Friday, December 9, 2011

Rat race & human race

Two stories from NPR today that are worth thinking about:

Researchers have discovered that a freed lab rat is concerned about a fellow rodent caught in a trap. So much so that the former will labor hard to get its cage mate out of the trap.

And here’s the thing—given the choice of two traps, one with a pal and the other with a cache of highly-prized chocolate, the free rat will still liberate its mate, as well as the chocs…and then share the treat.

Meanwhile, back in the human cage, Republican pols are still decrying the “millionaire” tax as a terrible burden on business owners’ ability to create jobs. Only an NPR reporter was unable to get any of the decriers to cough up someone to support their claim.

She did, however, get several business owners who said that the tax does not figure large in their plans to hire staff. And when approached by the reporter with this contradiction to his mantra of not taxing business, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) tush-tushed her, “Those I would say were exceptions to the rule.”

And back to standing tall against any measure that would help out the American people, or even the majority of his constituents.

I suppose the argument could be made that the ’Pubs are in fact looking after their cage mates, but only the ones who have already shared the treats with them.

But even so, I think this time the score is Lab Rats: 1; Human Beings: 0.

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