Posted on 09/21/2008 2:27:53 PM PDT by Pfesser
Once upon a time, there was a country called the United States of America. This fairy tale land was founded by giants. But these giants were unlike those mean giants who grind men’s bones to make their bread. These giants respected all men’s bones, no matter how very small they were. In fact, these giants went to war against a wicked King who lived across an ocean, a King who was stealing the money of the little men to pay for things he wanted. When the good giants won the war, the little men were so grateful that they offered the giant’s leader a crown.
Now here is the part you may find unbelievable. The giant turned down the shiny, bejeweled, golden crown. He had something inside him that made him love something more than shiny crowns; he had a fabled power called principles.
Other giants with principles gathered to protect not only these little men, but all little men of the future, from cruel Kings and giants determined to grind their bones. These giants believed that words were as powerful as swords. Their principles made their words so powerful that a new land was formed magically before their eyes—the United States of America.
These giants’ could have ruled the little men, but that would have been against their magic principles. Instead, they used their words to give power to the little men; government, they said, derived its power from the consent of the governed. Those are fancy giant words that mean little men give giants the power that they have. Isn’t that a funny idea? Little men giving big men power? But it happened. The magic principles made it happen. Even more amazing was the giant’s vision of the purpose of government. Its purpose was not to rule the little men, but to secure their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those are fancy giant words that men even little men have the right to live, to be free, and to try to be happy, and all government had to do was make sure little men are protected from any mean giants who might try to take those rights from them.
The world ridiculed this new fairy-tale land. They predicted that these little men, peons, they said, ruffians, (that’s a fancy word for someone who is not as sophisticated as a giant), would fail. But they were wrong. Instead, these countries of the world which had existed for thousands of years watched as the little men built a country that the world envied. In this country, all a little man had to do to succeed was work. And he did. He worked hard. He sent his little children to schools, where they learned to work hard. This fairy-tale land became the most powerful country in the world, and all the little men were happy and well-fed.
Within this happy land, wicked giants hid. Only these giants were tricky. They had disguised themselves as little men. They were able to wear this disguise well because that thing inside the real giants , those magic principles, did not exist. These giants hungered for pretty crowns. So they began to convince the little men that they would be very good rulers. They asked the little men for money to run their campaigns to become rulers. And the little men gave them money and believed in them. In fact, the giants-in-disguise convinced the little men, well, not all of them, but many, that they were smarter and abler to made decisions. They convinced the little men that they would protect them from themselves, from their bad choices. How, they asked, could you little men possibly know how to live your lives, how to be free, how to pursue happiness? Let us help you. All you have to do is pay taxes and we’ll protect you. Those are fancy words that mean “I’ll grind your bones to make my bread.” And grind their bones they did. But the little men were so good, so trusting, so comfortable in the safety provided by those mythical giants of the past, that they paid the taxes and barely even felt the pain in their bones.
The wicked giants watched while other wicked giants built powerful businesses. Only unlike the mythical giants of the past, these giants weren’t satisfied with making money honestly. They robbed little men who trusted them. And worse, those wicked giants in power protected them by lying to the little men who trusted them for protection. But the magic principles of the mythical giants hovered throughout the land; they blew their breath upon the tricks and lies that were the protectors of the wicked, and the truth was revealed.
Now in most stories, this is where all the wicked giants would be slain by the heroic giants. Instead, in this story, this is place where the heroes hid. Instead of slaying the wicked giants, or at the very least throwing them in a dungeon to live out their wretched lives, every little man, little woman, and little child was robbed of $2000 as the wicked giants worked to pass “a sweeping $700-billion plan to insulate America's private financial institutions from staggering losses.” Those are fancy words that mean they would grind the little men’s bones to make their bread.
I don’t know how this story ends because the giants are still at work. We’re all waiting here in this magical land for the ancestors of those giants of our past, the ones with principles, the ones who believed that when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce the little men under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Those are fancy giant words that mean little men do not have to bail out wicked giants, and that if wicked giants try to make them, they have the right to slay them (not literally of course).
The little men are still looking for someone with magical principles to slay the wicked giants, but it is tricky. Remember, the only difference between the good giants and the bad giants is the magical power of principles, and those without principles are difficult to distinguish from the good little men. If anyone out there knows where to find the descendants of those mythical giants of yore, contact the little men. In the meantime, watch out for wicked giants disguised as little men.
Yes the only magic power the giants of today get caught with is the kind cut by a razor and snorted.
It is time to let the giants fall so others can take their place.
Great story! Hope all the good little men live happily ever after.
A: ALL OF THEM, IF WE ACT QUICKLY!
I have left phone messages for my two Senators and Congressman, and now am preparing faxes to send today in opposition to the ONE TRILLION DOLLAR BAILOUT!
RE-ELECT NO ONE ! ! !
Sorry, Brian, but the Treasury appears to be doing the right thing.
AGREED!! Do not vote for any incumbent!!!Repub or Demo included.
If congress bails out these corporations, I certainly hope that they will follow their PAYGO policy and figure out where the money is going to come from.
I think they’re locked in on that target. It’s called the Bank of American Taxpayer.
How can they be trusted to do things right this time?
It’s the best of bad alternatives. At this point, the systemic risk of doing nothing is profound.
IMHO, every entity that defaults in such a fashion as to require a government bailout should be required to open all its account books, and the contents of those books should be made public to anyone willing to pay $2/gig ($8/dvd) or so. Let all who are interested scour over the data and see what they find.
BTW, It's good to hear from you. It's been a while.
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