Anatomy of an outrage
The outrage regarding American International Group (AIG) and the monetary bonuses awarded to some of its employees has really twisted a lot of britches and there is evidence of mis-placed anger. Not only are there a lot of people in Washington, D.C. walking funny these days, they are also actually talking funny. Some would call it “Talking crazy!”
Of late, in Washington, D.C. talking crazy has become no big deal. This is due to the fact Congress continues to express the same incompetence over and over looking for a different outcome; the Charlie Brown, Lucy syndrome if you will, and speaking of syndromes, there is also the one about the farmer bringing home the frozen snake he found.
In full defense of “talking crazy” I posit this is the unquestionable results of what I have always believed: If you start off wrong, you end up wrong. It is my opinion it never fails and little by little, drip by drip the word is coming out the whole process with the bail out money for AIG started off wrong. It started off with fallacious learned behavior. People not knowing what they were doing. People having poor planning processes. People with a lack of foresight. Incompetence, if you will. Total! You name it and it always ends with a battery of excuses. You would think the poor critters put more thought into their excuses then they do developing their plans.
The process of giving people money for whatever reasons, in my opinion, has inherit language associated with it and in many cases the language has to be explicit and written down. It is hard to imagine far back in the ecological chain my ancestors giving his neighbor the whole leg of a dinosaur without some conditions and I am assuming the leg of a dinosaur was just as precious a commodity and as relevant as giving billions of dollars to an insurance company to help it out of its financial miseries.
No strings attached! No “Devil in the details!” No nothing. “Here!” congress said, “take this money! It’s free and it’s all yours!” I understand Ms. Olympia Snow “tried” to insert some restraints on the bail out money for AIG but the restrictions were dropped when the bill was in conference. This is yet another “in your face” example of the total incompetence of some members of congress. I can not imagine any excuse more stupid when we are talking about billions of dollars, but that is what Sen. Snow said and I am sure she is standing by her word. I note she has given no further information. However, there are questions, yes?
I will conclude by saying once those opportunities pass and the whole process is on the wrong track, the energy it takes to put the process back on track is very difficult, to say the least, if not down right impossible. It’s that “moving finger” thing as Kenny Rogers so aptly sang about in his song, “The Gambler.”
America is still a young country. There are major mistakes yet to come. There are thousands of years ahead of us as is the backgrounds of many countries on the African continent. Let’s say three thousands years from now our future ancestors will have stories beginning with, “Once upon a time three thousand years ago in America…” I fear we will have to chalk this AIG one up due to the fact and above all, too many of us know the perils of biting the hand that feeds you either through vicarious or personal accounts.
As always,
BB
P.S. I know Dick Cheney had an interview on Sunday. I did not watch it for fear I would write about it. A writer, and I do consider myself one who writes. What else would you call a writer? Most people do not have the time to do what we do. As I was saying, a writer has to be careful writing about an evil person. It’s that personification thing you have to deal with and you can quickly find yourself in emotional quicksand that may take you days to get out of. Some writers are skillful in handling evil and thank God, I am not one of them. I am mindful I did write one account of Dick Cheney when he used the “So?” expression in an interview. That was during the time I first realized there are truly evil people in this world. It was a sobering experience for me. One I will never forget!
P.P.S. The hypocrisy of America talking about difficulties breaking AIG contracts with two illegal wars not sanctioned by Congress, illegal wiretapping and the list goes on and on.
P.P.P.S. Is there a template for writing
congressional bills?
Of late, in Washington, D.C. talking crazy has become no big deal. This is due to the fact Congress continues to express the same incompetence over and over looking for a different outcome; the Charlie Brown, Lucy syndrome if you will, and speaking of syndromes, there is also the one about the farmer bringing home the frozen snake he found.
In full defense of “talking crazy” I posit this is the unquestionable results of what I have always believed: If you start off wrong, you end up wrong. It is my opinion it never fails and little by little, drip by drip the word is coming out the whole process with the bail out money for AIG started off wrong. It started off with fallacious learned behavior. People not knowing what they were doing. People having poor planning processes. People with a lack of foresight. Incompetence, if you will. Total! You name it and it always ends with a battery of excuses. You would think the poor critters put more thought into their excuses then they do developing their plans.
The process of giving people money for whatever reasons, in my opinion, has inherit language associated with it and in many cases the language has to be explicit and written down. It is hard to imagine far back in the ecological chain my ancestors giving his neighbor the whole leg of a dinosaur without some conditions and I am assuming the leg of a dinosaur was just as precious a commodity and as relevant as giving billions of dollars to an insurance company to help it out of its financial miseries.
No strings attached! No “Devil in the details!” No nothing. “Here!” congress said, “take this money! It’s free and it’s all yours!” I understand Ms. Olympia Snow “tried” to insert some restraints on the bail out money for AIG but the restrictions were dropped when the bill was in conference. This is yet another “in your face” example of the total incompetence of some members of congress. I can not imagine any excuse more stupid when we are talking about billions of dollars, but that is what Sen. Snow said and I am sure she is standing by her word. I note she has given no further information. However, there are questions, yes?
I will conclude by saying once those opportunities pass and the whole process is on the wrong track, the energy it takes to put the process back on track is very difficult, to say the least, if not down right impossible. It’s that “moving finger” thing as Kenny Rogers so aptly sang about in his song, “The Gambler.”
America is still a young country. There are major mistakes yet to come. There are thousands of years ahead of us as is the backgrounds of many countries on the African continent. Let’s say three thousands years from now our future ancestors will have stories beginning with, “Once upon a time three thousand years ago in America…” I fear we will have to chalk this AIG one up due to the fact and above all, too many of us know the perils of biting the hand that feeds you either through vicarious or personal accounts.
As always,
BB
P.S. I know Dick Cheney had an interview on Sunday. I did not watch it for fear I would write about it. A writer, and I do consider myself one who writes. What else would you call a writer? Most people do not have the time to do what we do. As I was saying, a writer has to be careful writing about an evil person. It’s that personification thing you have to deal with and you can quickly find yourself in emotional quicksand that may take you days to get out of. Some writers are skillful in handling evil and thank God, I am not one of them. I am mindful I did write one account of Dick Cheney when he used the “So?” expression in an interview. That was during the time I first realized there are truly evil people in this world. It was a sobering experience for me. One I will never forget!
P.P.S. The hypocrisy of America talking about difficulties breaking AIG contracts with two illegal wars not sanctioned by Congress, illegal wiretapping and the list goes on and on.
P.P.P.S. Is there a template for writing
congressional bills?
posted by BB at 12:57 AM
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