The Quiet Conservative June 13, 2010
Feeding the Crocodile
I have been seeking funding since the November election of 2006. The corruption of the press was so
bad during that time that I finally saw the strategic picture of how America was being forced against its
will towards decline, rather than the individual social/economic/political/national security battles that
individuals see.
But seeing the war as a whole didn't translate to being able to fight it. For that you need an army and
resources. To get the army you need backing. To get the backing you needed social affirmation.
Without that social backing, we haven't made much progress.
This site is a supplement to a business proposal sent to sponsors. As each week ticks off you can see
another sample editorial as another week's fruitless efforts turn up dry. But as the prospector panning
for gold finds one more dry hole or empty stream bed, you look to the next hill or valley and try again.
I was talking to a person and he asked why major corporations and foundations don't see what is going
on or do something about it, and I explained it with the following analogy:
You live in a village at the bend of a river. Every day you feed the crocodile so he won't bite you and
you can get your water. Day in and day out you feed the crocodile as the people around you also feed
the crocodile. It gets really, really big. But you figure as long as you feed the crocodile it won't hurt
you. But it is the nature of crocodiles to grind and tear and maim. Sometimes the crocodile spins and
grabs someone anyway and pulls them in the river, and only the bloody water shows what is going on
underneath.
The next day, though, you feed the crocodile again because you don't want that to happen to you.
Maybe you even feed the crocodile a little more, in the hope that even if it does turn on you it will only
rip your arm off, it won't pull you into the river.
That's corporate America. They have been feeding the crocodile for quite a while and no one wants to
draw the crocodile's attention. It is why they have diversity coordinators and promote thought control
as tolerance. It is why they sponsor gay pride parades where men in leather perform oral sex in the
streets. It is why the Rainbow Coalition is given money so the companies have a 'We're not racist, just
ask Rev. Jackson or Sharpton. We have their stickers on our company cars.' They are feeding the
crocodiles so they will be left alone. It is a fundamental mistake they are making in trusting a crocodile.
BP trusted the crocodile for years. They helped raise them. British Petroleum, well, one day they drew
the attention of the crocodile. That isn't just oil in the waters of the Gulf, that is the company's stock
prices staining the water. They fed the crocodile as company policy. Haven't you seen all their ads?
BP stands for "Beyond Petroleum" they promoted. They would have actors portraying totally clueless
people saying totally stupid things about how we should concentrate on solar and wind power. They
are an oil company! What person came up with the idea to denigrate the very product they produce?
Rather than be proud of what they did, they apologized for it. Every ad was a chunk they threw to the
crocodile. The crocodile grew bigger and bigger and when the drilling platform caught fire, the crocodile
turned.
British Petroleum supported Obama with campaign contributions. According to the story in Politico
(Erika Lovley May 5, 2010): "During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama
received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money
over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records."
Yet this is the following from the New York Times June 10, 2010 (Jackie Calmes): "President Obama
for the first time will address the nation about the ongoing oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday
night and outline his plans to legally force BP executives to create an escrow account reserving billions
of dollars to compensate businesses and individuals if the company does not do so on its own, a senior
administration official said on Sunday.
“The president will use his legal authority to compel them,” said Robert Gibbs, the White House
spokesman.
Mr. Gibbs did not elaborate on the legal basis for such a move but said that White House lawyers have
been researching the matter for days. The president is seizing the initiative after reports on Friday from
London that BP would voluntarily establish an escrow account — either for compensating victims or
for delaying a planned dividend for BP shareholders — turned out to be less certain than the White
House initially thought."
Now the crocodile has its teeth firmly around BP and the price of the stock has been cut in half from
before the accident. Twenty billion dollars has been chewed off the company's capital. You would
think that as their feet were dragged off the banks and they looked into the eyes of the scaly monster
they would fight back, but no. If there is a single thing BP is doing other than trying to cram more
things down the crocodile's throat to let it go, I'm not aware of it. Who is the face of BP on the Gulf?
Who is the lead in getting out there in front and talking about the difficulties and super human
engineering fight to close a spewing well head a mile under the sea? Admiral Thad Allen of the U.S.
Coast Guard. He probably doesn't even own stocks much less shares in BP, and he is the only one
trying to free this company from the crocodile.
President Obama, waffling between wanting to take credit when it looks like BP might actually shut the
well head down ("We've been on this since day one") to wanting to nationalize BP when it looks like
the well head is winning, has proven he is incapable of even the most basic leadership. He is all
crocodile. He can criticize and tear things apart, but he can't lead anything, anywhere, for any reason.
But it is much more than the one example. Many major companies have been feeding the crocodiles.
They want to get in good. Sometimes they buy favor, sometimes they buy influence. Sometimes they
use the crocodiles against each other and even adopt that mentality inside their own companies to get
ahead. But in the end, the crocodile always bites. Maybe the reason BP doesn't have someone taking
charge is that the entire corporate structure doesn't want to be on the water's edge if the crocodile turns
on them.
When I write a foundation or a business, I find that no one wants to stand out from the herd. No one
wants to be the first one in the water. No one wants to risk being turned on by the crocodile. Yet it is
facing the crocodile that forces it to move on to something else.
With this analogy I can show that by appeasement to people of ill will, the only thing that occurs is the
emboldenment of such people. By reinforcing morals, virtues, principles and courage these people will
shrink away. That is the goal of these editorials. There are over a hundred now that could have
influenced people to stand up to crocodiles in their interactions. There will be more.
The goal is to find someone in a company or foundation who can see the danger as I do and is willing
to help fight. For the true worth of a crocodile is making it into a belt, luggage or shoes. There should
be no fear of crocodiles among corporations or individuals. People are not herd animals. We are
individuals and crocodiles should fear us.