The supposedly biased "liberal" press machine was the target of several full-frontal attacks by Republican candidates for president as CNBC hosted the third Republican debate last night. Ted Cruz said that journalists had lobbed big, fat, softball questions to the Democratic candidates at their first debate, and had praised them as wise and handsome. I don't remember that happening, but Bernie Sanders may now be wondering whom Cruz thought was handsome and whom he thought was wise.
Marco Rubio claimed that the press had lauded Clinton for having a great week with her performances at the Democratic debate and in the dragons' den that was the congressional hearing on the tragedy in Benghazi, when in fact, he said, all she did was prove that she was a liar. Donald Trump denied having accused Mark Zuckerberg of being in the political pocket of Rubio, whom he immediately complimented, and the moderator backed down and apologized. Of course, she was right, and it is telling that she got her Trump quote off his own website, which the Don might want to review every once in a while.
But when it comes to picking the winner at the debate it was no contest: the French work week. Jeb Bush was making the point that Rubio has been noticeably absent for many Senate votes during the course of his campaign for president, and said that maybe Marco was treating his job as Senator from Florida as a French worker might, only showing up three days a week. First of all, my question is: who has landed all these cushy jobs in France, and where do I sign up? When I worked in Paris at Schlumberger, I showed upMonday to Friday, and so did everyone else.
But Bush's comment may finally bring focus to the fact that a shorter work week is a very good idea, and that recent research has shown that productivity goes up and employee morale soars when when everyone has more time for family, friends and fraternity. With the huge advances in technology we have made over the years, we don't need as much time to do the same tasks. Even Henry Ford realized that you can't overwork your workers, and that a decent work-life balance is a win-win for everyone (maybe I should say, win-win-win-win-ad infinitum).
I was also very happy to hear that Ted Cruz realizes he isn't someone I would want to go out and have a beer with ("I saw him the other day at a roadside bar, he was walking in, I was walking out, we went back inside, had a few drinks, and all we kept talking about was, glory days, glory days, glory days"). However, I probably would enjoy having a beer with any of the other candidates, as long as they were buying, so I could at least try to understand what makes them tick, and discover why they have such a skewed vision of reality.
A few final stage notes to the candidates. Jeb Bush, think about this: if we all worked a three-day week, there would be so much more time for Fantasy Football. Carly Fiorina: get a new hairdo. Marco Rubio: take a hint from another Frenchman, former President Nicolas Sarkozy, and find some lifts for your shoes. With your youthful looks, you could have been a senior in a high school debating the dress code. And for everyone, lay off the press and stopping shooting the messenger.
