Tuesday, March 24, 2009

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE "UH-OH"

One of the endearing traits about children is that when they make a mistake or do something bad, they have the decency and transparency to say, “UH-OH!”

The “UH-OH” factor recedes and sometimes disappears entirely when people grow up and become politicians, bankers, insurance giants, or athletes. Spins and cover-ups have turned the concept of honesty into an antiquated notion.

Newspapers, magazines, and TV are filled with examples of people with big jobs doing terrible things-- things that often affect all of us – and not having the stones to admit it publicly.

Athletes, for example, looking like The Incredible Hulk, might claim they work hard, eat right, take plenty of vitamins, and get 8 hours of sleep a night. If strong evidence suggests otherwise, the athlete might say, “Gosh, I had no idea what that needle in my butt was for.”

People in high places declare wars that can't be explained without a little smoke and a lot of mirrors.

We're told with a straight face that pork-filled budgets are a necessary cost of doing business. We learn that the top AIG executives, the lying weasels who ran the company into the ground and needed billions in bailout money, have a legal contract and are still entitled to millions for doing a lousy job.

Then there's Bernie Madoff, betraying good friends, and ruining their lives and perhaps the lives of their children. The following could be construed as being unkind -- but may he rot in prison and have a cellmate named Bubba.

Diogenes, the cynical Greek philosopher who lived some 300 years before Christ, was famous for carrying a lantern in his continual search for an honest man. If he were alive today, he'd need a search light, and it still wouldn't be enough.

@#$%&@

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