John Mackey - Whole Foods CEO

Whole Foods CEO, John Mackey wrote an op-ed piece last week in the Wall Street Journal about health care reform.   Boy is he sorry he did that.  Now, the company that famously fired an employee for eating a discarded tuna sandwich, is facing a hailstorm of criticism and mounting calls for a boycott because of Mackey’s comments.

For the record, I hate the debate that’s going on in the country right now. Health care is such an important issue and I feel that for the most part, the media’s focus on inflammatory sound bites and angry town hall hooligans have done a disservice to the public at large.  Those of us who genuinely want to see health care reformed in a manner that benefits the most people, at the least cost and who think that a society that does not take care of its children and elderly is doomed to extinction, deserve better.  I don’t know what our best option is for health care reform.  I do know, that as someone who’s self employed, this issue is paramount to the future of my health, and my growing business. So, because it impacts all of us, we all have the right to our opinions. But, as CEO of a company whose consumer base consists primarily of individuals who feel that Americans do have a basic right to healthcare, Mackey might just have inserted his foot squarely in his mouth when he suggested otherwise. For his sake, I hope that foot he just put in his mouth is organic.

That said, I’m not sure I disagree with all of Mackey’s comments.  For instance, he calls for tort reforms that will end ruinous lawsuits.  I believe our society has become all too litigious and that putting an end to frivolous lawsuits will help, to some degree, rein in escalating health care costs.  What troubles me is that Mr. Mackey CEO, who readily has access to the healthy, organic, and high priced foods he encourages all Americans to eat, uses the argument that so many well off and well fed Americans currently use when discussing health care reform; “Every American adult is responsible for his or her own health.”   Thanks for clearing that up for us Mr. Mackey, now we understand. It really is very simple.

Starting tomorrow, I’ll begin doing all my shopping at Whole Foods, purchasing organic fruits and vegetables, grass fed beef and cage free eggs to stave off the illnesses and disease that not eating organic can cause.  Despite being a struggling business owner with an inconsistent income, I will forgo less expensive fare, neglect a couple of other bills and opt for wild caught, fresh fish instead.  After all, why should those that can really afford to eat the healthiest be the only ones doing it.  And when I’m done, I’ll encourage my friends to do the same.  But wait. One of my closest friend’s only local food option is a bodega that sells soda, canned food and about 17 varieties of pork.  He has no vehicle, and even if he did, the nearest Whole Foods market, farmers market, or major grocery store chain is miles away.  Did I mention that my friend, also self employed, goes long stretches at a time making slightly more than minimum wage? So even if he were able to get his hands on a vehicle and by some miracle afford gas for his car, by the time he got to Whole Foods, he’d probably be able to buy one of your organic apples. A lifelong vegetarian though, he opts for beans, vegetables and whole grains whenever possible.  He does not have health insurance.

Herman Melville famously said “Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.”   Do we all as individuals need to take more responsibility for our physical and mental health? Absolutely.  But when people who currently have all their needs met, start rationing and determining who should, or worse even who deserves and does not deserve healthcare, it makes me very nervous.  If ending disease, crime and poverty was as simple as telling people to do better, then there would be no disease, crime or poverty .  The fact is, personal choice is only one of many factors at play in the complex conversation about health care reform.

Mr. Mackey says  that by living on a plant based, low based, nutritious diet, “we should be able to live largely disease-free lives until we are well into our 90s and even past 100 years of age.”   Doctors have been saying it for years, and it’s the truth.  But, it’s a hard truth to hear when it’s being presented by a man behind the helm of a food chain whose food prices are so high, they’re prohibitive to a large percentage of the population he’s talking to.  Let’s hope for Mr. Mackey’s sake,  Whole Foods is around for a long, long time, providing him and those fortunate enough to be able to afford to shop there, with the healthy food they’ll need to live those long lives. The rest of us will do our best to continue to fend for ourselves.

Actually, more like flying dirty.  Most people involved in clandestine activity do everything they can to fly under the radar – pun intended.  Not South Carolina’s governor.  Turns out, the governor, who refuses to resign even after going AWOL  to hook  up with his non-wife soul mate in Argentina, has been misusing the state aircraft.

