Economists who claim that the way to save the environment is through economic growth just don't get.
People who, in the wake of California's execution of Robert Alton Harris, argue that the sanctity of human life requires the death penalty for murderers, really just don't get it.
The Toronto Transit Commission has a subway poster promoting its Metropass which features a picture of a black man and the word "PASSING" prominently displayed in large type. Whoever created the ad really, really just doesn't get it."
The jury that acquitted the white police officers who were videotaped beating black man Rodney King really, truly just doesn't get it. Hundreds of millions of television viewers would probably dispute the contention that a man on all fours or flat on his stomach could be "directing the events" of his own brutalization. On the other hand, California Governor Pete Wilson, who requested National Guard assistance before the rioting started, got it pretty quickly.
Men like H. Ross Perot and Mario Cuomo, who expect to be taken seriously as decisive leaders when they cannot even decide if they want to run for President, just don't get it. They don't deserve to, either.
The Canadian government has committed $1 billion to purchasing military helicopters and $800 million to purchasing armoured vehicles at a time when it is cutting transfer payments that go to hospitals, education, welfare and other social programmes? The Cold War may be over, but some Cabinet Ministers just don't get it.
Parti Quebecois leader Jacques Parizeau;s idea of a separate Quebec includes a common currency with Canada and the use of Canadian passports. Here, clearly, is a man who doesn't get it in both official languages.
Cosmetic executive Georgette Mosbacher's New York Times story, which claimed that, "the successful women I know...do not find themselves at war with men," appeared in the same issue of the Buffalo News as coverage of a siege at an abortion clinic (which appeared on the front page and dominated two inside pages) and a story on the need to legalize mace in New York State (which dominated the first and second pages of the lifestyle section). One of us just doesn't get it, and I'm pretty sure it's Ms. Mosbacher.
External Affairs Minister Barbara McDougall praised her government's ban on first class travel for Members of Parliament and cabinet ministers in a pamphlet to her constituents, even though she had traveled that way herself, proving that even when some people get it, they still just don't get it.
American President George Bush has long opposed hiring quotas for racial minorities which have been traditionally discriminated against, but pushed the nomination of Clarence Thomas, a right wing black man, for the Supreme Court over more qualified senior jurists. Bush really just doesn't get it. But, then, he really just doesn't get a lot of things.
Then there are the drive time radio DJs who are convinced that they are terribly, terribly funny because they laugh at their own jokes a lot. Some people may find their naivete touching, but, frankly, I think they just don't get it before thousands of listeners each afternoon from three to seven.
And, what about the Prime Minister, who recently preached against "bias, discrimination, intolerance," telling children to "resist the siren calls that would take us away from the fundamentals that built Canada?" When he spoke about tolerance, could he have been referring to the tougher restrictions on immigrants and refugees his government is putting in place? How about some compassion for the people who have lost jobs due to free trade? When it comes to just don't getting it, Brian Mulroney is a repeat offender.
American politicians who bash Japanese business for its trading practices must be happy to know that Japanese companies are becoming less willing to invest in the United States. If these politicians had any idea where the lost revenue would come from, I wouldn't be so quick to suggest that they just don't get it.
Why do so many people continue to put their faith in charlatans, hypocrites and fools just because they are well known? Don't ask me - I just don't get it.
