The attrition effects of the fish bowl experiment – determining just how many hours of biased television we could watch without going sane – are beginning to wear off now that the semester is under way. However, there is still some lingering debate amongst the Sam Association of Couch Cabbages as to whether Bryan Clay is a better athlete than Michael Phelps. To further compound these divisions the summer ended with the political conventions and the SACCs were further polarized. The debate centered on whether the blue brand of leadership was better than the red style. The only thing that SACCs agreed on was that both sides were offering the same thing – it all depended on how it was being sold.
The tone of the blue convention was party unity, change, hope and a better future. The theme of the red convention was to try fudge and hide any and all links to the current administration, push patriotism and tout the experience of their leading man. It all seemed plain and simple until the reds threw us a curveball. Under any other circumstances if any of the SACCs were to employ the red tactics it would be at the least academic suicide and at the most gaining intimate knowledge of the Walls Unit. Plagiarism – plain and simple is what the reds have done – blatant political plagiarism. The red SACCs made a feeble attempt to argue that there is really a difference between reform and change. This led to a cyclic trip through various dictionaries and the conclusion that our time would have been better spent on facebook. What was obvious was that the gurus of red machinations had cleverly manipulated and adopted the blues’ message. They are now the agents of change. An intelligent move or just some serious legerdemain? Now, if the current SACCs chairman had done the same with one of her professor’s research papers that she has found online, we are convinced that rustication would be the least of her worries. Anyhow, only time will tell which ‘agents of change or reform’ will march into history together and take this country down some path. What is certain is that this country will be taken down some path.
The other sticking point amongst the SACCs is this idea that changing one’s mind over certain issues principle is really a bad thing. This seems to be another red ploy to cast aspersions on the blue group’s leading guy. Whether the “flip flop” label will stick or have an impact on the November elections is still open to pure conjecture. However, this argument and underlying point that changing one’s mind somehow does not belong in the realm of good leadership is about the only thing that has united the SACCs.
The SACCs agree that leadership, by its very nature, has to be dynamic and responsive to the particular needs of the day. Besides, flip-flopping is a principle that is kept in perpetuity by the Supreme Court as they interpret and define the writings of the founding fathers such that those principles written oh so long ago remain relevant and pertinent to the present times. So, it seems that it is the responsibility of not only the leadership but also the populace to question the direction and response of all leadership beyond mere political pandering and sloganeering. This is a choice that SACCs will prevaricate on for another few weeks. Thank goodness for the football season which now gives us the viable alternative of muting the political pundits. This is another thing the SACCs will always agree on – political pundits will always get it wrong.