John the farmer was in the fertilized egg business. He had several
hundred young layers (hens, called pullets) and eight or ten roosters
whose job was to fertilize the eggs.
The farmer kept records and any rooster that didn't perform went into
the soup pot and was replaced. That took an awful lot of his time so he
bought a set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell
had a different tone so John could tell from a distance which rooster
was performing.
Now he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report simply
by listening to the bells.
The farmer's favorite rooster was old Butch, a very fine specimen he
was, too. But on this particular morning John noticed old Butch's bell
hadn't rung at all! John went to investigate. The other roosters were
chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the roosters
coming, would run for cover. But to Farmer John's amazement, Butch had
his bell in his beak so it couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do
his job, and walk on to the next one.
John was so proud of Butch he entered him in the county fair, and Butch
became an overnight sensation among the judges. The result...The judges
not only awarded Butch the "No Bell Piece Prize" but they also awarded
him the "Pulletsurprise" as well.
Clearly Butch was a politician in the making. Who else but a politician
could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our
planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing
them when they weren't paying attention.