What’s your weak link? Which little delicacy do you find irresistible? Before I was diagnosed with diabetes, my weakness was Oreos and milk. I’d be in my chair, reading and dipping, until all the cookies were gone (yes, I know what the icing in the cookie is made from). Achilles had the spot on his heel that made him vulnerable, and Charlie Sheen apparently has a number of vulnerabilities. The purpose for this discussion of weakness or sweet spots is that they are more illustrative of a person’s behavior than their self-proclaimed strengths. The soft spots for most politicians, particularly Republicans, are that they want to be liked and they do not want to appear to be “unreasonable.” The weak link for Democrats is that they absolutely adore demographic groups and will do anything to help their favored bundles of people. Democrats fear individualists, but they do love the individual heart-wrenching anecdote.
One of the primary arts of war and sports is to discover your opponent’s weakness and exploit it. Democrats do an excellent job of making Republicans defensive about their positions and philosophy. Republicans, on the other hand, seem obsessed with not wanting Democrats to ridicule them. What they seem to not understand is that the Democrats laugh at them and chortle at their weakness. It is also rather illustrative that some people will not do the right thing because someone may make fun of them for doing so. That’s why so many people of faith fail to take a stand when their faith is being mocked. The Apostle Peter had the same issue.
Others are afraid to take a stand for what is right because they fear being “blamed” for it. Boehner and the House GOP find themselves in such a situation in the budget battle. They do not want to be “blamed” for shutting down the government in order to achieve a tiny measure of fiscal responsibility. These dim bulbs don’t understand that any cuts they propose will be labeled as “draconian” and “extreme.” Why not, then, do the right thing by suggesting real cuts that lead to a path of fiscal solvency and take the heat. The GOP will be blamed no matter what they do. Why not do the right thing …for once? At this point in our nation’s history for career politicians to assume that the “old way” of doing things will mollify us, is ill advised and wrong. Perhaps their political instincts are correct in the sense that the dependent class will be angry with them, but the producer class will be livid. If they pander to the dependents in order to avoid the heat, then if or when the national economy fails, everyone will blame them.
Courage has its own reward. The knowledge that one did the right thing in the face of hostile opposition generates its own self-satisfaction. When the goal is greater than the will to achieve it, then the soft spot or weak link must be abandoned if there is to be any hope of achieving the goal. Controlling blood glucose levels and maintaining the targeted weight requires severely restricting my Oreo intake. If Republicans sincerely care about our country and our progeny, then they will stop trying to be liked and concentrate on being right. Republicans should commit to doing the responsible thing by drastically reducing government as they attempt to pull us back from the precipice. If they do not do the responsible thing, then they will be responsible……for allowing the mess to occur on their watch.
Democrats are like Pooh Bear because their hands are always in the honey pot. They refuse to accept that honey is a finite commodity, and they might not have any in the out years. Because of their infantile behavior and actions, they cannot be trusted to take their hands out of the jar. The Republicans must act like adults if the country is to be saved. Can they act responsibly, and do they love our country enough to do what is necessary?
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