We're All Little People Now

As I've thought about the political landscape and my previous writing on sports, I now wonder if we're all "little people" now. You know, the little people who just aren't important.

Consider that politicians don't return phone calls or answer questions. They vote on bills they don't read and even when constituents raise objections, they vote what they think benefits them within the realm of the political elite. Consider that professional football teams (and probably other sports teams as well) pull top athletes from play long before they've secured a win (even to the extent they're willing to lose), just to avoid what "might" happen.

Sports teams aren't concerned about the paying customer. Politicians aren't interested in doing what's right for the people, their state or the country.

I have heard people say they don't voice their opinion because they don't think it'll make a difference. Thank God the people who fought for our independence more than 235 years ago didn't think that way.

Sports Thoughts

Over the Christmas weekend some interesting things happened regarding college and NFL football. Coach Urban Meyer (Florida Gators) quit, then changed his mind and decided to take an indefinite leave of absence, and the undefeated Indianapolis Colts decided to pull most of their marquee starting players (including QB Peyton Manning) and proceeded to lose the game. Both of these occurrences got me thinking about the priorities in sports.

In the case of the Indianapolis Colts, the talking heads on TV were debating whether the team (who didn't need another win to go to the playoffs) should be focused on continuing toward an undefeated season or taking out the starters to prevent possible injury. One of the commentators actually said that the team has an obligation to win a Superbowl (thinking "big picture"). Pardon me, but shouldn't the priority be to win the game that the tens of thousands of fans in the stands paid to see?

In the case of the Urban Meyer situation at Florida, speculation was all over the place and much of it focused on fatigue or stress from a workaholic style. If it is truly a health issue, I understand, but don't cry the blues to me about how stressful it is to manage a football program that pays millions of dollars.

This also comes after the Head Football coach of the University of Cincinnati left the team after the end of the regular season, but before the team's bowl game, so he could take a position as head coach of Notre Dame. Shouldn't he have stayed for the players that helped elevate his career?

It should now be clear to everyone that when it comes to sports, the paying customer is the least important factor. When it comes to college sports, the kids no longer come first.

Do They Really Care About Us?

I have recently heard friends and acquaintances mention that politicians are honest, hard-working people who somehow change once they get elected. While I respect these opinions, I find them hard to accept.

I know the problems we face didn't start within the last year. I also know it is unrealistic to expect the current president to solve all problems in less than a year. What I think IS reasonable, is to expect that the elected representatives and our president be honest. The president told us when he campaigned, that all legislation should be available to the public (via the internet, I think) for at least 72 hours before congress votes on it. Yet every piece of major legislation since his inauguration has been so important and necessary that we're told it MUST be passed immediately with NO discussion. In some cases, the legislators haven't even read the bills they are voting on.

What happened to all the "shovel-ready" projects that required the passage of the stimulus package earlier this year? Funny how they didn't materialize. Now they've passed another "stimulus" package.

I think there is enough evidence now, to make it obvious that many of our elected "leaders" are pathological liars and only care to further their own agenda. Consider that when the U.S. Constitution was written, those men committed their lives and their fortunes. Today our elected representatives not only don't pledge their fortunes, they pass laws to increase their own fortunes at the expense of your mere pittance of a paycheck.

More Stimulus?

Have we become such a stupid society that we really believe anything our elected politicians tell us?

We now have the President of the United States telling us that a bunch of bank bailout money that was not used, can now be put to work to stimulate the economy by providing incentives to employers to hire people. Mr. President, wasn't that what the $787billion "stimulus" package was supposed to do? And wasn't that passed (and signed by you) earlier this year?

Are the American people so stupid as to believe that if you provide a tax incentive, employers will just go out and hire people? Wouldn't employers want to see a NEED for employees before hiring, regardless of the incentive offered? In other words, people gotta be buying stuff which requires employers to make more stuff and need more employees to make the stuff. Duh! And I've never even seen Harvard.