Saturday, June 25, 2011

TO CONGRESS: YOU MUST DECIDE WHERE YOU STAND


I was ensconced in the waiting room of a car dealership, hoping and praying that there was enough money left in my sinking bank account to cover the car repairs that were taking place.  Hiding with my nose deep into my laptop, I could hear the other unfortunate souls lamenting and commiserating about their misfortunes and their similar prayers for reasonable costs for their own repairs.  The ruckus was like listening to a chorus full of women in a hair salon. 

Everyone in there was ticked off at Congress and the President.  I mean to tell you that out of about 25 people, not one took the side of government.  And the diatribe was horrendous, calamitous.  The din was so loud that someone actually got up and walked over and turned off the TV, saying, “I don’t know about you guys, but I am so sick and tired of hearing what is coming out of Washington that I just simply don’t want to listen to the crap anymore.”  There was general agreement; even the guy emptying the trash concurred.    

Here is the issue.  Most of us legal Americans were brought up to obey the law and to always do what is right.  We were taught moral and ethical values that kept us out of trouble for all of our lives.  “If you always stand on the right side of things, you will always win the day.” 

I cannot begin to tell you how many times in my life I have had to own up to something that I did that did not turn out right.  There were countless times when I knew that an employee was right in their stance against an overbearing boss, and I took the risk of standing up and defending them.  I just have been involved in a situation where the boss is doing something unethical and immoral, I’m a consultant, and an employee came to me and asked me for advice.  Talk about being between a rock and a woman’s purse…..

Anyway, I was in an ethical situation here.  How do I counsel the employee that he is right and he should quit rather than do what he is being asked to do, when I am likewise drawing a paycheck from the same employer?  You know what?  I thought about that decision for less than a fleeting second.  Stand on the side of right and you will always win the day.  The employee was a very good employee and I hated to see him go, but he walked into the boss’ office and told him where to stick it.  Unbelievably, faced with the choice between losing the good employee and gaining some self-advantage by doing something wrong… the employer relented and changed his mind.  He did what was right. 

You know where I am going with this, don’t you?  There they are in Washington, our President and our Congress.  How long has it been since any of them stood up and did what is right for this country?  How many of them consistently put their own agendas and their political interests far ahead of what is right?  If, after reading this little epistle, how many of them will have the guts and the courage to stand up and start running this country like it was supposed to be run? 

How many will set aside their Republican or Democratic Party dictates and stand up and do what is right for this country?  I’m not talking about the budget, or the economy, or jobs, or war, or healthcare or energy or anything else in particular; I’m talking about all of it.  Every day of every week that they are in their jobs, how many of them are willing to always do what is right, regardless of the consequences?   

I’ll bet you will need less than one finger to count them.

Do you really want to reelect them?  Or do you really want to take our country back? 

That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted. 

 

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