If
you start with a cage containing five monkeys and inside the
cage,
hang a banana on a string
from the top and then you place a set of stairs
under the banana, before
long a monkey will go to the stairs and climb
toward the
banana.
As soon as he touches the stairs, you spray
all the other monkeys
with cold water. After a while another
monkey makes an attempt with
same result ... all the other
monkeys are sprayed with cold water.
Pretty soon when
another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the
other monkeys
will try to prevent it.
Now, put the cold water
away.
Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it
with a new one.
The new monkey sees the banana and attempts
to climb the stairs.
To his shock, all of the other monkeys
beat the crap out of him.
After another attempt and attack,
he knows that if he tries to climb
the stairs he will be
assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five
monkeys, replacing it
with a new one. The newcomer goes
to the stairs and is attacked.
The previous newcomer takes
part in the punishment... with enthusiasm.
Then, replace
a third original monkey with a new one, followed by
a
fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes
to
the stairs he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are
beating him
up have no idea why they were not permitted
to climb the stairs.
Neither do they know why they are
participating in the beating
of the newest
monkey.
Finally, having replaced all of the original
monkeys, none of
the remaining monkeys will have ever been
sprayed with cold
water. Nevertheless, none of the monkeys
will try to climb
the stairway for the
banana.
Why, you ask? Because in their
minds...
that is the way it has always
been!
This, my friends, is how Congress
operates... and is why,
from time to time,
all of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME
TIME.