Posted by
peripheral on Thursday, June 19, 2008 6:41:41 AM
I was just thinking about - - - -
A saying that has been with
us for a very long time is: “Engage your brain before you operate your mouth!”
More simply stated – “Think before you speak!”
With that in mind, remarks by Karl Rove in today’s Wall Street Journal
state the following regarding the political proclamations by the presumed
candidates of their respective affiliation. He states: “Is knowledge or
consistency too much to ask?” What he has in mind is the complete misunderstanding
of profits versus profit margins. When candidates speak of or hint at windfall
profit taxes on oil companies, Karl Rove says: “Why should we stop with oil
companies? They make about 8.3 cents in gross profit per dollar of sales. Why
don't the candidates slap a windfall
profits tax on sectors of the economy that have fatter margins? Electronics
make 14.5 cents per dollar and computer equipment makers take in 13.7 cents per
dollar, according to the Census Bureau. Microsoft's margin is 27.5 cents per
dollar of sales. Call out candidate’s
Windfall Profits Police! It's not the profit margin, but the total number of
dollars earned that is the problem, the
candidate’s might say. But if that were the case, why aren’t they targeting other industries? Oil and gas companies made
$86.5 billion in profits last year. At the same time, the financial services
industry took in $498.5 billion in profits, the retail industry walked away
with $137.5 billion, and information technology companies made off with $103.4
billion. What kind of special outrage do the
candidate’s have for these companies?"
And
then, one candidate has selected a prospective National Security Advisor, Richard
Danzig, who served as Navy Secretary under President Clinton. What is his philosophy and model for
Terrorism and Foreign Policy? In the London Telegraph today, “(he) told a major
foreign policy conference in Washington that the future of US strategy in the
war on terrorism should follow a lesson from the pages of Winnie the Pooh,
which can be shortened to: if it is causing you too much pain, try something
else….Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national
security…He spelled out how American troops, spies and anti-terrorist officials
could learn key lessons by understanding the desire of terrorists to emulate
superheroes like Luke Skywalker, and the lust for violence of violent football
fans…Mr Danzig spelled out the need to change by reading a paragraph from Chapter One of the children’s classic, which says: “Here is Edward Bear, coming
downstairs now, bump, bump, bump on the back of his head behind Christopher
Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming down stairs. But
sometimes he thinks there really is another way if only he could stop bumping a
minute and think about it.”
If
this became a reality in our national politics, then our nation should have a resident Phrenologist
(one who studies configurations of the skull and bumps on the head) as the
Chief Analyst, or maybe as President of our country. By definition, a
phrenologist is one who accepts “a psychological theory or analytical method
based on the belief that certain mental faculties and character traits are
indicated by the configurations of the skull.”
Some
Biblical truths we would do well to remember and think about: Job 12:12-13, “Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in
length of days. With God are wisdom and might; He has counsel and understanding.”
Proverbs 1:7, “The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and
instruction.” And James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let
him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given
him.” Any person desiring to lead a nation should have some focus on the source
of true wisdom versus the fanciful (but absurd) experiential approach. Maybe – before we vote – we should check
skulls and determine how many bumps are on a candidate’s head.
Think about that with me - - -