Sunday 26 April 2015

The Best Policy

"It's alright, there comes a time
Got no patience to search for peace of mind
Layin' low, want to take it slow
No more hiding or disguising truths I've sold"



     We're in that sweet spot of the sporting year, when we're treated to a double header of the playoff variety, with the agony of defeat, and sweet, sweet victory of both hockey and basketball to simultaneously entertain us.  One symptom of the playoffs is that athletes usually crank up the intensity of their play and the post-game, soul-searching honesty.  That is, of course, if they aren't mocking us by parroting meaningless catch phrases, which appears to be 'thing' now.  Anyway.  

     Faced with inevitable Game 7's, elimination and an off-season to ponder what went wrong, no athlete ever understates what is on the line, and to make an excuse becomes sacrilege.  After blowouts or narrow loses, any glistening, towel wrapped demigod, gasping for breath, mans up and takes the blame for their failures and never passes the buck to the coach, the GM, and especially never to teammates.  You'll very rarely hear a goalie complain about a lack offence or see a top scorer blame his team mates for not dishing him the rock more.  You just don't.

     Quite the opposite, really.  Athletes tend to be honest to a fault, particularly when dealing with crushing losses.  "We just didn't get the job done.  We needed to execute better.  We missed some shots that we need to be making".  No double speak to confuse the audience, no changing the outcome so it was a victory on paper, no blaming the playing conditions, the weather or the global economic outlook.  No sir, athletes have a level of honesty after losses that is refreshing as fuck, especially when compared to today's cream puff politicians.  Looking your way, Dalton "I will not run deficits" McGuinty.  

     And it's not just the Liberals, politicians of every party are all a bunch of liars and thieves, and do nothing more than pass the blame around like it's a dose of fucking herpes.  I have never heard a politician, whether they be federal, provincial or municipal, ever step in front of the podium and take the blame for any scandal, any budget overruns, tax hike or deficit increase.  It's never been their fault regardless of whether they tabled the bill, ordered the emails deleted or approved another crony make-work project.

     Nope, never seen a resigning politico teary eyed when leaving office for not getting the job done.  "We really blew it, I dropped the ball on that one, or, we need to do a better job with tax payer's hard earned money".  These are phrases you'll never hear coming out of the mouths of our Wonder bread politicians, who have a tendency to piss on us and then tell us to go out and buy an umbrella.  It's almost like they've practised these phrases in front of the mirror, or their henchmen, so that we, Joe Public, will be confused and turn the channel back to sports.   And I wouldn't blame anyone one bit for doing just that.     

     There is a stark contrast in the honesty that athletes choose during defeat and the vile sewage spit forth by the cornered serpents that politicians become when faced with their own lies, hypocrisies and vast incompetency.  Sport, in all its glorious forms, is far more popular than politics and that is for a variety of reasons.  One such reason is the integrity and honesty that most athletes bring to the fans.  If politicians really want to engage the public in greater numbers, how about they start with some honesty at the microphone.  Maybe when they they start speaking something with even a bit of truth to it, we'll tune in.


4 comments:

  1. The lying and cheating runs rampant at all levels of government. Wasn't it a billion dollars lost on the gas plant scandal? To win back a couple seats? Sickening. Not all of the $300 billion (??) debt is Wynne's fault, she obviously inherited a mess from Premier Dad, but I don't see the honest discussion taking place that you identify that we need to help get us out of this mess.

    What government is lacking is a Board of Directors. Possibly a small handful of different groups. Maybe even one for each Ministry. Government parties need people to answer to, and the general electorate isn't organized in a manner to make this possible.

    Want to run a $5B deficit, do you? Gotta get the Board's approval first. We the people should measure politicians successes not on the outcomes of the platforms they create, but on the success of implementation of solutions to needs that experts in the field identify. If you can't cut it, you're gone.

    This would make Kevin O'Leary's idea of the PM being CEO of Canada legitimate, and the model could be applied to provincial and municipal politics as well.

    Time for reform.

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    Replies
    1. If Kevin O'Leary were the CEO of Canada, I personally think we could be doing a lot worse. Raises the question...

      If you could appoint any Canadian as the CEO of the country, who would it be? My vote is for an amalgamation of Kevin O'Leary (Realist/Dragon), Glen Sather (GM of New York Rangers) and Neil Young (Minimalist/Fucking Legend).

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  2. Very good post sir, although I would not use the Toronto Maple Leafs as an example to set any standard. Talk about not caring.
    In my opinion, you have missed some important elements:
    1-Too many lawyers in politics,
    2-No term limits
    3-People are stupid and tolerate them

    There are too many lawyers in politics and honestly there should be a quota. In Pierre Berton's two volume history about the construction of the CPR, he described how Alexandre Mackenzie was a stone mason that became Prime Minister. The man was a master at his trade, but he wasn't dumb. He was well read and intelligent. I think we could use a plumber or electrician in the HofC but I'm also afraid the lowest common denominator has become acceptable.

    Term limits are necessary because politicians begin to think too highly of themselves and assume they are meant to govern. Term limit, leave office, return if wanted after 8 years if desired.

    People are simple and except mediocrity. If politicians are to improve, the bar has to be raised everywhere...

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  3. Also, I need to complain to tech support for your blog.

    It does not want to allow me to post from my phone. This is just unacceptable and is a real hardship. Sort yourself out. It's the 21st century.

    ReplyDelete