It's not my job... (but it is)

"I may criticize a carpenter who makes me a bad table, though I cannot make a table myself. It is not my job to make tables."
Dr. Samuel Johnson, 18th century English author and philosopher

Who am I to argue with an 18th century philospher?

I don't remember the first time I heard someone say "it's not my job," (and I may have even said it myself at one time or another) but it's always bugged me. Especially when it's used as an excuse to escape responsibility. The latest version of this comes from the "esteemed" power people in the Bush administration. Rumsfeld and Gonzales are two good examples but Boy george himself is the prime culprit. He so often and so easily talks of being "responsible" for the actions of his people but at the same time never accepts any responsibility. In Dr. Johnson's terms it's as though Boy george's job is to make tables but he thinks he's only "buying" them. Of course Boy george was never responsible for "making" anything (including a profit at two oil companies he headed) before he was handed the presidency (and he was able to "buy" anything he wanted) so why would anyone think he would change once he had moved into the oval office?

According to Boy george, who likes being known as the "Commander-in-Chief," it's his job to start wars but it's not his job to end them. He is not responsible for any of the hundreds of thousand, millions, of lives lost and suffering because of the way he has done his job. He is just buying a war that other people are paying for. Which makes sense, what he used to get with his daddy's money, he now get's with (future) taxpayers money. (we should call this our first credit card war.)

And like more and more Americans, bankruptcy is closing in on our democracy. But of course, I can always say it's not my job to save democracy. But I can't if I have a conscience and I believe in justice and I want peace in our world.

It's time to stop this god damned war! (and it's my job to work for it!)