Dinner with Obama, a parable

Once upon a time, I was invited to the White House for a private dinner with the President. I am a respected businessman, with a factory that produces memory chips for computers and portable electronics. There was some talk that my industry was being scrutinized by the administration, but I paid it no mind. I live in a free country. There's nothing that the government can do to me if I've broken no laws. My wealth was earned honestly, and an invitation to dinner with an American President is an honor.

I checked my coat, was greeted by the Chief of Staff, and joined the President in a yellow dining room. We sat across from each other at a table draped in white linen. The Great Seal was embossed on the china. Uniformed staff served our dinner.

The meal was served, and I was startled when my waiter suddenly reached out, plucked a dinner roll off my plate, and began nibbling it as he walked back to the kitchen.

"Sorry about that," said the President. "Andrew is very hungry."

"I don't appreciate..." I began, but as I looked into the calm brown eyes across from me, I felt immediately guilty and petty. It was just a dinner roll. "Of course," I concluded, and reached for my glass. Before I could, however, another waiter reached forward, took the glass away and swallowed the wine in a single gulp.

"And his brother Eric is very thirsty." said the President.

I didn't say anything. The President is testing my compassion, I thought. I will play along. I don't want to seem unkind.

My plate was whisked away before I had tasted a bite.

"Eric's children are also quite hungry."

With a lurch, I crashed to the floor. My chair had been pulled out from under me. I stood, brushing myself off angrily, and watched as it was carried from the room.

"And their grandmother can't stand for long."

I excused myself, smiling outwardly, but inside feeling like a fool. Obviously I had been invited to the White House to be sport for some game. I reached for my coat, to find that it had been taken. I turned back to the President.

"Their grandfather doesn't like the cold."
I wanted to shout- that was my coat! But again, I looked at the placid smiling face of my host and decided I was being a poor sport. I spread my hands helplessly and chuckled. Then I felt my hip pocket and realized my wallet was gone. I excused myself and walked to a phone on an elegant side table. I learned shortly that my credit cards had been maxed out, my bank accounts emptied, my retirement and equity portfolios had vanished, and my wife had been thrown out of our home. Apparently, the waiters and their families were moving in. The President hadn't moved or spoken as I learned all this, but finally I lowered the phone into its cradle and turned to face him.

"Andrew's whole family has made bad financial decisions. They haven't planned for retirement, and they need a house. They recently defaulted on a subprime mortgage. I told them they could have your home. They need it more than you do."

My hands were shaking. I felt faint. I stumbled back to the table and knelt on the floor. The President cheerfully cut his meat, ate his steak and drank his wine. I lowered my eyes and stared at the small grey circles on the tablecloth that were water drops.
"By the way," He added, "I have just signed an Executive Order nationalizing your factories. I'm firing you as head of your business. I'll be operating the firm now for the benefit of all mankind. There's a whole bunch of Erics and Andrews out there and they can't come to you for jobs groveling like beggars."

I looked up. The President dropped his spoon into the empty ramekin which had been his creme brulee. He drained the last drops of his wine. As the table was cleared, he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair. He stared at me. I clung to the edge of the table as if were a ledge and I were a man hanging over an abyss. I thought of the years behind me, of the life I had lived. The life I had earned with a lifetime of work, risk and struggle. Why was I punished? How had I allowed it to be taken? What game had I played and lost? I looked across the table and noticed with some surprise that there was no game board between us.

What had I done wrong?

As if answering the unspoken thought, the President suddenly cocked his head, locked his empty eyes to mine, and bared a million teeth, chuckling wryly as he folded his hands.

"You should have stopped me at the dinner roll," he said.


Healthcare is next.

Why don't you complain about giving money to finance wars or for foreign aid? You should look after your own people first, starting with free health care for all. A healthy nation will give you a greater choice of workforce.:)

That's a parable?

Christ, you far-right wingnuts tell the absolute worst campfire stories.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigboab

Why don't you complain about giving money to finance wars or for foreign aid? You should look after your own people first, starting with free health care for all. A healthy nation will give you a greater choice of workforce.:)

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Yes, the idle will be healthy as oxen, and the elderly will die on schedule.

Within a generation, paying for the by-then-firmly-entrenched health program will necessitate defining "elderly" as anyone over the age of 50.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clocker

That's a parable?

Christ, you far-right wingnuts tell the absolute worst campfire stories.

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Well, if you libs hadn't defined-down the literary parable to equate with the half-hour sitcom, our campfire stories would be much better.

I believe this unfortunate phenomenon to be most directly attributable to your mismanagement of the education system for the last 50-60 years.

Pity that even conservatives today suffered the handicap of a mismanaged public education, much less the overwhelmingly liberal post-secondary system.

'Tis a sad state of affairs indeed.

Yup, pretty much everything's going to plan.

First, professional wrestling quickly followed by NASCAR.
Then, trained to flock to Wal-Mart every week.

When Wallyworlds are converted to Soylent Green processing centers...well, plan complete!

Been nice knowing ya...yum, yum!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clocker

Yup, pretty much everything's going to plan.

First, professional wrestling quickly followed by NASCAR.
Then, trained to flock to Wal-Mart every week.

When Wallyworlds are converted to Soylent Green processing centers...well, plan complete!

Been nice knowing ya...yum, yum!

---

OMG.

Worse than even I thought.

Your paucity of imagination was part of the plan.

We've pretty much thought of everything.

GO USA! Hell, yeah!

Domestic terrorism lives under B.O.

I'm sure to make a "fishy" post any time now.

Dbl post

Triple post, ffs.

I was registered at your forum. I have printed the test message. Do not delete, please

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Thanks so much for sharing the post.


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Well.

That's all there is to that.

