George Buckley, CEO of industrial conglomerate 3M (MMM), today made headlines for calling President Obama “anti-business.” Not quite sure why it’s news when a GOP donor criticizes a politician from the rival party, but let’s take a look at Buckley’s specific brand of nonsense:
“I judge people by their feet, not their mouth,” Buckley told the FT. We know what his instincts are — they are Robin Hood-esque.”
Robin Hood? You mean the guy who steals from the rich and gives to the poor? Apparently sounds like a socialist to Mr. Buckley.
There are lots of academic disputes as to whether there ever was a real Robin Hood and, if so, who he was and where he lived. But the generally-accepted fable makes one thing perfectly clear: Robin Hood wasn’t taking from folks who had made a good living the honest way. He was taking from a corrupt monarchy that had begun a policy of ruthless taxation (in some versions, Robin Hood was taking to pay a ransom to restore the proper King of England to his throne).
As such, it would seem that Buckley is taking on the mantle of King John in this analogy. I guess that means Buckley considers American business to be illegitimate and is in favor of raising taxes. Or perhaps it simply means that Buckley didn’t give enough thought before spouting off…