I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but ...
... when I said I would wait a week until I diatribed about the Tucson Tragedy, I can now say that I am most certainly glad I did. That dastardly 24 hour news cycle was interrupted earlier today to inform me that a Walgreens photo processor had found the shooter's film from before he went after Giffords and that it included a pic of him in a G-string dancing around with his weapon covering his privates, and my mind immediately went to the instability that was on display in "Silence of the Lambs". (Buffalo Bill dancing in the mirror with his tailored woman suit, anyone?) And not to start a new conspiracy theory, but was that other photo of him now well distributed -- the one after he shaved his head in jail -- was it photo-shopped so that he looked just a touch more ... well ... touched?
Even though we now understand that this was all a product of extreme mental instability of an individual committing an unpredictable act of personal terror, I still do think that there are valid lessons to be learned. Since this whole ranting concept is an homage to Dennis Miller's routines of the past, I guess I'll double up on my homaging, and include the following Foxworthy style commentary (and I don't want to push any grammarians over the edge, but be forewarned that I'm going to overuse ellipsis):
YOU MIGHT BE PART OF THE PROBLEM & NOT THE SOLUTION IF ...
**you insist on using labels instead of researching, encouraging and respecting individuality
if your day begins by inciting the "us against them" attitude, then you have culpability in the bitter partisanship that deadlocks our government ... everyone who owns a gun isn't a right wing nut, and everyone who lives in a big city is not an Obamafied liberal ... take some time to talk to those whose views appear to be different than yours and to find some consensus ... keep an open mind and develop a thirst to understand others ... and above all else, make sure that any use of "bleeding heart liberal" is meant as only an insult and not a call to action for any ears connected to unstable minds within your audience ...
**you know that the vitriolic shoes fit and you can't bear to throw them out
a small part of me was unhappy that America overdosed on the word vitriol this past week ... [I liked to keep that word in my quiver with "whilst" and "fortnight" to use every now and then when I want to remind people that I have a lot of student debt] ... but having a discussion about incendiary language and hate speech couldn't be a more welcome outcome of this unfortunate event ... and it's easy to spew venom and vitriol when you group folks into labels instead of valuing their individuality ...
**you can't speak two sentences without focusing on "you" in its plural sense
check yourself ... are your conversations (in whatever medium) full of commentary about you people, you guys, you'ns, y'all, youse ... I can only express this concept a certain number of ways, but if you people are all worried about what the other you-plural group has done to you, you need to kick the paranoia habit and embrace some good old fashioned American individuality ...
**your instability causes you to embellish common phrases
the phrase is "contact" your representative ... it is not "shoot your representative at close contact" ... there's a difference ... and while I'm inappropriately referencing mental illness, let's be clear that we all do have an obligation to our neighbors, but there's an unpredictability to that disease and I'd rather have resources spent on beefing up the support we provide those who are mentally ill than task each citizen with performing psychiatric checks on each of their neighbors ... [and hey, I'm self aware enough to know that they may just a bit of self-preservation, since I fully embrace my own kind of crazy] ...
**you've conveniently forgotten that section of 1st Corinthians
"and the greatest of these is love" ... can't really improve on that sentiment, eh? ... when it comes to religious intolerance, let's keep those words front and center ... please?!? ...
**you make bad choices when it comes to graphics (even if only re-posting)
I actually have grown to like Sarah Palin, with qualification ... I like her as a tour guide of Alaska on TLC's "reality" travel show ... I like her as a mother to her family that fully embraces her ideals and values ... I like her this way so much that I hope TLC gives her a five season renewal so that she continues to focus her energies on these tasks ... I don't like her interfering in national politics, I don't like her playing the victim card, and I don't like her refusing to have accountability for "endorsing" the graphics that have been called into question ... there is an approval implied when you make visible to the masses a series of crosshairs on targets that are too obviously translated to real live people ...
**you prefer placing blame and pointing fingers to progress
It's the last midnight (Into the Woods reference) ... and in this period of crisis, there's still more being said about who must be at fault than about how we move toward progress ... "No of course what really matters is the blame, somebody to blame ... Fine, if that's the thing you enjoy ... placing the blame ... If that's the aim ... Give [out] the blame"... You may never have seen that musical, but rest assured that placing the blame is not the way out of the woods ...
**you don't vote
I was tempted to end with the thought that if you don't participate in the democratic process, then you should "get off my post" ... but then I wouldn't be heeding my own advice ... so, if you've felt the need to complain and bitch and moan and chastise and blame BUT you haven't actually performed your duty and fulfilled your election obligation, then make plans now to register to vote (it's hella easy these days) and to actually go to the polls on the next election day (or before -- that's hella easy too nowadays) to have your voice heard in the way that matters most ...
... BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION.
BAD OFFICIALS ARE ELECTED BY GOOD CITIZENS WHO DO NOT VOTE:
http://www.register-vote.com/
THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13&version=NIV
ALASKA IS BEAUTIFUL AND PALIN IS A PERSON:
http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/sarah-palin-alaska/
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