With more and more about this story likely to break in the coming hours, days, and weeks, I am reminded of one of my favorite poems, by John Godfrey Saxe, "The Blind Men and the Elephant". Some of the MSM journalists have received LASIK, I am happy to report, and have now begun to see the current GOP Elephant much more clearly, and BushCo. scams much more holistically:
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It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"
The Second, feeling of the tusk
Cried, "Ho! what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up he spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he;
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope.
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
Moral:
So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen.
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This poem does double duty for the Dems who rail against evangelical voters, rather than engaging in dialogue with them, to learn where our common ground might lie, and where we can join each other - honorably - at the ballot box and on policy issues.
The actual historical/religious disputes meant to be covered by this poem are instructive for some of the equally fiery flame wars going on in our culture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Men_and_an_Elephanthttp://www.wvu.edu/~lawfac/jelkins/lp-2001/saxe.htmlThe BushCo. scandals involved in the emerging Halliburton/KBR Scandal are complex, inter-twined, and require respectful dialogue and research to unravel. If an MSM article breaks (e.g., in the next 24 to 48 hours) that "doesn't go far enough" in your opinion - be patient. The fact-checking process is often all the more arduous the further up the MSM food chain a story goes.
As this story emerges, please keep one thing in mind: there are many whistleblowers who trod up to Capitol Hill, telling their stories at great risk. Whatever shape your religion's elephant happens to be, please keep these whistleblowers and their families in your thoughts, chants, incantations, and prayers. The same goes for the career "bureaucrats" who put the good of the Republic above all other considerations.
I'm going to go pop a bag of popcorn now.
- David A. Smith, Editor, www.HALwhistleblowers.org AND www.BushBunglesBrigade.org
(not to be confused, ever again, with the as-yet-unindicted David R. Smith, VP of Tax at Dresser, then Halliburton)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=halliburton+nigeria+sec+extend+foreign+corrupt+david+smith