Don’t kill the messenger. Until the advent of modern telecommunication, messages were usually delivered by human envoys. For example, in war, a messenger would be sent from one camp to another. If the message told of bad news, the messenger might be blamed and the receiver sometimes took their anger out on them. One of the earliest known instances of the phrase came from a Roman biographer named Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus. In a story about Lucullus, a Roman general, he writes, “The first messenger, that gave notice of Lucullus’ coming was so far from pleasing Tigranes that, he had his head cut off for his pains, and no man dared to bring further information. Without any intelligence at all, Tigranes sat while war was already blazing around him, giving ear only to those who flattered him”. Tigranes was the king of Armenia. Anyway to make a long story short, I got some bad news for House Speaker, Paul Ryan. One of the most powerful Republican politicians in the country, House Speaker Paul Ryan, has announced he will not seek re-election in 2018. Mr. Ryan, who will serve out his term and retire in January, recently said at a news conference about his decision, “I think we have achieved a heck of a lot. You all know that I did not seek this job. I took it reluctantly, but I gave it everything I could … I have no regrets.”
Unfortunately, not everyone agree’s with the Speakers assessment. So Mr. Speaker, here is the bad news. In a scathing, skin peeling, breathtaking and bone pulverizing editorial, Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC’s , “The Last Word,” trashed your accomplishments, questioned your dignity, and erased any prospect of honor you might have hoped for by retiring. Mr. Speaker, he got crazy with it. In a piece called ” Worst Speaker Ever,” Mr. O’Donnell tells us how he really feels.
MSNBC’s, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.
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