Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Wishin' and Hopin'
My apologies to Dusty Springfield, the singer who recorded this song in the early 60s.
I guess all of the media writers and anti-Bush crowd are very pleased with themselves by now. They have been talking about (and wishin' and hopin' for) a possible recession for months and maybe even years and if you repeat something long enough and often enough, it is likely to eventually be true. Glory Hallelujah! America's economy is in the dumps. Time for rejoicing, singing and dancing and many, many 'I told you sos' to go around.
Makes me sick to my stomach. Only in America could there people rejoicing because the economy is in a downturn. Proves to them that Bush has had it wrong all along. And that the socialists and anti-capitalists have it just right. Can't we all just get along?
Why do people love it when bad things happen to other people? Why does someone take pleasure in someone else's misfortunes? It is very hard for me to understand that people cheer for the successful to be beaten down. I don't see how it helps someone if someone else does badly yet we exhibit this kind of behavior frequently. Down with the mighty! Up with the underdog! It's a great rallying cry but it is a fleeting philosophy.
This behavior must be built-in to our human nature because it is not consistent. We are fast approaching the beginning of another March Madness where college basketball enthusiasts are in heaven for a few weeks. It is a stage for the underdogs. Unless you are a die-hard Duke fan, you will be rooting for a Winthrop or a George Mason or whoever plays against Duke because Duke is just so, so..... perennially good.
About 10 years ago a relatively unknown school from the Pacific Northwest made it to the Elite 8, beating my favorite team, Florida, along the way. The entire NCAA basketball world was rooting for Gonzaga to go all the way. In the past decade Gonzaga has become a consistently good basketball team, making the tournament every year with an ever higher seed. Two years ago they were seeded 3rd and most of the basketball world was rooting for Xavier to take them out in the first round. It happens all the time.
But I still don't understand it. We are a fickle people. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion whether it is logical or not. I prefer to invest my wishin' and hopin' thoughts to positive benefits not towards negative ones. I don't wish any ill will on either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. I think that it really doesn't matter which one gets the nomination so I'm not hopin' for Hillary so McCain will have an easier target. I was hopin' for Mike Huckabee and wishin' that more Americans would understand and support the FairTax but I will not wish or hope against anyone. For any reason.
OH
I guess all of the media writers and anti-Bush crowd are very pleased with themselves by now. They have been talking about (and wishin' and hopin' for) a possible recession for months and maybe even years and if you repeat something long enough and often enough, it is likely to eventually be true. Glory Hallelujah! America's economy is in the dumps. Time for rejoicing, singing and dancing and many, many 'I told you sos' to go around.
Makes me sick to my stomach. Only in America could there people rejoicing because the economy is in a downturn. Proves to them that Bush has had it wrong all along. And that the socialists and anti-capitalists have it just right. Can't we all just get along?
Why do people love it when bad things happen to other people? Why does someone take pleasure in someone else's misfortunes? It is very hard for me to understand that people cheer for the successful to be beaten down. I don't see how it helps someone if someone else does badly yet we exhibit this kind of behavior frequently. Down with the mighty! Up with the underdog! It's a great rallying cry but it is a fleeting philosophy.
This behavior must be built-in to our human nature because it is not consistent. We are fast approaching the beginning of another March Madness where college basketball enthusiasts are in heaven for a few weeks. It is a stage for the underdogs. Unless you are a die-hard Duke fan, you will be rooting for a Winthrop or a George Mason or whoever plays against Duke because Duke is just so, so..... perennially good.
About 10 years ago a relatively unknown school from the Pacific Northwest made it to the Elite 8, beating my favorite team, Florida, along the way. The entire NCAA basketball world was rooting for Gonzaga to go all the way. In the past decade Gonzaga has become a consistently good basketball team, making the tournament every year with an ever higher seed. Two years ago they were seeded 3rd and most of the basketball world was rooting for Xavier to take them out in the first round. It happens all the time.
But I still don't understand it. We are a fickle people. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion whether it is logical or not. I prefer to invest my wishin' and hopin' thoughts to positive benefits not towards negative ones. I don't wish any ill will on either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. I think that it really doesn't matter which one gets the nomination so I'm not hopin' for Hillary so McCain will have an easier target. I was hopin' for Mike Huckabee and wishin' that more Americans would understand and support the FairTax but I will not wish or hope against anyone. For any reason.
OH
# posted by OH @ 1:51 PM 
