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From the Other Side of the Edge….
“Stepping on the
Throat….”
By Joe Facinoli
Military leaders have a saying. Coaches in all sports use
it as well.
When your enemy, or your opponent, is down, and nearly out, “Step
on their throat!”
Nearing victory, or close to imposing a stinging defeat, they will
exhort to their underlings: “Don’t let them up!,…..Don’t
give them the chance to breathe again.”
The idea being, that if you “let them up”, then they could possibly get
new life, have time to regroup, and then grab that sweet victory right
out of your hands.
Unfortunately, politicians of today, and of recent times, have not only
adopted this philosophy, but have taken it to a whole new and different
level of refinement.
The word “compromise” has either been removed from their dictionaries,
or has had the meaning changed drastically, to now read something
like: “the showing of weakness to an opponent, or an
inability to serve one’s constituency.”
Modern and current pols have devolved from the not so long ago days of
Sam Rayburn, Lyndon Johnson, and Newt Gingrich, who were tough
negotiators and arm twisters all, who took hard stances, and who made
strong demands on many issues, but also knew they had to give away
large considerations to the other side, in order to get what they
wanted, and to ultimately do what was good for the country.
These “chieftains”, and many others like them, including a few
Presidents, were certainly perceived as “party first” kinds of policy
makers. But they all knew, at least they would secretly
admit, that they had to serve the nation first, even if sometimes they
did it purely for their own self-aggrandizement, in order for their
leadership to be successful.
They took and they gave, and then they gave and they took.
And then some more of both.
They knew that they could not please everyone, not all the time
anyway. But without the “other side”, there was no
compromising, and no appearance of doing what was best for
everyone. They “needed” each other.
It wasn’t perfect, but it worked. Many good things were pushed
through Congress, in just this manner. Oh there were many
casualties along the way, and much crying and whining, and
gnashing. But in the end, we got the benefit of a lot of
accomplishments. And they passed a budget every year, oh by
the way.
But in whatever recent year, that all changed.
Now we are stuck with: “take no prisoners”, and “never give an inch,
lest be perceived as weak and incapable”, and nothing gets
done.
All negotiations begin and end with constant, bitter, and brutal
bashing and blaming of the other side, and a complete avoidance of the
issues at hand, in order to gain a victory, no matter how small or
insignificant.
And taking a stand on anything? Oh my god, that might mean
that they had to actually defend that position, and that would take
away valuable time from beating the brains out of their political
adversaries, for whatever purpose (choose one), in what has become the
only method known to these bad actors.
“Stepping on the Throat…”, has developed into the main plan of action
in Congress, and even the slightest of edges is pursued by men and
women of both parties, so that they can implement it, as often, and as
completely as possible.
No extra breaths allowed by an opponent, and nuance, subtlety, and
professional nicety, have all gone to the same early grave as
“compromise”.
Nothing is ever understated, and everything is a major problem, a
crises, or a catastrophe beyond all known in human history. There
are no varying degrees nor shades of cleverness, much less
willingness. Only a foot on the larynx, and two by fours to
the side of the head. Very subtle stuff.
When everything is a crises, then nothing is a crises. But they
don’t get this.
Very much like crying wolf, and on the highest of levels, and in the
most dangerous arenas. But it matters not to
them. Only victories matter, with the country be
damned.
James Madison spoke about this, in the Federalist Papers.
He warned that: “Enlightened statesmen will not always be
at the helm.” But he had no idea.
Our Founding Fathers struggled with the same problems then, as we do
now, maybe more. But they had the wherewithal, fortitude,
and wisdom,….and the courage, to figure out how to overcome them, for
the greater good.
Other good leaders then followed that amazing group of patriots, who
were possibly unique to all time. Not all these followers
were perfect, but enough of them possessed the same high qualities and
wisdoms as their forebears, to continue us on.
Proof being that our nation has lasted for two hundred plus years since
that first gathering, who sacrificed so much, and put so much of their
individualism, state and party pride, and self-serving wants and needs
aside, for the good of the whole, of their fledging nation, and for the
freedom they fought so hard to gain.
We, as a people, have forgotten almost all of those marvelous and
prescient lessons, and are on the edge of undoing all that our
founders, and so many other brave souls and courageous leaders, did
sacrifice, fight, and die for.
Today’s leaders, of all parties, have no clue of any of
this.
They see control over the people, and all processes, as far more
important than good and fair policy, and the demand that the people
trust in them, and especially in the central government, as preferable
to personal freedoms and rights.
Let us remember, listen to, learn from, and not make ordinary, nor what
would be worse, throw away, all these lessons passed down from what has
been the greatest experiment in individual freedom and liberty, in the
long history of our planet. Leaders of all parties,
please take heed.
Joe Facinoli
(You can reach Joe, at joefacinoli@gmail.com )
Copyright 2013, Joe Facinoli
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