"All Shall Be Well..." Reduex

Well, I was planning to continue with Monday’s theme—but how to write about mission-based marketing and corporate giving when the bailout legislation failed to pass the House, the stock market tanked 777 points, and everybody’s talking financial crisis again? So I find myself preempting my planned post a seoncd time this month (see Sept 15 post) to write about the current drama that roils this country.

I have no intention of getting political on this blog; I wish people of all doctrines and philosophies to feel welcome here. I would like, however, to make some observations and pass on interesting reactions to Monday’s events. One thing I found fascinating was that those representatives who voted "no" did so out of fear of constituents’ reaction—that it would be “political suicide” to vote for the bill in its present state, based upon the utter avalanche of rejection and revulsion that deluged these representatives’ offices, mailboxes, phone lines, & email. Politicians actually following the expressed will of the public—how quaint and unheard of as of late! Whether that expressed will is right or wrong is another issue. What I think is interesting is that this relationship still works, that it's still possible. Granted, some of my friends and colleagues say this was the will of the vocal minority (although apparently one huge huge minority) but at least they were willing to express it. And when they did, look what happened.

I’d also like to pass on some of the best (and most humorous) comments posted by everyday people to online discussion forums & blogs from on spectrum of reputable sites (i.e. New York Times, MSNBC, Wall Street Journal, National Review). [Disclaimer: I tried to offered a balance of points-of-view but most of the witticism seems to be coming from one side.]

“If anything trumps the notion that some institutions are ‘too big to fail,’ it ought to be that some principles are too basic to be pushed aside.” —EW, Tucker, GA

“And why not: they should get something back after spending all that money on lobbists and campaign donations, right?” — Jay, Palo Alto, CA

“The only thing we learn from history, I am afraid, is that we do not learn from history.” —Earl E, The City Time Forgot

“Using BlackBerrys in Congress should be a felony.” —Uly, NJ

“Sure, if you got bad credit, you won't get a sub-prime mortgage, which is a really good idea….Credit card rates going up might cause people to stop living beyond their means, also not a bad idea.” —joe (new york), New York

“Main street is being sold out to the highest loser.” —Ela, Texas

“The public sees the bill as Uncle Sam taking money off the printing press and giving it to the guy in the top hat from Monopoly, who laughs it up with Gordon Gekko while drinking gin and tonics at the Polo match. If you're a talk radio host who wants to get callers vibrating with fury, this makes the amnesty bill look like a minor disagreement over zoning laws. I'd say liberal bloggers are particularly furious about this, but it is no longer possible to measure their anger with any human metrics. The bases of both parties loathe the bill. (I eagerly await the declaration, "In thefine print of this bill, it brings back the practice of primae noctus, which allows any Wall Street trader or corporate CEO to sleep with your daughter on her wedding night. Folks, we just can't let this kind of a bailout pass.") —Jim G

“At this point, if you are against this bill, you are for a depression” —Jon, San Francisco

“What the U.S. economy needs is a recession.” —Harry Huang, Philadelphia

“Can we really distinguish between which institution is the greatest burden on America as a nation right now???”—john, Durham, NC

“Looks like the Titanic's about to get a really expensive deck chair.” —Kevin, San Francisco

“There is no problem with the economy. Just go to any restaurant, airport, hotel, amusement park, movie theatre, etc. All packed.” —Greg-281912

“…isn't just bad loans, it is NO loans can be made if banks don't free up the capital. That won't happen because banks will find another buyer for their assets. If not our government, they'll sell elsewhere. Large portion going to those people we're dependant on for oil. Talk about having the bull by the balls.” —Ultraviolet

“In financial behavior it is referred to as herd mentality. We find an anchor to base all of our future assumptions on. Thus, when the media says that Wall Street and life in general sucks, we assume they have a point of reference. The problem is that we have permitted them to frame
the issue for us and we neglect to make critical observations for ourselves. Hence; if the media spins a yarn saying how bad things are, we react accordingly and perpetuate the problem even worse.” —enoch-372963

“Shame on us all.” —Gregg, San Francisco

“Big business and government, and for that matter religion, have always been bedfellows. The mistaken conservative Christian view that Jesus would have us take sides in political jockying is sad. His Kindgom is no part of this world.” —1Fiend

And my personal fav:

“ ‘Oh no, not the briar patch’ —Brer Paulson” —dave lyons, calif

Tomorrow, back to more thoughts on effective mission-based marketing.