Where’s the pony?

The latest round of elections finally are over. During the preceding campaigns there has been even more metaphorical manure slinging than usual, which reminds me of a humorous story. There is a long version, but the short version is that:

“It was Reagan’s favorite joke. Worried that their son was too optimistic, the parents of a little boy took him to a psychiatrist. Trying to dampen the boy’s spirits, the psychiatrist showed him into a room piled high with nothing but horse manure. Yet instead of displaying distaste, the little boy clambered to the top of the pile, dropped to all fours, and began digging.

‘What do you think you’re doing?’ the psychiatrist asked.

‘With all this manure,’ the little boy replied, beaming, ‘there must be a pony in here somewhere.’”

The title of this post summarizes it. This pointed question is one we should not forget to ask the latest winners before the next election in 2012.