FELINES, SCIENCE, AND POLITICAL CORRECTNESS: A PERFECT STORM?

Two unlikely allies, the North American Cat Fanciers Association and the National Academy of Science, made a joint appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier today. Their goal: to remove the proverb, "There's more than one way to skin a cat," from textbooks used in public schools. According to NACFA spokeswoman Doris Gupton-Wickett, "It is astonishing that the horrific imagery contained in this saying has gone unchallenged for so many years. Just think what would happen if a public figure said, 'There's more than one way to skin a Norwegian.' The protests would be deafening! Do cats deserve less consideration than a group of foreigners who talk with a weird accent? I don't think so."

In a separate brief, the NAS argued that there is no empirical evidence indicating that there is, in fact, more than one way to skin a cat. Speaking for the Academy, Princeton University Professor C. Douglas Klaven reported that a recent study of over 7500 deceased cats in the United States and Canada found that they had all been skinned the same way.