Keep The Hank Paulson Genie In The Bottle Of Restraint And Accountability.

Monday, September 22nd, 2008 | Politics | 1 Comment

Did we learn nothing from the hit show “I Dream Of Jeannie” Seems not. Will Hank Paulson keep his sanity and objectivity should he encounter disappearing houses or will he read Dr. Bellow’s Journal for advice on how to keep said sanity. Will he be like a perpetually befuddled Astronaut Tony Nelson once the genie of complete control by one man, himself, is let out of the bottle? Or will Paulson, like Roger Healy, find himself hiding his antics or future plans from the American people and those in Congress. (cf. from I Dream Of Jeannie)

Folks this is not magical sitcom we are addressing here. We can’t just close the curtain at the end of the show and start all over with a new script.

These questions and more beg to be asked by a missing opponents and destroyers of magical power brokering solutions; commonsense, sound reason, accountability and restraint? What happened to checks and balances anyway?

I am not here to analyze Paulson’s past, present or future actions or statements. Nor am I here to debate whether the bailout is sound in practice. I will leave that up to others like Michelle Malkin who are more informed than I. However, as a citizen and tax payer I feel I can address the commonsense issues and shout, “Wait a dog gone minute. You gotta be kidding!”

I am here to say “NO” to a one man show. I don’t think we can even address the bailout if we don’t first address the absence of “Power To The People.” Are those in Congress so willing to abdicate the power we gave them? Seems so and this is scary indeed.

This is not time for sitcom like magical fiction…not a time to allow an unfettered excess of power at the hands of one man in the hopes that if it fails we can shove the genie back in the bottle.

Seems to me we are where we are  in the first place because of unregulated self-indulgence delivered by a twin set of genies names Power and Greed. They have been working hand in glove for some time now. Why on earth would this be any different? And why should “We The People” tolerate such abdication of power in silence. Not a pit I intend to fall in.

It doesn’t matter if we know Paulson or don’t know Paulson. We must pander to our better angels; Commonsense, Sound Reason, Accountability and Restraint.

These better angels, ones seemingly absent in Washington DC, should send a barrage of red flags to any clear thinking person. At least you would think so. There are some in DC on both sides of the aisle who are thinking…asking… some who are reasoning out what might happen in the long term should one man be given so much power. This genie once loosed will not go back in the bottle and pout.

History has proven time and time again that good men are subject to corruption when given absolute power. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Simply stated, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Frankly, it is not fair to Hank Paulson or any other man no matter their character to be placed in such a position in the first place. Should he or any man be placed in this position and somehow become corrupt the many who put him there will be complicit in his downfall and the repercussions thereof…repercussions spreading out like so many tentacles with the ability to suck the life out of our economy…out of life as we know it.

I appeal to the to those who are making any decisions related to any bailout to not give in. Do not dispense such unlimited power to any one man in lieu of commonsense, sound reason, accountability and restraint. It is time to sober up…time to wake up from your partisanship, power broking stupor and do what is best for the American people.

When the genie gets out it is always a problem. Just ask Astronaut Tony Nelson or Roger Healy. They didn’t even have the keys to the vault of our nation and look at the trouble they stayed in. Take a cue from something even a sitcom could figure out and don’t let the genie out of the bottle.

Tags: Hank Paulson