From Faulty Flashlight to Iraqi  Quagmire

                                      An American Sloppy Job Saga

 Mark Sashine

OpEdNews.Com

            I bought a flashlight recently. After a month  of service the bulb stopped working. I disassembled a contraption and found a cause: it was a needle- type electric contact. While contacting a bulb it pushed  a dimple in its soft bottom.  In  one month the dimple became deep enough to interrupt a contact thus  rendering the  flashlight useless unless I replace the bulb.  A bulb costs about a buck. The flashlight costs 20 bucks. Thus in a year you buy more than a half of your flashlight.  Planned  obsolescence, that’s what it is. Someone deliberately screwed up a perfect device to make it worse, so that people are duped into spending their money for nothing. As an engineer I consider such behavior an abomination.  I have another flashlight designed in the 60s and the bulb in that flashlight has already lasted three years. The contact is flash- flat, thank goodness for an honest fellow who designed it.  What happened with us that we pay for a sloppy job?

            A CEO comes out in front of the Congress and plays stupid. No, he didn’t know where all the billions that were stolen were. No, he was not in control of the company finances. No, he doesn’t remember anything about the meetings he had with the big politicos.  Since when has playing stupid become a winning strategy?  Since when can a professional come out in public and acknowledge that he is no good without any consequences? Why don’t we, the public take their word for granted and deny them the right to practice their occupations anymore? Why doesn’t our Congress publish a list of people who are stripped of their MBA degrees and sanctioned never to  work  anywhere associated with money?  How come the universities that granted those degrees are not subjected to punitive damages for letting out stupid people?

            A NASA shuttle with all the astronauts perished recently. A report was very critical towards the NASA management. Still, certain things seem unbelievable.

It was clear to all people in the Control Center on the ground that during a launch  a big piece of foam fell down while touching the Orbiter. That was  out of the ordinary. Amazingly, NASA didn’t have a simple procedure absolutely necessary when such things happen:  all the regular activities are to cease; red alert is to be announced; the commander of the orbiter is to be immediately informed about the accident and the only effort now to commence is the safe return of the people to the ground.  Provided such a procedure is exercised, the people on the ground and on the orbit could have time to find  a solution. They could work together and make tough decisions. They could even appeal to the world for help. The primary issue here is that the decision had to be in the hands of the Orbiter commander. Cost issues should not even be mentioned, because when it comes to the lives of the people, money should be available as much as it is needed. Otherwise the space industry cannot operate. Did it happen that way?  Not in the least. The people on the Orbiter didn’t know anything, their activities continued as usual; they were treated like monkeys. Planned obsolescence, ahoy? 

            An administration of the most advanced country in the world is outsmarted by a bunch of individuals with box cutters. About 3000 innocent citizens die, the major city suffers an enormous catastrophe, billions of dollars are lost and the economy still cannot recover.  Did anyone resign? Did anyone of those pompous suits in charge of FBI, CIA, Justice, NSA, Secret Service, Army, Navy, Air Force, etc, etc.  acknowledge that he or she was sloppy and didn’t do their jobs? Did anyone of them at least consider coming out into the open with some description of their own efforts to avert the disaster and where did they encounter any obstacles? Did they acknowledge the sloppy job? Not in a million years.  None of the upper level administration resigned because of the 9-11. On the contrary, most of them were even praised.  Our Commander in Chief hid himself on some base and for that he was proclaimed a hero. Our national embarrassment, due to the sloppy job of our leaders, resulted not in anger towards them but in  blind lashing out at others. After  9-11 we  have killed  several tens of thousands of innocent civilians around the Globe but none of the people directly responsible for the sloppiness on the Day of Infamy are tried or even fired. None at all!!

            To  satisfy his childish ambitions, a President, together with unqualified and dangerous employees, concocts a plot against his own people to lure them into attacking a country far away from home.  The attack was a disaster, the lies are exposed, and the President himself acknowledges that he misled the people.  Our children are dying en masse on the foreign soil. Did anyone resign? Was there any trial?  Nope.  Our President wants more money and more troops. The negligent employees say all is OK and that we need to sacrifice. The public doesn’t seem to mind. The Congress doesn’t even think about an impeachment. The dogs in the media bark at anyone who asks legitimate questions. The Justice Department wants more death penalties. Our concentration camp on Cuban soil operates at the highest efficiency of abuse.

            Right or left, liberal or conservative we are all Americans. And we all agree that the primary principle on which this country was built is  Honest Work for Honest Pay as well as personal responsibility for the job you perform. This principle is blatantly violated  now on all levels from the lowest battery needle contact to the highest aspects  of  federal policy..

In the eyes of all mankind we are the kings of  sloppiness, the symbols of negligence, the cover-up epitomized.  That’s the source of all our troubles. We've lost our honesty and with it the respect of others, treasure which is nearly impossible to get back. Still, we should try by starting from the top.  There should be a referendum with only one question, “ Who of the current administration should resign in disgrace?” And one of the answers should be, “All of them.”