Around dinner time on Friday evening I drove to my local grocery store.
As I rolled down the hill, I watched a woman enter her Honda Pilot and back out of her space – with the hatch still all the way open and a good dozen filled plastic grocery bags visible near the open edge.
I flashed my lights, a driver headed towards her honked his horn and a man on the sidewalk waved his hands and shouted to get her attention. She ignored us all. When last seen she was accelerating up the hill toward the exit.
Some people just refuse to accept good advice…
Example one: Missouri Governor Eric Greitens rolled-out his major re-design of Missouri’s tax system. It contains a couple of good ideas – including a state earned income credit – but largely slashes state income and creates a lot of work for tax preparers. [ http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article198067229.html ] Many elements of Governor SEAL’s plan can be found in bad ideas from Senators Andrew Koenig (R – West County) and Bill Eigel (R – St. Charles County) [ Senate Bills 611 & 617 ]. The Capitol wisdom is that Greitens’ plan is almost dead in the water [ https://www.ktts.com/news/local-news/republican-state-rep-thinks-governor-greitens-tax-plan-will-be-tough-sell among several similar articles].
Oh, despite the horrid state budget picture – $400 million in new cuts seems close to consensus – the majority party wants to further reduce tax revenue because, well, that’s what they do. The governor could have listened to his fellow Republicans and gotten support for a couple of his tax changes. Instead he’s trekking across the state attacking windmills and defending his doomed plan (while still refusing to answer questions about his paramour).
Example two: President Donald Trump calls a wife beater ‘a great guy’ and, well…more.
Donald J. TrumpVerified account @realDonaldTrump
Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused – life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process.
Remember, it’s not one ‘mere allegation’ against Rob Porter, but claims – at least one backed-up with photographs and others by police reports – from two ex-wives and a girlfriend. One ex-wife contacted the White House to express concern.
The Donald previously stood up for Steve Bannon in the face of abuse allegations [ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/porter/552806/ ], as well as defending Judge Roy Moore and his serial teenage girl habit; his own right to grab women by their genitalia; and, so on.
As we are all told on the first day in kindergarten, it is important to listen.
No matter who you are or where you are, being open to advice is never a bad thing. We all benefit from friends and friendly people telling us to close that tailgate or think again before launching a bad idea or sending out a tone deaf Tweet. To me it is unimaginable that both Greitens and Trump didn’t get sound advice from staff and friends telling them to reconsider what they wanted to do.
Of course, being an elected Republican means you don’t have to listen.
Submitted by Glenn Koenen, WCD Member