lesson20910

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Chapter 6- Don't Get Mad, Don't Get Even, Get Ahead

This chapter is about not letting grudges or regrets linger on but getting over it and getting ahead of the game. Looking in a positive direction forward instead of always persisting in the past is a bright way to advance in life. A positive energy of going ahead will bring a person to a new level of standards. Looking back on all things that have gone wrong will only keep you in the past.Without going forward we can not possibility learn and keep living life. The values of a positive energy as a strategy shows that “getting dirty” is not always the right way to go about “getting ahead.”

In this chapter Chris Mathews is explaining the importance of forward thinking. The book begins with a quote by Ronald Reagan. “ I always throw my golf clubs in the direction I’m going”. In life our anger can hold you back. Instead use that same energy to push you forward. To make his point, Mathews compares the lives of two politicians, Nelson Mandelan and Francis Patrick Sulliven. Mandela who was imprisoned in South Africa for 27 years spent his time thinking of ways to improve his country and its politics. When he was released he made a name for himself politically and then ran for prime minister of South Africa and won. Sulliven on the other hand wasted eight years of his life after losing a 1974 congressional seat. Mandelan was focused on pro- active reform while Sulliven was focused on revenge. On August 21, 2009 President Obama released the following statements  “I want to say a few words about this week's election in Afghanistan. This was an important step forward in the Afghan people's effort to take control of their future, even as violent extremists are trying to stand in their way”. Barak Obama echoed Chris Mathews sentiments, “Don’t get mad; Don’t get even; get ahead”.


 * How Does This Have Anything to Do With the Present Outside of the Book Itself?:**

__Obama on Conservative talk radio:__ · Shows how he responded to the public’s response to the initial healthcare planned proposed · Went onto conservative talk radio rather than liberal radio because he wanted to get his point across the people who did not want the health plan he is proposing to be instated · Did not rebuke the allegations or remarks made against him, but rather took the high road and tried to get them to understand the point he was making · People such as Mark Levi spoke out against Obama’s plan on Health Care · This shows that politicians shouldn’t “Get Mad; Get even, but that they should Get Ahead because by Obama not being petty and trying to put down people such as Mark Levi; he went on a conservative talk radio show to express his plan about Health Care more aggressively towards the portion of the public that resented the plan.

[] ---OBAMA GETTING AHEAD! check it out!

=Matthews, Chris. "Hardball How Politics Is Played Told By One Who Knows The Game". New York: Free, 1999.  =