Circular reasoning

Bauerheel
H
ey, it’s good to hear Andre Bauer’s surgery went OK. (That’s an actual X-ray of his newly repaired heel Dr. Kyle Jeray is holding up there.)

Which reminds me of my post from last night.

I’ve never known quite what to make of the fact that you’ll sometimes hear lawmakers defending Mr. Bauer on the basis that he’s doing a good service with the Office on Aging.

There seems to be
some circular reasoning involved. Old folks were being served by that
agency before. Lawmakers, searching for something to give Andre
that he could take credit for, arbitrarily moved it to his office. Once
they moved it there, Andre went around letting old folks know what a
great job the people who now worked for him were doing for them, and
they praised him for it.

Lawmakers then started giving Andre credit for it all, thereby self-fulfilling a prophecy.

Anyway, that’s the cynic’s view. Andre claims all sorts of
restructuring and reform of the agency and its service, plus a greatly
expanded budget this last round, and says it’s all due to his
"leadership." Whether it is due to his efforts or not, I don’t know.

But my new boss did ask an interesting question when Andre was
talking about that in his Wednesday interview with us: Is the Office on
Aging now enjoying an advantage over equally vital and worthwhile
agencies, just because it has a high-profile advocate — one with every
motive to have his own area of influence grow, I might add — wielding
the gavel for it in the Senate?

Andre allowed as how he didn’t think that was the case. OK, then: If
it isn’t benefiting from that relationship, to what extent is his
position over the Office of Aging doing anything for his clients that
wouldn’t get done by that office anyway? Circular reasoning again.

All I can tell is that the lines of accountability are now muddier than before.

6 thoughts on “Circular reasoning

  1. Randy E

    I went to a David Duke speech at Clemson when he ran for president (out of curiosity). He was asked, “how do we know you no longer support racism?” His reply was that in La he had recently voted against discriminatory legislation in which some groups would get preferential treatment (blacks and other minority groups). So, he’s not a racist beause he voted against preferential treatment of blacks. I guess he would have voted for it if he were still a racist.

  2. Capital A

    I’m wondering who is going to lobby for us younger folks over the next 10 to 15 years when all of these emboldened and championed seniors determine that they should regularly remain on the road at age 80 and beyond.
    I don’t even let grandma hold my HDTV remote when she comes over.

  3. David

    YOu’d think Andre knows some secrets on some people – or he just knows how to play ball and does it very well.
    If you have ever met Andre, and talked to him, you know he is very very slick. Too slick. Doesn’t seem real.
    Some of us call that – A FAKE.

  4. David

    BTW-
    The doctor is holding up a blown up image, not of an X-Ray, but of the tiny parcel of land Andre sold for over $100,000 wtih the personal help of a Highway Commish.
    Even the doctor couldn’t believe how much cash he made from that small of a piece of property. You can tell it by the look on his face.

  5. M.T.

    Brad, I have never heard of you or your
    ” Only sarcastic immature minds want to know’ article. However a friend of mine told me that when he gets depressed he reads your rants because it makes him laugh and it takes him back to his Junior High school days. So thanks to you I am also getting a good laugh !

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