A Couple of Odd Couples

Toyota and the Catholic Church
An Odd Couple Not At Odds
These two giants in their respective (not respectful) fields may at first glance seem like disparate entities. However, they both have one tactic in common and that is to evade and obfuscate information concerning their currently woeful situations. Both seek positive images and silently propagate their “Do as I say and not as I do” attitude for survival.

The GOP and the Catholic Church
An Oddly Similar Relationship
Both of these institutions have found a common enemy to blame regarding their sexually-related scandals. After the Republican Party was found to have spent $2,000 at a sex-themed California nightclub, the blame was foisted upon the “liberal media” for reporting the story. In the midst of the seemingly continual pedophilic practices perpetrated by some priests and connecting it to then Cardinal Ratzinger’s actions (or lack of any action), on April 1 the Vatican Web site (www.vatican.va/) assailed The New York Times for “deficient” coverage “by any reasonable standards of fairness.”

The moral of the story: If you are caught in a messy situation of your own creation, instead of killing the conduct, first deflect the blame and attempt to kill the messenger, i.e., the media.