Reply #5: 'On The Absurdity Of Refusing To Ask How We Got To Where We Are'

[Al-CIAda]

by poster 'hvn_nbr_2 '...

1. criminal defense lawyer in murder trial
"Your Honor, the appropriate task before us is not to determine how the decedent became deceased or by whose hand it happened. We must instead focus on how to make things better and what we can do about the future. Clean the blood off the sidewalk indeed, for the future, but pay no mind to how it got there. Comfort the grieving indeed, but it is pointless to argue about how their grief came be."

Unspoken subtext: Leave the murdering bastard free to roam the streets unfettered.


2. incompetent high school coach
"Distinguised Board of Education, the past is gone and done, and we can't change it; we must instead look to the future. It is utterly useless for us to ask if Coach Ninncompooooo made mistakes when he went for it on 4th and 28 from his own 2-yard-line, with 25 minutes left to play; or whether it was a mistake to put that kid back in the game when he'd already had three concussions that night; or whether it's a problem that our players can't tackle or block; or whether the coach lied on his resume about his experience. We need to focus on how to make it better and where we go from here."

Unspoken subtext: If we don't identify errors, lies, or blunders, we can't identify incompetence and bad judgment, so let's all just continue on the path of incompetence and bad judgment. No change can be needed if no mistakes are identified.


3. embezzling company president
"Fellow shareholders, the money is gone and that's just how it is. I don't think we need to re-fight where it went or how it disappeared. We need to focus on how to proceed from where we are."

Unspoken subtext: Our president is a crook and a liar, but we shouldn't talk about that. Support our employees, support our customers, support our shareholders, support our lying, thieving, embezzling pretzeldent.


4. drunk driver's passengers
"Fellow passengers, we must not ask if our driver lied when he said he was sober enough to drive. Rather, the task for us is to clear the pedestrian body parts from our windshield, to keep adding water to the mangled radiator, to help push the car out of the ditch it is in."

Unspoken subtext: If we asked how we got to where we are, we might have to consider changing drivers in mid-trip. Horrors!

link-
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2281166