Failure is not an option…

Failure is not an option…

Posted on May 5th, 2011 by Jay Baldwin

The 2012 election cycle kicks-off tonight with the first Republican presidential primary debate–an event that will surely be one in a long line of platitude-a-paloosas to come from all parties and all office seekers–so I want to make a prediction. Given the recent success of the Navy SEAL operation that killed Osama, and that the unofficial motto of the SEALs is reportedly “Failure is not an option,” we’re going to be hearing this particular phrase a lot in the coming months in reference to the need for government action to solve our country’s ills, both real and imagined.

The meaning, of course, of this particular platitude is latent, and lies deep within the ideology of the speaker. So, as a service to the reader of When Falls The Coliseum, I present this handy list of latent meanings:

Republican: Failure is not an option…but if you fail, it’s your fault.
Democrat: Failure is not an option…but if you fail, it’s NOT your fault.
Libertarian: Failure is not an option…but it ought to be.
Constitutionalist: Failure is not an option…it’s a right.
Green: Failure is not an option…it’s a tree falling in the woods with no one to hear.
Socialist: Failure is not an option…it’s a utopia.

Author Bio
Latest Posts

Jay Baldwin

Mr. Baldwin is a doctoral candidate of comparative literature and cultural studies at the University of Arkansas. He is a self-described free-market anti-capitalist harboring anarchist utopian fantasies. The best that can be said of him is that, presumably, his mother loves him.