Awash in the political tsunami of hopeful presidential nominees swarming over us on TV, Bena Mae Seivers, writing for the Corbin News Journal in Kentucky, is reminded of something she read a few years ago. At the time she just thought it was just a funny story. Now, she says, it begins to make some sense.

by Bena Mae Seivers

The story goes that one fine evening a Mrs. George Wood called a Dr. Martin Satterfield, a veterinarian, from her home. It was about her mule, Horace. After asking a few questions and hearing the answers, Dr. Satterfield said, “Give him a dose of mineral oil, and if he ain’t alright in the morning, call me, and I’ll come out and take a look at your mule.”

She wanted to know how to give the mule the mineral oil and the Doctor said “Give it through a funnel.”

She protested that the mule might bite her, and the Doctor, becoming exasperated, said, “You’re a farm woman, and you know about those things. Give it to him in the other end.”