Do Geese See God?

(“What makes that slogan special?”)

In line with my crusade to educate America’s dressage youth—whether they need it or not—after their test I occasionally quiz them on topics beyond what I described above. One of my favorites is to recount the famous tale involving Theodore Roosevelt’s run for the presidency more than 100 years ago. As you may know, one of his campaign slogans which appeared on buttons and banners was “A Man, A Plan, A Canal. Panama!” My question which follows is: “What makes that slogan special?” They offer assorted explanations but rarely get it—the slogan is a palindrome.

“A what?” they say, but after hearing me out, they usually smile and go off promising to spring the same question on their teacher at school, Miss Whomever. They also go away perhaps thinking that judges are weird but at least that we aren’t mean.

One enterprising 12 year old caught me at my own game. From horseback at G, she supplied me with:

“Flee to me, remote elf”

“Too hot to hoot”

“Lived on decaf, faced no evil”

and the ever popular…..”Go hang a salami, Im a lasagna hog”

To all this I can only add what my horses say to me at feeding time:

“Yahoo Hay!”