Nice to be liked

In one of my more nasty moments, I referred to the American consumers as "Like so many cows in a paddock ...." http://guambatstew.blogspot.com/2005/08/to-market-to-market-to-sell-to-fat-pig.html

Alan Kohler makes a similar but more bucolic assessment: "...American consumers are like sheep being kept healthy by their Asian shepherds and regularly shorn." http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/asian-shepherds-to-blame-for-bond-rates/2005/09/13/1126377312741.html