Republic with Bill Clinton.[citation needed]

On the 1994 Oscar Brand album I Love Cats, the song "Socks' Song" is dedicated to Socks.[citation needed]

A cartoon of Socks appeared in 2 Stupid Dogs in the episode "The Rise and Fall of Big Dog".[citation needed]

Requested move 15 December 2023

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The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: no consensus. While there is some support to move, there is no consensus as which title to move to. Those who oppose are more consistent in their comments and mostly cite PDAB. – robertsky (talk) 06:35, 13 January 2024 (UTC)Reply


Socks (cat)Socks (White House cat)WP:AT/WP:PRECISE ambiguous disambiguation is a bad idea. The current title should point to the disambiguation page Sock (disambiguation) where multiple cats called "Socks" are listed. This cat was the resident cat in the White House during Bill Clinton's presidency -- 65.92.247.90 (talk) 05:13, 15 December 2023 (UTC) This is a contested technical request (permalink). 65.92.247.90 (talk) 20:20, 15 December 2023 (UTC) — Relisting. BD2412 T 21:07, 5 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Moved from WP:RMTR
There is no other article on WP that reasonably could use the title "Socks (cat)". Station1 (talk) 08:04, 15 December 2023 (UTC)Reply
No other article, but there are several other Socks cat topics discussed on Wikipedia. Disambiguation is a matter of topics. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 17:02, 15 December 2023 (UTC)Reply
I see only two others mentioned in other articles and this is the clear primary topic, with over 200 views/day, even if you consider the entirety of the two other articles with different titles.[4] Disambiguation of topics is handled by the hatnote, no need to change titles. Station1 (talk) 18:44, 15 December 2023 (UTC)Reply
WP:AT we are not supposed to use ambiguous titles, the dead Twitter cat Sockington is also called "Socks" per its article. Just because it resides at a different WP:NATURALDAB title does not mean it should be discounted as an existence. The current title is imprecise WP:PRECISE so it should be moved to an unambiguous title. The NATURALDAB title os Socks Clinton, while the recognizable disambiguator is "White House cat" since that's what this cat is known for. An alternate name for a subject (Sockington) does not mean it isn't "Socks"; aside from the fact that "Socks" is also a common cat name -- 65.92.247.90 (talk) 20:16, 15 December 2023 (UTC)Reply
“we are not supposed to use ambiguous title”??? A WP:PRIMARYTOPIC article like Paris or Socks (cat) has an ambiguous title by definition. — В²C 14:49, 24 December 2023 (UTC)Reply
In addition to Sockington, Socks (Blue Peter cat) was the center of a scandal at BBC over falsified poll results, and Socks (novel) is a whole book devoted to the story of a cat named Socks. The Clintons' cat was apparently named after the book character. WP:INCDAB sets a high threshold for partial disambiguation. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 20:50, 15 December 2023 (UTC)Reply

There are more of such cats discussed on Wikipedia – several more of them, in fact. I suggest to read some of the prior comments. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 12:59, 2 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
Not that have their own articles, as far as I can tell. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ () 15:54, 2 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
It makes no difference whether topics have "their own articles" or not. WP:DAB applies regardless. And it's not the only one that has an article, for that matter, although that doesn't matter. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 23:16, 2 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

I'm not sure how to formally close this discussion, but it looks like it's time. It's been over two weeks now, and there doesn't seem to be any consensus to move, with a majority (or at least plurality) opposing the move, and no clear choice of what to move the article to should a move happen. CAVincent (talk) 06:59, 3 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

I have relisted it to give one more chance for a consensus (or at least a clearer consensus) to develop either way. BD2412 T 21:08, 5 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
We just wait until an admin or an RM-experienced uninvolved editor gets to it. — В²C 04:57, 4 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
Relisting comment: Relisting for clearer consensus. BD2412 T 21:07, 5 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
  • Oppose – The name of the article should be as succinct as possible. Svartner (talk) 17:09, 6 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
  • Oppose. Haven't any of you ever played Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill? The correct title here is Socks (video game character). Okay, corny joke aside, I agree with B2C; I think it's unlikely, based on the pageviews for all four topics mentioned here, this setup is causing trouble for readers. (And even if the novel was on par with this article, I wouldn't support moving this page anyway, as this Socks actually *is* a cat and not a fictional character; that'd just be hatnote-worthy, not DAB-worthy, IMO. There are articles at (dog) for mutts named Spike, Pal, and Skippy, despite plenty of fictional dogs having those names.) Nohomersryan (talk) 01:41, 7 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.