Providing additional fuel for our Really Bad Political Boss files, the Associated Press is reporting that the governor used state planes for dozens of personal trips for himself, his wife and family during his tenure.  Some of the fun trips include: 

• A pick up from Myrtle Beach and return to Columbia, at a cost of $1,265 for “personal time” at Sanford’s favorite “discount” hair salon. Does anyone else see the irony in that?
• A pick up from his son’s football game in Bishopville and then on to a commercial flight to a Texas lake house for a gathering of Republican donors.
• A book signing in Mount Pleasant and then a 65^th birthday party for a business owner and supporter.
• On five of the last six Thanksgiving weekends, Sanford used a state plane to fly himself, his wife and their four sons from the family’s home in Beaufort County to Columbia for the state Christmas tree lighting.
• First and business class flights on commercial airlines at taxpayer expense, despite a law requiring lowest-cost travel.

Sanford with pigs

What makes Sanford’s behavior even more aggravating is that he’s made a career of appearing thrifty, demanding state employees use both sides of Post-it notes and attempting for months to block federal stimulus money for South Carolina schools.  

The governor, who’s grown fond of quoting scripture and likening himself to biblical figures, is now facing increasing calls to resign.  We’ve got one question for the spiritually minded governor, WWJD?  Thoughts after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Former Senator, Larry Craig - Forging new pathways...feet first

One of our favorite really bad political bosses and airport bathroom loitering, toe tapping, under-stall hand swiping senators, Larry Craig, is opening his own consulting firm. 

New West Strategies is… “Forging Pathways to Better Gov….gljersskg… Government ”  Sorry, I was laughing so hard, my head hit the keyboard.   Forging pathways to better government, really?  By lying about your lifestyle, playing the victim, and then suggesting the world misconstrued your actions?  Yeah, good luck with that. 

We’d like suggest a pathway few politicians know about…it’s the pathway of truth.  We hear the path is narrow, yet rewarding.  Somehow though, we think New West Strategies will opt to forge pathways by: 

• Publicly denouncing a lifestyle, while secretly living it
• Teaching clients how to successfully fool absolutely no one, except for their wives, into believing their stories about what they did and did not intend to do in a public bathroom
• Especially for politicians – Giving lessons on how to get your wife to stand behind you no matter what you did
• And finally, how to get PAID and re-elected after public humiliation and forced resignation. Special consultant – Marion Barry

We’ve said time and time again, if only we could rebound from lies, cheating and scandal the way these politicians do.  In the real world, really bad bosses like Craig and his ilk would be joining the ever growing unemployment lines across the country instead of opening businesses  and being offered reality television shows.

These politicians are keeping me busy. Last week while I was lollygagging about up north minding my own business, yet another Senator admitted to having sexay times with someone other than his wife, practically begging me to write about him here. 

This time the senator was 47 year old Paul Stanley (R-TN), and his “indiscretion” was with a 22 year old intern.  The conservative Republican (of course) and abstinence only supporter (of course, of course), admitted to having a sexual relationship with his intern.  After much soul searching the senator decided to come clean because his conscience wouldn’t allow him to continue with the hypocrisy.  NOT.  What really happened was the intern’s boyfriend got a hold of some nudie pictures the senator took of his girlfriend and tried to blackmail him.  It was only then that the Senator saw the light and fessed up about the affair to local authorities, stopping the blackmailer in his tracks.  The boyfriend is now charged with trying to extort $10,000 from the senator.  And the senator has joined our growing list of political Really Bad Bosses.

As if the whole sordid tale wasn’t bad enough, guess how Stanley met his current wife? You guessed it, she was once his intern.  Read the entire hot mess of a story here.

Update: the senator is resigning - does not fancy himself  King David.

Rabbis, Assemblymen and mayors oh my…

44 arrested in NJ probe (Louis Lanzano/Associated Press)

Last Thursday the floodgates opened and in the fragrant state we call NJ, over 44 people – in charge in some form or another of other people – were arrested in connection with a sweeping corruption and money laundering probe.  Included in the arrests were:

• 5 rabbis
• 3 mayors
• a host of assemblymen
• fire inspectors
• and a partridge in a pear tree. 

There is so much wrong with this picture, I don’t know where to start.  From illegal fundraising, to knock-off Gucci bags to black market kidneys – yes black market kidneys –  this thing runs the gamut. See a list of some of the Really Bad Boss wannabees and their crimes here.

Update:  Charges against the partridge were eventually dropped.

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman"

Politicians are our favorite kind of bosses. They have authority and power over a lot of people, and as luck would have it, quite a few of them are really bad. In light of Marion Barry popping up in the news last week for allegedly stalking a female friend, and as Rod Blagojevich continues to deny what we all know to be true, we thought it’d be fitting to compile a list of seven memorable lies politicians have told us. Can you guess which really bad politicians uttered the following whoppers?

