With mounds of snow still fresh on people’s minds — and streets — this animation has been making its way around the Web the past couple of weeks (though it appears to have been online since at least 2007):

A friend just forwarded it to me by e-mail with a note underneath that said, “Designed by the same people designing health-care reform.”

The image reminds me of a country tale I heard years ago about a well-trained rabbit dog. Hot on the scent of his prey, the dog chased the rabbit up one row of his master’s garden and down the other, passing within a foot of the rabbit repeatedly. If he had just taken a moment to stop and think, the hound would have realized that he could have cut the rabbit off at any point by just jumping over one row.

Don’t be a stupid pooch. Think before you vote!