But alas, in politics fairness is constrained by another religion, the sacred cow.

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"Part of the talent of this writing room is that they're not afraid to kill the sacred cow, " admits the actor.

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Slaughter the sacred cow.

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" To one of the President's advisers it is "the most sacred cow we have around here.

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And nothing can be allowed to harm the Windows franchise, sacred cow that it is.

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The new law is a success for Carla del Ponte, Switzerland's federal prosecutor, who rails against the banks' sacred-cow status.

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The government has proposed to slaughter a sacred cow of industrial relations a law permitting courts to order the rehiring, with compensation, of sacked workers.

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Republicans are the first to sacrifice a sacred cow.

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The defence minister, Ehud Barak, who leads the Labour party, refuses to hear of cutting the military budget, an Israeli sacred cow.

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"Krishna protected cows as sacred animals and we are delighted to celebrate the cow at this year's festival, " said President of the Temple, Srutidharma Das.

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Commitment to the company's existing technology, product line, distribution system or customer base becomes a sacred cow.

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