To listen to some commentators, you'd think that the recent election results either mean the end of civilization as we know or it's dawn of a new era for humanity. Frankly, it's neither. While there were a few new wrinkles added thanks to the unpredictable "Tea Party" aspect, in the end we still have the same number of elected officials with the same job to do. While certainly it is important to ensure those who fill those jobs are the best (based upon the opinion of the majority of voters), but the universe does not revolve around them.
The Republican take-back of Congress and many other state-level elections didn't really surprise me. President Obama's continued denial that voters have said they want an end to his pseudo-Socialist policies doesn't surprise me. MSNBC staffing their election night coverage with their partisan Liberal commentators who used the time to mock and challenge Republicans rather than report the news as it unfolded didn't surprise me. However, I've been reading some other tidbits that have left me just sitting back and thinking to myself: "huh... really??"
First off, have you seen the story of Jammie Thomas-Rasset? She's the mom from Minnesota that the recording industry has decided to make the poster child of music downloading piracy. Don't get me wrong, I don't condone theft in any manner, but I can't help but think there may be a wee bit of disproportional punishment going on here. The record companies want this lady to pay $1.5 MILLION for a whopping (24) songs that she's accused of illegally downloading. So here we are in an age when Lindsay Lohan can get away with flaunting the law, when Charlie Rangel can have a list of ethics violations against him and still win a 21st term to Congress by a huge margin, and when the first Black President of the United States can get a pass for invoking "move to the back of the bus" when talking about his political opponents. But don't you DARE illegally download two dozen songs or we're gonna take you down! Does anyone else find this all just a bit out of perspective?
Then there's the story of the "Nicest Canadian couple" who won a huge amount of money in the lottery, but decided it was more trouble than it was worth - so they are giving 98% of it away to charities. Of course they are lauded as being so noble and caring. But one article I read about it said that they had not spent *any* money on themselves - even though the wife "was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer when the couple realized they'd won the jackpot in July." Oh, I know what you're thinking - but that's ok, because it's Canada and their health care system pays for everything... WRONG, the taxpayers of Canada pay for everything. The very least this couple could've done is reimburse for those chemo treatments.
Before you shake your head and call me Scrooge, just consider if this exact same story was about Rush Limbaugh doing this - would it be reported with the same tone? You better believe that it wouldn't. Let's face it, we assign whether someone has 'noble intent' based more on our opinion of them than what they do. If it's proof you want, look to the news reports that actually criticize BP for - brace yourself - continuing to make a profit in spite of the oil well disaster. Did BP executives wake up one day and say "let's pollute the Gulf of Mexico just for fun." Obviously not. Have they continued to work to fix the problem and paid out on claims that continue to pile up? Yes. And yet they are not only vilified, but there is clear disappointment among those who would like to have seen them go bankrupt - which really wouldn't have helped pay all of those claims and recovery costs. We *expect* them to pay the bills because they have the resources to do so... just like the "nicest Canadian couple". The difference here is that BP actually is paying their way.
But my absolute favorite "huh?" moment came last week when I read that U.S. companies are hoarding almost $1 trillion cash! Seriously? They are "hoarding" money? What the article is actually saying is that companies are holding on to their profits rather than reinvesting them, because there remains a LOT of uncertainty in the economy. Now if your parent, grandparent, friend, neighbor, or co-worker told you that they had decided to try to save back as much money as they could by reducing their expenses because they were nervous about the economy and wanted to make sure they were able to protect themselves in the event that things went sour again, would you mock them? Of course not, you'd applaud them and admire them for having the discipline to do what so many of the rest of us can't seem to do very well... save money. And yet, when it's 'evil' corporate America we don't applaud them for being frugal or wise in their business dealings; instead we criticize them for sitting on their money and "hoarding" it. Personally I find that a bit bizarre - especially since we are now all massively in debt because the government has had to 'bail out' far too many companies that weren't conservative enough in their finances...
In the end, just like the election this week, the universe will continue on. But I just can't help but think that things keep getting just a little more twisted all the time.
