Buzz Saw

On the fast-fading topic of health care, President Obama said:

"We've gotten pretty far down the road, but I have to admit, we've run into a bit of a buzz saw along the way. The long process of getting things done runs headlong into the special interests, their armies of lobbyists, and partisan politics aimed at exploiting fears instead of getting things done. And the longer it's taken, the uglier the process has looked."

In other words, "Some people dared to disagree."

In business, if the consumer disagrees, you change the product or try another consumer. You do not whine about those who disagree. You do not press them to change their mind in the name of "getting things done."

In fact, business flourishes when consumers disagree. More room for the rest of us, you see. You don't like Starbucks' coffee? How about Seattle's Best, Coffee People, Timothy's, Gloria Jean's, Cafe Altura, Eight O'Clock, Douwe Egberts, Lavazza, Folgers, Jeremiah's Pick, Emeril's, Aloha Island, Gevalia, Wolfgang Puck's, Maxwell House, Yuban, All Day Gourmet, Dunkin Donuts, Peet's, Caribou, Van Houtee...need I go on?

But, if you don't like a particular piece of legislation, you have no choice, nowhere else to go. You have no choice but to resist or accept, and that is hardly a choice. That is the choice of a prisoner or a slave, not the choice of a consumer.

No wonder the President ran into a "buzz saw." We all might breath easier if only there were more of them out there.