Today’s NY Times editorial:
Too many newly elected governors have vowed not to raise taxes — including, unfortunately, Andrew Cuomo of New York — fearing giving bad news to voters who have not yet been told how dire things really are.
As I have in years past, tonight I ponder the mysteries of our faith – as embodied in the annual Christmas Day editorial of the Wall Street Journal:
Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter’s star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness.
And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethren, the Galatians, the words he would have us remember afterward in each of the years of his Lord:
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Today, they write in an editorial entitled “Voting for an Odious Tax Deal”:
Liberal Democrats are in revolt at the tax deal that President Obama struck with Republicans on Monday, and it is not hard to understand why. By temporarily extending income tax breaks for the richest Americans, and cutting estate taxes for the ultrawealthy, the deal will redistribute billions of dollars from job creation to people who do not need the money.
And here is where they miss the point.
It’s not that any of us need this money, its that it’s *our* money. Not theirs, not the governments, it’s ours.
We earned it. It’s not yours or anyone else’s to say whether or not we need it.
And that, right there, is one of my fundamental disagreements with today’s Democrats.
I recently finished reading Bob Sutton’s great book The No Asshole Rule.. Even with a great corporate culture like my employer’s, sometimes a few assholes sneak in here and there — I found the book to be an interesting guide on how to deal with them..
A few highlights….
First, the Top Ten Steps to enforce the No Asshole Rule:
- Say the rule, write it down, and act on it
- Assholes will hire other assholes
- Get rid of assholes fast
- Treat certified assholes as incompetent employees
- Power breeds nastiness
- Embrace the power – performance paradox
- Manage moments – not just practices, policies, and systems
- Model and teach constructive confrontation
- Adopt the one asshole rule
- The bottom line: link big policies to small decencies
A quote from the book referencing Leonardo da Vinci, which I’ve used before in some discussions:
It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end
Bob’s conclusion to the book is my favorite part:
This book isn’t simply meant to be an objective summary of theory and researcha bout the ways that assholes undermine organizational effectiveness. I wrote it because my life and the lives of the people I care about are too short and too precious to spend our days surrounded by jerks….”
Amen!
Six years ago, I wrote a longish essay about 9/11. It was titled Remember.
In it, I think I said everything that I ever wanted to say about the events of that day:
In the end, I think we all have the responsibility to remember what happened that day – to us – to our fellow man – here in our own country.
A few weeks ago, while having coffee with a peer in Minneapolis, our conversation steered towards the impact of September 11th on our lives – both personally and professionally.
She pulled out her PDA – tapped on it a few times – and spun it around so that I could read it.
It was her calendar – turned to September 11th, 2004 – and it showed just one word:
Remember
Nine years later, as the sun rises on an early morning in Paris, France, I still remember…
Nine years later, I still haven’t forgotten Lt. Ray Murphy, FDNY, who died on 9/11 at the World Trade Center.
Lt. Murphy’s photo sits on my credenza in my office at Target, reminding me that some things are bigger than ourselves.
Do you remember the story of Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders? Forty years ago today, British troops were pinned down near a bridge, waiting desperately for help. Suddenly, they heard the sound of bagpipes, and some thought they were dreaming. Well, they weren’t. They looked up and saw Bill Millin with his bagpipes, leading the reinforcements and ignoring the smack of the bullets into the ground around him.
Lord Lovat was with him–Lord Lovat of Scotland, who calmly announced when he got to the bridge, “Sorry I’m a few minutes late, as if he’d been delayed by a traffic jam, when in truth he’d just come from the bloody fighting on Sword Beach, which he and his men had just taken.
– Ronald Reagan, Pointe du Hoc, June 6th, 1984
Bill Millin died today at 88.
About a month from now I”ll be in Normandy looking up at the cliffs from the beach and wondering now only how each of you were able to do such an incredible thing – but also giving my thanks that men such as you walked this earth.
RIP.