The song remains the same, until it changes

So I've been a bit late in posting of late, so sue me. Well, I'm not going to give a whole post today either so sue me some more. Actually don't sue me, sue Joe, he deserves to be sued, sue him now!!! Anyways, I thought maybe though I'd give you a story I've heard, it's recounted in the Sandman book called the Wake, but I've heard it before then, and I think originally it was attributed to Calvin Coolidge.

Party representatives gather around an ex-president.

"Why won't you run again? You still can have another term! And you'll be in the highest seat of power in the world!" they say.

The ex-president is quiet for a moment and then calmly replies "There is an old tiger skin rug in the Oval Office. Theodore Roosevelt, I believe shot it on one of his hunting expeditions and made it a part of the office decor. That rug has seen every major diplomatic deal, it has seen the greatest backdoor deals and the most humiliating arm-twistings, it has seen great men rise and fall. It is certainly at the center of world politics. Yet do you think that tiger would rather be back in the jungle, far away from world affairs or if it had a choice do you think it would remain on the office floor?"

They said, "In the jungle of course, it would rather be alive than dead even dead in the Oval Office."

And he, without a smile, without an inflection in his voice simply said, "So would I."


Nice story.

Applicable to me? Well not directly so. Maybe it just reminds me that if I groan under the strain of the desire for power, is real power something I would want to take on. Maybe it means nothing to me. But maybe when looking at public officials, you temper your feelings of respect or contempt with a little bit of pity. For their own reasons, noble or ignoble they have left the jungle.

So anyways, take it to your head, take it to your heart, and remember Rand rocks. Goodnight Folks!