1.       “I want you to listen to me…I did not have sexual relations with that woman…Ms. Lewinsky”.   No guessing games here.  The infamous Clinton/Lewinsky dalliances have long been public information, stains and all.  What makes Clinton’s denial so infuriating is the vehemence in which he initially denied the accusations.  Watch the video here. Then, Clinton famously redefined the term sexual relations.  Only a president could get away with that. Which brings me to our next quote…

2.       “When the President does it, it means that it is not illegal” – Richard Nixon, discussing Watergate in 1978.  From infidelity, to wire tapping to creatively inventing WMDs, presidents are notorious for “bending” the law.  Nixon just summed up what many of them secretly believe. President’s are above the law. But presidents aren’t the only politicians to bend the law.

The Lying King - Rod Blagojevich

3.       “…those simple values that they teach us in Sunday school, the Golden Rule…those are the things I’m going to keep fighting for…I haven’t let you down.”  There are at least two lies in this sentence, and it’s a wonder Rod Blagojevich didn’t get struck by lightning immediately after saying the words “Sunday” and “school”  in the same sentence. The foul mouth, helmet headed former Chicago governor uttered those words on his last day in office.  He didn’t mention that he actually slept through most of his Sunday school classes or that he wouldn’t know the Golden Rule if it tried to comb his hair. And yes, Blago, you did let us down and probably God too. Speaking of God…

4.       “it is my hope that I am able to follow the example set by David in the Bible - who after his fall from grace humbly refocused on the work at hand” We collectively gave Mark Sanford the side eye for that one, particularly since there’s no mention of David going AWOL in the Bible and then crying at a press conference on his return from Argentina five days later.  No mention of David skipping out on Father’s Day either.

5.       “The story is false. It’s completely untrue, ridiculous…made up” – Former senator and one time presidential candidate John Edwards denying an affair with a campaign assistant.  When it became clear that he did have the affair, Edwards gave a contrite interview on ABC, admitting to repeatedly lying about the affair even during his presidential campaign.

6.       “…they were misconstruing my actions.”   Here’s a hint, he’s got the widest and most inappropriate

The "misconstrued" Larry Craig

 bathroom stance in the history of bathroom stances.  That would be former Senator Larry Craig.  And which actions did the cops misconstrue? It may have been when he hovered around the entrance to the men’s restroom, a well known gay pick up spot. Or did the arresting officer occupying the stall next to him misconstrue his intricate foot tapping, hand swiping routine? I’ve discussed this with several of my male friends, and NONE of them have ever, even accidentally, done any of the things Craig did in that public restroom, much less all of them. Seriously Craig?

7.       “Occasional cocaine use” While I couldn’t find the actual quote from Marion Barry, his attorney did admit that Barry was an occasional cocaine user. Because occasional cocaine use is so much more acceptable than crack use, which Barry had been caught on tape engaging in. No worries for him though, because after serving a six month prison sentence, Barry was re-elected as Washington D.C.’s mayor.

In the end, politicians who lie for a living do so because a lot of the time, they get away with it.  Sure some lose their positions of power, but many others stay in power and in a few years their trespasses have been forgiven and forgotten.   If only the world was as forgiving towards the rest of us. 

Michael Steele's keepin' it real

RNC Chair Michael Steele continues to do everything in his power to attract minorities to the Republican Party.  And by attract, we mean swear them off for life.  He seems to be aiming for a Really Bad Boss Lifetime Achievement Award, and if he keeps it up, he’ll get several.  In his seven months as RNC Chair, Steele has done the following:

• Suggested that hosting hip hop rallies was the key to recruiting a younger, more diverse following for the Republican party.
• Said Limbaugh’s words were “incendiary” and “ugly” and then ate his own words after having them shoved back down his throat by the puppet master himself.
• Referred to the stimulus package as a lot of “bling bling”, planned an “off the hook” strategy to attract minorities and, referred to “one armed midgets” in one of his speeches.
• Declares there’ll be no more apologizing from the Republican Party, and then fearfully continues to apologize to Rush Limbaugh on the rare occasions when he has an original thought.
• Thinks that fried chicken and potato salad will attract diversity to the Republican Party.  In the same interview, refers to the end of slavery, but doesn’t seem to believe it himself.

All this and he’s only held the position for about seven months. For his sheer ignorance and intense stupidity, Michael Steele gets this week’s Really Bad Boss Tool of the Week Award. He’s earned it.