During the peak of the “awl” boom of the early 1980s the owner of a successful oil services industry company named Eddie Chiles became semi-famous by proclaiming: “I’m Mad.”
Chiles, then owner of the Western Company of North America, had a series of right-wing radio commentaries on which an announcer would ask: “Are you mad, Eddie Chiles?” Chiles would reply that “Yes I’m mad” and would then launch into a tirade against liberals in government and the virtues of capitalism. Chiles, who died in 1993, was quite a pitchman who would conveniently use government largess when it suited him. His company also had an ad campaign in which bumper stickers would trumpet: “If you don’t have an oil well, get one … ” Of course when the bubble burst in the mid 1980s you would see more bumper stickers which would say: “God, Just Give Me One More Oil Boom. I Promise Not To Piss It Away” or “Don’t tell my momma I work in the oil patch, she thinks I play piano in a whorehouse.”
The oil bust not only hit Chiles in the pocketbook it also cut into his ownership of the Texas Rangers baseball team, which he eventually sold to a group of businessmen which included future president George “Gee Dubya” Bush.
One can only imagine that if Chiles were around today he would be in hog heaven what with a Democratic-run government and fiscal disasters such as the fallout from the AIG bonus controversy. Instead of saying he was mad, however, Chiles might pick up the buzz word of the day “outraged.”
The cable news channels today make it seem like everyone within the borders of the United States is nine kinds of pissed off over AIG execs receiving mega bonuses after after the company was given a huge government handout. Perhaps that type of perception might play to the national security profile. If our enemies believed the whole country was mad as hell, combined with Americans and their private arsenals in states such as here in Texas, then it might just scare away potential adversaries.
Oh sure, a lot of people are pissed or say they are pissed about the AIG deal. From what I can see though is mainly a bunch of politicians — bipartisan but mostly Republicans — playing to the cameras. But the larger question in all of this is just how many people are genuinely angry and to a certain extent, why are they so angry?
Do I think that a bunch bean counters whose exceptional greed caused them to run their company in the ground deserve million-dollar bonuses? Of course not. Do I think the people responsible for the whole ball of wax should be punished in some form or fashion? Yes. But am I mad, or perhaps to be more trendy, am I outraged? No, I am not mad, or outraged, if you wish.
These types of screw-ups or examples of outright thievery have been going on for years. Remember the $800 toilets for Air Force planes? And for years the business culture in this country has been get yours and screw everyone else. A million here, a million there and eventually you’re talking a lot of money.
Our president said today that this type of mindset needs to change. But I have seen it most of my life, so we’ll see. Even though Obama wasn’t the one who gave the AIG people their tons of dollars, he stepped up to the plate once more today and said: “The buck stops with me.” Or something to that effect. That is so refreshing compared to the “I don’t do any wrong” mantra of the Bushites that perhaps it will provide some impetus for change. I am kind of cynical though.
In the meantime, if you want to get mad or outraged or even a little raged then do whatever floats your boat. As for me, there are plenty things within sight and out my window, figuratively speaking, to potentially piss me off. The AIG debacle is certainly something I can’t change right away, so why should I be outraged?