Monday, December 28, 2009
Monday.....Miscellaneous....Fairy Tale Come True?
On my twenty minute ride to work today, I listened to Glen Meakem who was a substitute host for Jim Quinn on 104.7 fm radio here in Pittsburgh (also Sirius/XM channel 158.) I have heard him in this capacity a few times and been impressed and know that he is very active and influential in Pennsylvania's politics and economy. Tonight I looked a little bit further to find a bio on him and now I'm wondering Why isn't this man running for the United States Senate? He's an A. B. (cum laude) graduate of Harvard and holds an MBA from there also. A successful entrepreneur and Gulf War vet with a thing for ethics in business. What's he waiting for? He started off the show today by reading Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes. Now we are all, to one extent or another, familiar with this children's story. I've probably written but the Empower has no clothes in this blog before but shame on me for hanging on to a quote and forsaking the meat. I'm just compelled to pass along here, Meakem's message on this story. In summary: there was once an emperor who spent vast sums of money on his wardrobe. He did not care about his duties as emperor or even the other entertainments of the day, only in wearing his beautiful clothes, changing into new suits as often as every hour! Two scoundrels appear claiming to be able to weave the most wonderful clothes that are so marvelous in their colors and patterns that they appear invisible to those unfit for high office or the simple-minded. The Emperor, lost in his own vanity, contracts the scoundrels to weave him a set of these most beautiful clothes. He supplies money, precious silk and gold thread to the rogues who only pretend to be working while carting off the booty every night. The Emperor gets a little bit antsy and sends a faithful old minister to check on the progress. The minister sees nothing for there is nothing there to see but cannot admit to being one of the foolish and unwise who cannot see such beauty, so they lie. The Emperor sent yet another official who also was not going to appear unfit for his high position. The whole town had fallen for the ruse. I'm not going to belabor the point by summarizing the rest of the fairy tale, for most of us know it, and Meakem's point has already been made. A vain man holds the throne and the bureaucrats simply cannot challenge what is before their eyes for they will lose their position. Glen Meakem emphasized the poor leadership all around, for leadership is a forte of his. Are we not in a similar position in America today, as Meakem pointed out? I only heard a small portion of the show and did not hear Meakem's full commentary. I don't see our President as the emperor in this story, I see him as one of the rogues who have come to the American people, awash in our toys, games and trivialities, and sold us a bill of goods. I have never been able to come to grips with the possibility of all sixty Democratic Senators and numerous moderate Republicans actually believing the bailout scams, global warming and Cap and Trade nonsense, let alone the Czar government and naive foreign policy. And what about various CEOs who obviously are brilliant people? The most ludicrous example are the keepers of the intellectual flame, the academics, the university professors? Maybe in their case, the robes and gowns they parade in from time to time are their own vain obsession? The story ends with the Emperor realizing his blunder and the people calling out that he no clothes but the die was cast and he went on with the procession with his aides holding up, even higher, nothing! As I was pulling into the parking space, Meakem commented that it was appropriate that Hans Christian Andersen wrote this story in Copenhagen.
