TEAMWORK

I'm so disgusted with the political system right now. If real Americans ran businesses & households like the cowardly manipulating crooks that are calling the shots in Washington, it would mean jailtime. Just to be fair - the political blame is shared across that magical aisle that all claim to try reaching across.

Unfortunately - blame is also shared by the citizens in this country that are so complacent (until all hell breaks loose). It amazes me how truly uninformed most people are & even more surprised by the total lack of effort expended to study & understand issues & policies before jumping on a particular bandwagon. Everyone seemingly wants to be spoon-fed. The fact that politicking, by it's very nature, is mostly smoke & mirrors, means it's important to read between the lines & promises & uncover the deep meaning & motivation behind the somewhat murky positions that so many of these career politicians never openly state. What's the real agenda? Who is setting the 'stated' policy & what are the guiding principals? How do the positions affect the individual as well as the masses? Who is benefitting the most & who is picking up the tab?

Now the elected officials are trying to fix something that should never have been broken, despite warning signals that were blinking bright red years ago, It also has to be done NOW or the economy will supposedly collapse (it's amazing how this went from a problem that no one wanted to act on to a crisis overnight). In the end we're suppose to swallow this debt, feel the impact of the crunch it will create & trust the Yahoos that put us in the position to fix & monitor the 'recovery'. On top of that - the 2 parties want to make sure that it's BIPARTISAN - so no one has to take the 'blame'. I guess that's their idea now of TEAMWORK. These idiots are scared - the public is 80% against the bailout - so those facing re-election don't want to lose their cushy jobs by voting against what their constituants are demanding. So I hope we see members of both parties teaming up for a photo shoot when it's all said & done. Preferably, it'll look like this:

Debate Demeanor

A salesman for one of my suppliers, a great guy with whom I do a substantial amount of business, decided to go on a bit of a diatribe about politics.

As I'm prone to do, I let him go through his proclamations & opinions without interruption. (You learn more when you listen.) This lasted about 10 minutes or so. When I had 'my turn', I smiled & disagreed with him on every single point, providing very concise explanations for my positions - no preaching, no condescension, no 'attytood'. His face turned beet red, the vein in his neck was popping out, his teeth were clenched & his tone changed to almost a screech. He was furious, confused & lost for words. The dude was actually tongue tied. (In the world of debating, that's called a TKO in the first round.) It was funny as hell.

Needless to say he left in a quite a poor state of mind. Probably ran home to practice his 'speech' again in front of a mirror. Me, I didn't get upset at all. Calm, pleasant, totally under control. If I disagree with someone - that doesn't make either of us idiots - well, it certainly doesn't make me an idiot. Now I would get aggravated during a debate if it became a personal attack. If that happened, all bets would be off. My good nature has limits. I'm no less passionate about my political views than many others, probably more than most, but what the heck, I'm not going to have an aneurysm over it or turn into some meanspirited nutcase.

My beliefs are what they are but I still manage to respect the opinions of others. I pay attention to the issues & do more than my fair share of homework. There's no pied piper out there getting my vote because they look or sound good - let's see their track record & their plan - then I'll decide based on how my thinking meshes with theirs. In this country, we have the freedom to have & express our views & opinions. Some of us just happen to be right more often than others.