The days of speeches by the likes of Daniel Webster are long gone, and for some time now the United States Senate — which once seriously was described as “the world’s greatest deliberative body” — seemingly has been filled with unremarkable politicos who don’t exactly set new standards for eloquence. So when Kansas Senator Pat Roberts made a curious argument during the ongoing Senate debate about health care reform, the Associated Press decided to take a closer look.
In trying to describe the difficulties in resolving health care issues, Roberts said: “Once in Glacier National Park I saw two porcupines making love. I’m assuming they produced smaller porcupines. They produced something. It has to be done carefully. That’s what we’re doing now.”
So the current atmosphere in the U.S. Congress is like two porcupines having sex? That’s not only not reassuring — which presumably is what Roberts was trying to communicate — it’s a distinctly disturbing image, isn’t it?
But the AP decided to have a deeper look at the whole porcupine sex issue. It didn’t look at whether Roberts has ever been to Glacier or actually saw two porcupines in an intimate situation, but it did ask exactly how porcupines engage in the act. The AP fact check cites a Duke University biologist who says that porcupine spines may be intimidating to predators, but when mating occurs porcupines can let down their guard. The AP adds: “Courtship rituals can be aggressive but when the animals have negotiated the art of the deal, the females relax and reposition their quills.”
So we’ve got Senators talking about porcupine sex and Associated Press reporters fact-checking them? Apparently this is what passes for useful interaction of the political class and the fourth estate in these days of President Twitter and “fake news” and obvious political agendas on all sides. It makes me think that those of us out in the country should be careful not to relax and reposition our quills.
Webner House 