If you don't like the message, go after the messenger
I hope that many of you had an opportunity to rearrange what's left of your 401(k)s into something other than the stock market after last Friday. When I looked last, the Dow was down about 320 points.
Sad, these changing times. But I see something else going on here and it's a game as old as time. It's what people like to do when they hear something they don't like. Don't go after the message, go after the messenger.
S&P is being raked over the coals because they made a choice to downgrade this country's credit rating. Moody's didn't go that far, but placed us on credit watch "negative", which in their terms means that there's a likelihood they will downgrade our rating inside of two years. The Chinese are calling and they're not happy.
So, the politicians are, from what I've read, not attacking the problems that got us here. They're attacking the messengers.
It's not our fault that everything you say is true, to a certain extent. It's your fault for not doing what we want you to do. Look at the mess you caused. You downgraded us and the stock markets around the world fell. It's got nothing to do with the fact that we've mismanaged our government to the benefit of certain groups of people in this country. It's all your fault S&P for downgrading us.
Saying it doesn't make it so. I've been there before and sometimes the messenger gets beaten up pretty well for the message that nobody wants to hear.
I have comparisons: Look at what happened to early Christians. Stephen was stoned to death for preaching the Gospel. Many, many Christians have been killed for the very same thing. People demand to know the "truth" but when they're told, if it doesn't fit into their ideas of what the truth should be, then they're apt to start looking for anything they can to discredit the messenger. But not the message.
The message from S&P is clear to everyone, but us apparently. Your government, they're telling us, is broken. We elect our officials so this is a direct reflection of you and I. Whether or not I voted for these people (for the record, I voted for the other guy...except for Obama), the majority of the people in this state sent my congressman and senator back to Washington two years ago.
So, the message you sent last election was that these guys were doing a great job. OK, how's that great job working out for you? You can't blame Obama for all of this. The brunt of this belongs to the folks we sent back there. Obama caved in like a cheap lawn chair to the Republicans (and I thought he was a Democrat?). He's tried to set a tone of compromise and cooperation. He's negotiated with the Republicans who are proud (google Mitch McConnell) of holding this country hostage to destroy the Government they were in charge of for six years at the tun of the century. If they hated government then, why didn't they do what they're trying to do now and shut the whole thing down then?
And where were our elected officials when all that was happening? Were they in office? If they were, then it's OK if I blame them, too. I didn't vote for them then, either.
And, by the way, the last time things were really good in this country was when a Democrat was running things and we paid enough taxes to pay the Government's bills and actually start paying down the principal on our debt. Right now we're borrowing money to only pay the INTEREST on it.
So, if you don't like what you're reading here, feel free to blame the messenger. The facts though, speak for themselves. My message today to my Republicans friends is just one simple question:
We tried it your way and it didn't work. OK, so now what?
Just a little post-script to this post: Finger pointing, which was not my intention, by the way, ain't gonna fix any of this. What we seriously need to do is to listen to what our politicians believe, what they say, and weigh that against their past performance. We really need to hold them accountable for their part in this mess, which is my point. If we keep sending the same people back to Washington because influence comes with time served and we want them to bring home the bacon, so to speak, we really need to have a sea change in our own thinking.
The problem is this: The store has plenty of bacon. We're just out of money to pay for it.
Sad, these changing times. But I see something else going on here and it's a game as old as time. It's what people like to do when they hear something they don't like. Don't go after the message, go after the messenger.
S&P is being raked over the coals because they made a choice to downgrade this country's credit rating. Moody's didn't go that far, but placed us on credit watch "negative", which in their terms means that there's a likelihood they will downgrade our rating inside of two years. The Chinese are calling and they're not happy.
So, the politicians are, from what I've read, not attacking the problems that got us here. They're attacking the messengers.
It's not our fault that everything you say is true, to a certain extent. It's your fault for not doing what we want you to do. Look at the mess you caused. You downgraded us and the stock markets around the world fell. It's got nothing to do with the fact that we've mismanaged our government to the benefit of certain groups of people in this country. It's all your fault S&P for downgrading us.
Saying it doesn't make it so. I've been there before and sometimes the messenger gets beaten up pretty well for the message that nobody wants to hear.
I have comparisons: Look at what happened to early Christians. Stephen was stoned to death for preaching the Gospel. Many, many Christians have been killed for the very same thing. People demand to know the "truth" but when they're told, if it doesn't fit into their ideas of what the truth should be, then they're apt to start looking for anything they can to discredit the messenger. But not the message.
The message from S&P is clear to everyone, but us apparently. Your government, they're telling us, is broken. We elect our officials so this is a direct reflection of you and I. Whether or not I voted for these people (for the record, I voted for the other guy...except for Obama), the majority of the people in this state sent my congressman and senator back to Washington two years ago.
So, the message you sent last election was that these guys were doing a great job. OK, how's that great job working out for you? You can't blame Obama for all of this. The brunt of this belongs to the folks we sent back there. Obama caved in like a cheap lawn chair to the Republicans (and I thought he was a Democrat?). He's tried to set a tone of compromise and cooperation. He's negotiated with the Republicans who are proud (google Mitch McConnell) of holding this country hostage to destroy the Government they were in charge of for six years at the tun of the century. If they hated government then, why didn't they do what they're trying to do now and shut the whole thing down then?
And where were our elected officials when all that was happening? Were they in office? If they were, then it's OK if I blame them, too. I didn't vote for them then, either.
And, by the way, the last time things were really good in this country was when a Democrat was running things and we paid enough taxes to pay the Government's bills and actually start paying down the principal on our debt. Right now we're borrowing money to only pay the INTEREST on it.
So, if you don't like what you're reading here, feel free to blame the messenger. The facts though, speak for themselves. My message today to my Republicans friends is just one simple question:
We tried it your way and it didn't work. OK, so now what?
Just a little post-script to this post: Finger pointing, which was not my intention, by the way, ain't gonna fix any of this. What we seriously need to do is to listen to what our politicians believe, what they say, and weigh that against their past performance. We really need to hold them accountable for their part in this mess, which is my point. If we keep sending the same people back to Washington because influence comes with time served and we want them to bring home the bacon, so to speak, we really need to have a sea change in our own thinking.
The problem is this: The store has plenty of bacon. We're just out of money to pay for it.
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