“Thrown Under the Bus…”

We often hear warnings, especially in the workplace, about “being thrown under the bus.”  This basically means:  being betrayed; being unsupported; or being sacrificed for someone else’s benefit.

To throw (someone) under the bus is an idiomatic phrase in American English meaning to sacrifice another person (often a friend or ally), who is usually not deserving of such treatment, out of malice or for personal gain. The phrase has been widely popularized by sports journalists since 2004 and was picked up by the mainstream media during the 2008 primary season. It has frequently been used to describe various politicians distancing themselves from unpopular or controversial figures. David Segal, a writer for The Washington Post, calls the expression "the cliché of the 2008 campaign". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throw_under_the_bus

The phrase means utter betrayal or sudden brutal sacrifice of a loyal teammate for a temporary and often minor advantage. http://www.examiner.com/article/what-is-meant-by-thrown-under-the-bus

An example of this was during the 2012 elections. Republican candidate Mitt Romney, during a heated debate with Incumbent President Barack Obama said he would eliminate PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), an American broadcast television network, as a means of reducing our national spending. Since one of the most popular, long-time, educational programming is Sesame Street, it was surmised that he was literally “throwing BIG BIRD under the bus” for his own benefit.

Sesame Street character Big Bird’s name came up at Wednesday night’s first presidential debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney. During the first presidential debate Wednesday night, GOP challenger Mitt Romney said he would cut funding for PBS, even though he is a fan of Big Bird. As Romney noted what entities he would stop funding, he mentioned the president’s health care law, then added that he would also stop a subsidy to PBS. He said to moderator Jim Lehrer, who works for PBS: “I’m sorry, Jim. I’m going to the stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/big-bird-in-the-presidential-debate-mitt-romney-advocates-cutting-funding-for-sesame-street-pbs/2012/10/04/f7f280ba-0e1f-11e2-bb5e-492c0d30bff6_story.html

The Bible addresses this simply in Matthew 7:12 (NKJV), or known as The Golden Rule: “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

Two warnings that I personally came up with and live by include:

“If someone is trying to throw you under the bus, it would be wise if you’d stop running beside it.” – Janette McGowen

“Be careful of throwing someone under the bus. Remember…it DOES shift into REVERSE.”- Janette McGowen

Bottom-line: We all must be diligent in avoiding unhealthy conflict and preparing, in case it occurs.  In the wise advice of our elders: “Prepare for the Worst. Hope for the Best.”