This is long, but well worth reading. I'm happy to see AKMuckraker is not backing down.
It’s been a long time since we’ve had a good bedtime story at the Mudflats. We’re overdue. (Plumps your pillow, smooths the hair off your forehead and tucks you in. Scans the shelf and pulls out a nice hardcover) I know! Let’s have a parable.
A parable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that illustrates a moral or religious lesson. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human characters.
Parables are lots of fun. And this one is not religious, but it does illustrate a moral lesson, but really it’s a political parable…a “paraliticable,” perhaps.
(Opens the cover, and thumbs through) Here we go. This is the one. It’s always fun to take on a part in a story, so let’s say in this story, you are the mayor of a little town. A cranky mayor. The kind of mayor who yells, “Hey you kids, get off my lawn!” And it’s kind of sad because you used to be fairly well liked….but something about being the mayor just didn’t agree with you. But that’s another story. For now, you’re the mayor. Sometimes it’s fun to play the villain because it helps you understand what’s going on in his head. Ready?
It’s a nice little town, and most everyone is happy with things. There’s the Queen of the Land who’s a bit of a disaster, but she’s so darn cute and spunky that most people overlook what she actually does because the idea of her is so appealing. But it’s not all peace and harmony. There is some rabblerousing villager who keeps making a fuss about things, including the fact that you, the cranky mayor, can be downright rude and condescending to the people of the village.
A few months ago, these little pamphlets started circulating around town saying, “Did you guys know that the mayor actually said THIS?” You read this pamphlet, and feel the blood rising up your neck. Yes, you said all this stuff…but the nerve of that guy to actually tell people! You go over and yell out the window to the crowds below who are also reading it, “Are you people NUTS?? You pass around this stupid pamphlet calling me rude?? And you don’t even include your name and phone number so I can…hold you accountable? Get a life, losers!!” The villagers look at each other, dumbfounded as you slam the window. “Did he just call us losers? Who does this guy think he is?” they say to themselves.
The next day you look out the window. There are a bunch of villagers again, reading a new pamphlet which says, “Can you believe the mayor said ‘Are you people NUTS? You pass around this stupid pamphlet calling me rude?….” The villagers are stunned. This guy is totally over the top. The new pamphlets get passed around, and soon there’s a gathering outside. Outrage is expressed.
You think to yourself that this calling you out on what you say has got to stop. If these people are allowed to continue to complain, your job security may not be very safe. And how dare they make fun of you using your own actual words! It’s outrageous. “Where did these people come from?” you wonder.
Suddenly you get an idea. You decide to send a spy out into the crowd.
<snip>
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