No, dude, you're totally right, we should let those who haven't prepared for the economic meltdown starve in the streets. I like that you added the "bad financial decisions" part, because otherwise, your point would seem exceedingly bourgeois.

Do you think that the majority of people who would be taking advantage of healthcare would be those who have made poor economic decisions? Better yet, do you think they have made poor health decisions?

I saw a guy on the train the other day, he looked homeless, he had a massive cut on his stomach (maybe, 6-8 inches long). It was closed up with duct-tape, but some blood was still seeping out. He's probably dead by now. So much for "at least you have your health."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FleshGregor

No, dude, you're totally right, we should let those who haven't prepared for the economic meltdown starve in the streets. I like that you added the "bad financial decisions" part, because otherwise, your point would seem exceedingly bourgeois.

Do you think that the majority of people who would be taking advantage of healthcare would be those who have made poor economic decisions? Better yet, do you think they have made poor health decisions?

I saw a guy on the train the other day, he looked homeless, he had a massive cut on his stomach (maybe, 6-8 inches long). It was closed up with duct-tape, but some blood was still seeping out. He's probably dead by now. So much for "at least you have your health."

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Honestly, I can't make sense of your post; feel free to try again, please.

BTW-

Only certain types of people ever use the word "bourgeois".

Ironic that a perfectly good French word should be sacrificed upon the ash-heap of Marxism.

Or maybe not, whatever.

Why don't you tell me what you're having trouble with and I'll break it down for you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FleshGregor

Why don't you tell me what you're having trouble with and I'll break it down for you.

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You seem to be attributing to me an agenda of sorts, and are suffering coincidental misapprehensions re: same.

Plus you used the French word.

So, sure...break it down for me, brother.

No problem, brother. I feel that by involving the current president and current events in your "parable" you are pushing an agenda. If you had used an ambiguous setting, characters, etc. (like in prodigal son, or Plato's cave, etc.) then you would be creating a reasonable story. However, the way you've presented it, it's more like a prophecy. Even if you don't agree with that, at least admit that you're robbing the reader of getting to "connect the dots" and see the parallels for what they are. Who knows, maybe you just copy and pasted it out of a chain letter, in which case, my bad.

You seem to have an aversion to the word "bourgeois," but lets not get hung up on the little things, I think you know what I mean. My point was only that nobody wants government programs that give money to people who make "bad decisions" or are "lazy." Aside from maybe lacking compassion, that thinking is sensationalistic. I'm not afraid to admit that I think the United States needs some kind of socialized health-care system. It would be really easy to label me a pinko or a bleeding-heart liberal, but I'm not.

I understand the point of the story, we shouldn't slowly give up and divide our wealth because eventually it could spiral into socialism or communism (slippery slope). I think that's a good thing to keep in mind, but in the past, we've slowly given up our rights and freedoms to the government, which can spiral into tyranny. All I'm saying is a lot of people I've spoken to who make the point of the former (your point), didn't make the point of the ladder when it was most relevant, and that feels partisan.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FleshGregor

No problem, brother. I feel that by involving the current president and current events in your "parable" you are pushing an agenda. If you had used an ambiguous setting, characters, etc. (like in prodigal son, or Plato's cave, etc.) then you would be creating a reasonable story. However, the way you've presented it, it's more like a prophecy. Even if you don't agree with that, at least admit that you're robbing the reader of getting to "connect the dots" and see the parallels for what they are. Who knows, maybe you just copy and pasted it out of a chain letter, in which case, my bad.

You seem to have an aversion to the word "bourgeois," but lets not get hung up on the little things, I think you know what I mean. My point was only that nobody wants government programs that give money to people who make "bad decisions" or are "lazy." Aside from maybe lacking compassion, that thinking is sensationalistic. I'm not afraid to admit that I think the United States needs some kind of socialized health-care system. It would be really easy to label me a pinko or a bleeding-heart liberal, but I'm not.

I understand the point of the story, we shouldn't slowly give up and divide our wealth because eventually it could spiral into socialism or communism (slippery slope). I think that's a good thing to keep in mind, but in the past, we've slowly given up our rights and freedoms to the government, which can spiral into tyranny. All I'm saying is a lot of people I've spoken to who make the point of the former (your point), didn't make the point of the ladder when it was most relevant, and that feels partisan.

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Actually, it came (however indirectly) from one of my email accounts, wherein reposes a scattering of political stuffs, none of which make the cut here unless they serve a very specific purpose.

The dots are there for any to connect, and, since the target audience is often (I feel) ignorant of the agenda of progressives, I felt it's simplicity would aid understanding.

Not to make too much of it, but perhaps you've noticed some people are positively confounded by any sort of ambiguity; I wished to reach as widely as possible, so I felt it was appropriate to that end.

As to the need to remodel our health-care system, I have given my views here about it's expense and idiocy chapter-and-verse, and I can reasonably say that my one caveat relative to fixing it is that whatever solution is deemed proper not involve the government, because they don't know dick about running anything, including elections.

Funny thing is, I know exactly what's wrong, and I know as well exactly what to do about it.

The thing that is wrong, the only thing that is wrong, is the bloody expense.

My solution is drastic, effective, and stunningly simple, but will never see the light of day because it shares the merit of the age-old idea of simplifying our tax system to the extent one's yearly return could be calculated on a paper napkin; that is to say, it would cost the government one of it's precious bureaucracies.

As to the rest, yes, I have an agenda, but it is not hidden; in fact, I dare say you will not find anyone in this entire melange who is less guileful than yours truly.

Mind, I said less; I will not deny I have at least several equals.

In closing, I will note my sincere appreciation for your civility in posting as you have, and my equally sincere hope you maintain that standard.

By the way-

You mis-spelled latter ("ladder").