The Frog Quote

In 1994, I had the pleasure and honor of attending an event at the University of Colorado, Boulder, at which First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke.

In her speech about her health care reform plan, she made a joke referencing an old Arkansas saying, "You never know how far a frog is going jump until you punch it." Origins of the quote vary, but the meaning is the same. In the old days, when frog-jumping was a sport, the only way to get your frog to jump was to prod it, poke it and irritate it until it suddenly leopt forward.

At the reception following her speech, I had the opportunity to have a discussion with the First Lady about pre-NAFTA, NAFTA and the impact these agreements were already having on the Florida farmers.