NEWS ITEM: Harper appoints horse as Consul. REACTION FROM COMMENTERS: "You guys are playing checkers, when Harper's playing chess! He's looking nine moves ahead! He's actually living in the future! The Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal are his to see! etc. etc." "While troubling ethically, I believe this to be a brilliant strategic move, as it will lock up the equestrian vote." "Must we be the only virgins in the whorehouse? This is how the game is played. Politics, people." "This is nothing, compared with what went on under Emperor Tiberius." "Why must you carp so? Stop undermining our leader!" "The critics will have to eat their words when that horse romps home in the Preakness." "This will all be forgotten by the third century A. D." "There is historical precedent for this." etc. etc.