Filly Cows and Rove the Dog (article) by Lisa Adams on AuthorsDen

As between polticians and livestock, which most resembles...which? I think that the Discovery Channel should hire me as the roving bizarre animal behavior specialist; kind of like a cross between "Survivorman" and "World's Most Ridiculous Individual." And it all started when I saw Goat this morning. Goat, you see, particularly after one yells, "Yay Goat!" is the harbinger of a great day. The sun was hanging heavy and orange in the sky, a veil of fog rising from the fields, and I detected movement from the corner of my eye. Across one of the fields, a bevy, pack, herd,covey, gaggle...ok, more than four, fillies were chasing a cow. And the cow was running full-tilt. The fillies were very pleased with themselves. They held their heads high, tails up. Packed together as they were and so clearly proud of their achievement, they stopped just shy of the creek, mission accomplished. The focus of their Nebraska farm gangsta tactics bumbled into the creek, stopped on the other side and gave them what I can only imagine was the ultimate glare. Team Equine stood there, you could practically hear them laughing, flicking their heads up and down and pawing at the ground. "Neener neener." And for some reason, I recalled a line from the movie, "When Harry Met Sally." Harry and Sally are arguing at a dinner party and Harry makes a dog analogy regarding Sally's age. Sally looks at him and remarks, "Who is the dog in this scenario?" In this case, of course, the question would be, "Who is the cow in this scenario?" More often than not, I have been the cow. And the horses: ornery judges when I was a prosecutor; kids at the new school before the mandatory beat down; any state's bar exam...and on it goes. We all have had shining cow moments, admit it. Occasionally I have been a horse, and that makes being the cow all the better because it lends balance to the highlights of being a horse. I laughed and continued my drive, listening to NPR. The news of the day: the tragic Minneapolis bridge collapse and the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings regarding the firing of the U.S. Attorneys. Mere mention of the name Karl Rove piques my interest. Naturally, I am not surprised he has refused to testify and that GB has asserted his executive privilege to shield little Karl from scrutiny yet again. Yes, Little Karl has gotten away with many bad acts. I believe the Framers and ant-federalists would keel over if they were alive today to witness even the existence of executive privilege; let alone how it has been abused by GB and his administration. As a matter of fact, the greatest fear of the anti-federalists was that this New Republic would lapse into some form of Nero-esque tyranny with out-of-control aristocrats at the helm. Did those wacky colonial boys get it right or what? To put the kibosh on the resurrection of a Roman dictatorship, no member of the federal administration was to be above the law, especially the President. Accountability in the form of checks and balances, among other things, was a theoretical watermark of the New Republic. But GB's world is radically different, I am afraid. Rove's peon flunky in the Hill universe will testify, but in an extremely limited way...so why bother. If Karl Rover and I ever had an argument and he was to ask, "Who is the dog in this scenario?" Without hesitation, I would respond, "You, Karl, you are the dog." You never know, though, one day Karl might grow up, get a life, and live above board for once. He might find the change of pace refreshing. Now, about that t.v. show....

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