R2 Thoughts for You It’s My Way Or The Highway!
“It’s my way or the highway”
I couldn’t get the above statement out of my mind after hearing that Senator Judd Gregg, a republican from New Hampshire, withdrew his name as the current nominee for commerce secretary. Now, I know he gave reasons that don’t necessarily reflect the intentions behind “it’s my way or the highway,” but I can’t help but believe that he lost his “sense of building consensus and/or compromise.” Our government is messy but has the potential of being a good government for the people and of the people. I write “potential” because I feel now, at this time of crisis, we are struggling to realize even a small part of that goal.
We have a president that has “talked the talk and walked the walk” in trying to form an administration that has all points of view represented. We now need intelligent people, who may not agree with current legislation, but are willing to serve. I thought Senator Gregg was such a person. It seems he decided that since he does not agree with the stimulus bill that is about to be passed by the legislature (Feb. 13, 2009), he can not be the commerce secretary. ???
I know that the republicans do not agree with the democrats. That’s the problem? It’s not about winning. It’s not about them. It’s about the PEOPLE! They need to get off of their “political party-centric” decision making mind set and get on an “All America – centric” mind set. By the way, even though I have just stated negative things about the republicans, I also think the democrats have a lot of fault in this.
OK, enough of this blame game. Let’s discuss the original statement. “It’s my way or the highway.” This, of course, has little to do with a highway. It’s an idiom where the statement actually means that “if I don’t get my way then I am leaving.” Of course, there are times where that is appropriate. Generally, I think it is usually a sign of egocentrism. And, egocentrism is generally a sign of someone who is not a fair-minded rational person. In fact, it often means that the person is empathy deficient. For a discussion on empathy please see my post on Empathy and Judgement.
I’m sure you realize that I am upset with the way our elected representatives are working with our new president. Can we find competent, tax-paying, empathic, and fair-minded rational citizens to work with our president?
What do you think?
R2 Thoughts for You 
I am reminded of the old Monkee’s song, Shades of Gray. see lyrics here http://crocmusic.com/track/4512388/the_monkees/shades_of__gray/
In our complicated world none of us are completely “right” or completely “wrong” on a given issue, therefore we need to be able to try to see the other side and be willing to compromise for the greater good. Rich
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