A nod is as good as a wink, to a blind horse.

from somewhere over the Internets:

CHICAGO (AFP) - A drum major who waved at President Barack Obama was brought to tears Tuesday over his six-month suspension from an Ohio marching band.

"Six months is pretty harsh, I think," firefighter John Coleman told Newsnet 5.

But the Cleveland Firefighter's Memorial Pipes & Drums band leader said even a glance is out of bounds for marching bands in a parade marking the inauguration of a president.

"We had gone over and over time and again with everyone in the band that this was a military parade. Protocol and proper decorum had to be followed at all times," band leader Mike Engle told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

"Unfortunately, John chose to ignore that."

Other bands complained about Coleman's gesture, and the burly fire inspector -- who has been in the band for 17 years -- was told of his suspension on the bus home from Washington.

"He has to abide by the rules," Engle said. "It had to be done."

Coleman defended his actions and said he would do it again, despite the consequences.

"I just happened to glance over and made eye contact with the president and just gave a nod acknowledging him and just a slight wave," Coleman said.

Well, there's good news! I had been hearing the rumblings, and surely you had too, that the Cleveland Firefighter's Memorial Pipes & Drums Band had been deviating, if ever so slightly, from the military regimens and highly-formatted performance style that really mark the crackerjack Pipe and Drum bands in our society. I mean, the day that people who parade around playing bagpipe music stop taking themselves so damned seriously is a day I never want to experience.

So, thank heaven that the august leader of this musical aggregation chose to suspend the scorned perpetrator of this heinous act. I mean, really! To think that the mellifluous tones of the bagpipes, that sweet music of the ages, invented by a bored goatherd with one goatskin and one reed pipe, should be sullied by a nod to the man just elected president of the United States in an overwhelming affirmation! It's a wonder they didn't take Coleman out behind a meadow in the mist and bastinado him 'til the cows came home.

Probably, they were planning to do so, but the cows will not come home if they hear bagpipe music within a mile or two. You know cows aren't interested in bagpipe music; did you ever see a cow at a Fourth of July parade?