Monday is normally foreign policy day at Quill Sword but we’re making kind of an exception today. Here’s the thing: the US is beyond the pale powerful and how well we govern our government directly impacts not just foreign relations but the daily lives of people around the world. It’s a huge responsibility and a civic duty.
No one ever thinks their congressman is one of the bad ones. Half the time that’s true of the people who voted for the other guy. Obviously, that’s a bit hyperbolic – there’s always someone that thinks their rep is a bum – but the tendency to assume your rep is one of the good ones is strong. Very, very strong.
Little wonder, right? We voted for the guy. Who wants to think they voted wrong? Life is busy and we can’t look over our representative’s shoulder all the time. If they aren’t doing anything massively stupid, it must be fine, right?
Nah, it’s not. You kinda have to provide at least some supervision for your employee, especially when that employee is representing you in Congress. That’s the price of freedom we all pay: making sure our congressman is doing his job.
It’s not that bad, really. The job stinks because you get tens of thousands of supervisors but no one supervisor has to carry the whole load. No slacking now, you are one of the supervisors, Pay attention.
Is your rep a RINO?
I’m assuming most of you are Republican. Democrats have a good argument that all their reps are DINOs but we’ll leave that for another day. On to the RINO hunt!
How do you know if your rep is a RINO? Normally, it’s complicated. Disagreeing on a single issue isn’t the same thing at all. But we have a rare litmus test right now. If your rep is actively undermining the right and the Republican Party, that is a RINO.
Attempting to end the boycott of Bud Light is nothing short of treachery. Anheuser-Busch insulted and betrayed their customer base and continues to refuse to apologize. Of course, we understand that the left has trained them to avoid apologies but their clientele isn’t leftist. Tone deaf would be an improvement for their marketing and response.
Why are we supposed to let Anheuser-Busch off the hook just because it has started to really hurt? Being derided and devalued over the last few years has hurt every conservative and AB added to that pain, yet no apology is forthcoming? Nah, you guys are confusing forgiveness with restitution.
See, as Christians, we are called to forgive as we have been forgiven. So forgive, period. Has the added benefit that the grudge stops taking up your headspace. Forgiving is the first step in moving forward.
But forgiveness is not restitution. It starts the healing process and opens the way to restore the broken relationship but forgiveness does not actually restore the relationship. That usually takes some repentance (turning away from bad behavior) and atonement (making up for bad behavior where possible) but it always takes a good, old fashioned, genuine, heartfelt apology.
Anheuser-Busch has done none of that with its customers. No apology, no repentance, no atonement means no restitution. Forgiveness they can and should have but restitution of the relationship is earned. They broke trust with the people that made them rich. Anheuser-Busch will have to work extremely hard to repair that damage.
All that is basic, grown up stuff. Anheuser-Busch hires Harvard grads but can’t figure that out? I don’t know if that’s arrogance or stupidity – a bit of both, I’d bet – but it amounts to Bud Light customers should not give their hard earned money to a company that back stabbed them and won’t even apologize. Forgive but don’t pay them to keep doing the same bad things.
It’s not about revenge or expressing anger although those things are very much present. It’s just about the principle that you shouldn’t pay people who hate you. Pray for them and forgive them, yes; keep giving them your money without any attempt at atonement on their part, heck no.
Well, when you lose a fight with your big brother, you run to Mommy, right? You don’t mention that you started the whole thing and that you were intentionally messing up his stuff. Nah, you just run to Mommy and cry that he won’t let you in his room.
That’s exactly what Anheuser-Busch is doing. They have evidently hired the most clueless marketing team the Ivy League can produce (someone’s parents PAID for that edumucation? Didn’t get much, huh?) but AB has zero idea what to do to save their brand. Hint: APOLOGIZE, you idiots! But no, since they don’t know what else to do, they are running to congressional Republicans to get them to stop the big meanie customers from boycotting their beer.
Don’t worry. That never really works with Dad like it can with Mom. This go ’round, the mess you made is way too big, AB, to hide your own guilt. Any Republican helping you or even listening to your lobbyists is a moron.
Or a RINO. So if you didn’t elect a moron but your representative starts shilling for an end to the big mean boycott, know this: You elected a RINO. It’s your responsibility to take him to the pound in 2024. In the meantime, light up his or her social media with your displeasure. Make it clear that those who undermine legitimate conservative efforts to have their voices heard and understood by a corporate world run amok will not be tolerated.
Forgiveness isn’t restitution. We’ll forgive as we’re voting you out of office for your betrayal. Forgiveness doesn’t keep your seat: integrity and atonement do.
So, real congressmen of genius, have the integrity to not side with Anheuser-Busch against your own constituents. If you fail in that, apologize and atone quickly.
If the King of Beers can fall, so can you.
