Disgruntled employees, hot air & heroes

Disgruntled employees
In a funny scene from the TV show The Office, Roy shows up at the Scranton office to pummel Jim for kissing Roy’s girlfriend Pam, but the ever vigilant Dwight maces Roy –as well as the rest of the office - before he ever gets to Jim.

Jan, at the NY “corporate” office, calls Michael, the office manager in Scranton, to inquire about the incident. Jan starts the conversation with, “So Michael, I understand that you have a disgruntled employee in Scranton.” Michael, ever the dope and afraid Roy’s actions are a direct reflection on his management, replies, “No Jan. That’s not true. All of the Scranton employees are very gruntled.”

Well it would seem that not everyone on John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign staff was as gruntled as they thought they should be. As the matter of fact they were so not gruntled they became disgruntled. So disgruntled that they made up - or told the truth about – a bunch of scurrilous stories regarding the guy they thought would make a good president.

But that is not the story. Not every employee can be a gruntled employee. The big story is why did the Times sit on the story? Why did the Times give McCain an endorsement before Super Tuesday knowing a scandal - real or manufactured - was brewing?

Hot Air
Three chief gasbags, John Kerry, Joe Biden and Chuck Hagle, aboard a US helicopter made an emergency landing yesterday in Afghanistan. Upon returning to safety, John Kerry immediately put himself in for a Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star and Purple Heart; Joe Biden said that if he were president, there would be no more emergency landings and Chuck Hagle said that the American people were sick and tired of Americans making emergency landings and it was time for the Afghans to step up and do their own emergency landings.

Hard to believe that any closed container with that much hot air on board could be brought down at all.

The greatest generation in perspective
63 years ago tomorrow five Marines and a Navy Corpsman raised the flag on Iwo Jima. Three of the six would not leave the island alive. Over 2,000 Marines were killed on the first day of fighting, which began 19 Feb, 1945. Over 6,000 allied soldiers, sailors and Marines were killed before the island was secured on the 26 Mar.

And all I can say is, wow.