The Survivable Sting Act

Foxes give scorpions a lift across the river, and scorpions sting them in the middle. Of the river, too. This is common knowledge. That's why it's a borderline miracle that the Survivable Sting Act ever got through the scorpio-vulpine legislature.

To be sure, the scorpions fought it, stinger and claw, to an arthropod. Many of the foxes did, too, because, well, the fatal mid-stream sting was traditional. At the other end of the political spectrum, a few foxes wanted to write a law that allowed foxes to turn down hitchhiking scorpions entirely. But that's just ridiculous.

In any case, the Survivable Sting Act was passed and signed into law. It allowed scorpions, at their discretion, not to sting foxes sometimes. It also required foxes to use flotation devices when swimming across rivers bearing scorpions on their persons. Or whatever a fox calls its anatomy.

Was there ever a hue and cry! Yes, there was! The scorpions took their grievances to the Big Court, claiming that the Survivable Sting Act was Not Fair. They were particularly incensed by the mandatory flotation devices, which took from their vulpine brethren the freedom to drown embarrassingly due to their own stupidity.

The punditry opined endlessly over what the Big Court decision would be: Fair or Not Fair? They debated points of law, both broad and fine. They debated likely political effects on the scorpio-vulpine citizenry. There was a wide range of opinion, but no one could guess which way the court would go.

Oh. The Big Court was composed of five scorpions and four foxes. Hmm.