Horse Sense

The man in charge of the US' hurricane rescue operation spent the previous 11 years as a commissioner at the International Arabian Horse Association - before being "forced out of the position after a spate of lawsuits over alleged supervision failures." (Boston Herald, 3/9/05).

He got the job through connections as an effective fund-raiser for the Republican Party. This is Bush's cosy America: appointments are not made through merit, but through the good ol' boy network. (Closer to home, Bush made Schieffer his ambassador here on the basis that he was his business partner in a baseball team!)

Such a galling display of hubris, conceit and contempt for the citizenry echoes that other famous equine appointment, when Caligula elevated his horse Incitatus to the Roman Senate.