Posted by
Contrarian Guitarist on Monday, December 04, 2006 3:21:45 PM
My mom not so recently had rotator cuff surgery. (note: under universal healthcare she might still be
waiting for the surgery.) The surgery went well, but the physical therapy afterwards was quite literally a pain. Everyday she went in and was forced to lift her arm over her head in such torment that she would cry. This went on with less frequency for weeks.
One time while talking with her on the phone, she lamented that her therapist never once said "sorry". I thought for a moment and said, "could you imagine if the therapist said sorry every time he caused someone pain? How many times a day would he apologize? 100? 200? More? It wouldn't be long before he began to hate his job. One that helps so many people. The therapist would begin to think of his work in a negative light. It would be difficult to get up everyday if you thought your job was to hurt people. Therapists are probably taught in therapist school not to say "sorry" to prevent job dissatisfaction."
Today I talked to her. It's been several years since the surgery and she has no pain in that shoulder and greater mobility in it than her "healthy" one. She said, "I can scratch itches on my back with that arm better than my good one." She admitted. "I guess it was worth the pain."
Conservatives are like physical therapists, except they haven't learned to stop apologizing. They want the best for America. It just may hurt a little in the short run.
Social security reform. Limited social safety nets. Free market competition. Free trade. Social responsibility. All may hurt initially, but make for a stronger electorate in the long haul.
Republicans began "apologizing" after the 2000 campaign. Republican reparations often take the form of "working with Democrats" towards a nonconservative end. The Gang of 14, comes to mind, Medicare Prescription drug plan, amnesty for illegal immigrants, campaign reform, the list continues to grow.
The problem is: American's don't like to see societal "pain", much less experience it. The main stream media reports on misery all day long. If it was up to my mom, she never would've lifted her arm over her head but her therapist forced her to. Until America see's the gain in the pain they will keep voting for those (Democrats) who espouse short term fixes.