Two politicians in Washington had become good friends and discovered they shared a fondness for horses, so, they decided to each buy a horse and keep them penned at the same farm.

After they got the horses, they went out to the farm and were admiring their purchase. All of a sudden the one asked the other, "How are we going to tell our horses apart?"

The second politician pondered the question and finally suggested, "How about we trim the tail on one but not the other."

Thinking this was a good idea, they proceeded to do that. Then, they stood by and the first politician said, "You know ... we didn't need to trim the one horse's tail ... that white horse is taller than that black one!"