I can only assume that your editorial writer tripped over the First Amendment and thought it was the office cat.
E. B. WhiteEnglish usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment and education - sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street.
E. B. WhiteYou have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.
E. B. White