Just sayin' Friday...

There are so many things I think about during the course of a day, week, month and year that I feel I should share them. Most of the time by the end of the week I have lots of opinions floating, so I'm starting a series of posts called "Just sayin' Friday" It will be an avenue for me to express my opinions about things from family life to politics or current events. If the topics get heavy, hold on, because there are many times in which I will return to complete triteness. It's the virgo in me!  So, here we go!

Many of you may not know, I am a news junkie or savvy. I read the news non-stop. In fact, I do that for a living. I skim the newspapers in my area for articles related to my industry: energy. But I can't help but read other headlines and subscribe to RSS feeds like a fiend. There is not much that happens without me knowing about it.

So, this morning as I was reading the news I came across this article. Recently, during the Congressional hearings about the BP spill in the Gulf Coast Texas representative Joe Barton issued an apology to BP for the American government running a shakedown of BP and basically stated he wasn't proud to serve or live in a country in that would do that to a company or individual. Shortly after, from immense pressure from Barton's colleagues, he retracted his apology to BP with threat to remove his political power without an apology.

My problem is this... whatever happened to convictions and sticking with them despite the social, political or economic backlash? This is easier said that done, granted, but I was proud of Mr. Barton's conviction during his apology to BP, albeit I don't necessarily agree with him, but he was convinced this is what he should do. Instead, he turned on his convictions threatened with the removal of his political power. Why? I should hope most people would stick with what they believed in despite threats, despite the political garbage that happens in D.C., but I was wrong. I was disappointed and still am. I don't live in Texas, had never heard of Representative Barton before the hearings, but certainly have heard of a coward before and Mr. Barton did not disappointment.

Erin's moral of the story: If you say it and mean it, stick with it.