A Parable Once upon a time, a new coach took over the reigns of the most famous football team in the world. The Gipper came in and installed the Wishbone offense, much to the pleasure of almost all the sports commentators. The Gipper had two rough years, and then 6 successful seasons. The Gipper then retired, and his top assistant, Poppy, took over. Poppy tried running the Wishbone like the Gipper, but it was clear that the Wishbone was no longer effective and the team went on a four year losing streak. Poppy was fired and the new coach, Big Dog, installed a completely new offense. The team had 8 winning seasons and Big Dog had a much higher winning percentage than the Gipper. Still, almost all of the sports commentators hated Big Dog and complained constantly about his style. They sought constantly to give credit to the team's success under Big Dog to everyone but Big Dog. After 8 great seasons, the team was starting to slow down some and then Big Dog retired.
The new coach, Dubya, immediately installed the Wishbone offense and almost all of the sports commentators praised the move. The team was having a wretched first season when two of the team's star players will killed. The team went into a tailspin, but Dubya became a fan favorite for leading the hunt for the killers. Dubya lead a firebombing of the neighborhood where the killers lived, but the killers escaped. The second season wasn't much better than the first, but towards the end of the season, Dubya started hyping a game against a former rival, the Saddams. Virtually all of the TV coverage about the team focused on the big game coming up against the Saddams. The team defeated the Saddams in a big way and there was much rejoicing. However, people eventually started realizing that despite the one hyped victory, the team was still very mediocre. Dubya fired all of his offensive coaches and started running a "purer" Wishbone offense. The next two games were still losses.
Then Dubya in his weekly radio show praised himself for how great of a coaching job he had done and about how many more losses the team would have had if he wasn't coach. Dubya said that the TV commentators hyping the game against the Saddams had actually set the team back. Dubya then promised that the purer Wishbone offense will soon starting winning the team victories. For most coaches, such hubris would have immediately prompted calls for the coach's resignation, but the sports commentators were shockingly quiet. Apparently, they cannot bring themselves to admit that the Wishbone offense is ineffective. The fans, on the other hand, are obviously starting to get antsy and Dubya's popularity has been dropping steadily. How much longer until the lack of results starts producing calls for Dubya to go?
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