Thanks for the advice, but No Thanks...

The world has always been full of bad advice.

In March 1990, Republican Clayton Williams, Jr. was running against Democrat Ann Richards for Texas governor. Williams compared the Texas weather to rape, saying "if it’s inevitable, then relax and enjoy it." I'm happy to report that Williams lost that election.

For some unknown reason, Bobby Knight felt compelled to offer the same advice while talking to a reporter. Considering Bobby's aversion to relaxing and enjoying anything, I'm not sure he believed his own advice, and in view of the aftermath I'm pretty sure he wishes he had never given it. Especially to a reporter.

The other day, a reader responded to a post I made over at the Palladium-Item saying,"You CAN'T get the government out of the way, just as in the military you serve under the leadership you have - you don't argue, you simply do."

I figure that comes under the heading of "bad advice" also.

There is quite a push in Congress right now to tack a few trillion dollars onto our national debt. Along with that debt comes the promise of more and higher taxes to pay it back. A lot of people are advising that we should put politics aside and work together to assure that this happens.

I'm not sure why they believe that a government that regulated and spent us into this mess will be able to regulate and spend us out of it, but that seems to be their advice. But it's advice I'm not taking. And even if it seems inevitable, I'm not going to relax. And I'm certainly not going to enjoy it.

Thomas Jefferson had some good advice on what government should be:

"A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government."

That's advice worth taking.