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Wednesday, August 10, 2005A few days ago, the TurkeyBlog went on an extended rant about Wendy's messing up his hamburger order (It was for a regular hamburger, for cryin' out loud!).He probably would have know better, had he read this: There are only two contexts, I suppose, where vulgarity really bothers me. I don't like the person who drops an expletive in relatively innocuous circumstances (bumper tapped in the parking lot, soda dropped on the sidewalk) because he's upset about something else.No f-bombs were dropped, but yeah, the reaction was a bit over the top. If you're like me, the Wendy's article made you mutter, "Stupid cashiers, can't they get anything right?" If you're like me in my better moments, you said, "All this for a piece of cheese? Must have missed a pill." I offer the above by way of admitting I'm not the best person to coach people on maintaining the public semblance of reasonableness in the face of adversity. Had I lost a loved one way before his or her time, I'd probably go overboard too. But... One of the most embarrassing things in the world is to make yourself an idiot on someone else's behalf because they figured out which buttons to push. Which is, sadly, what has happened to Cindy Sheehan, the woman who was prominently featured protesting outside President Bush's ranch the other day. Jeff Goldstein has the get sane side of the story here. He is right on in noting: I feel for this woman, I honestly do. But somebody close to her needs to take her aside and convince her that it’s time to grieve in private and to honor her son’s memory. Instead, this poor grieving woman is taking solace—solace I believe she’ll later come to regret—from the worst type of hyperpartisan frauds, professional Bush-bashers and wannabe-Vietnam-era protestors whose hatred for the President and his foreign policy runs so deepthat they’re willing to adopt Ms. Sheehan like some sort of morbid mascot of convenience and exploit her pain—and her son’s death—in the most cynical and public way imaginable.So, prayers for Ms. Sheehan, and all the other grieving family and friends of those who have died in Iraq. We should honor their suffering and try to understand their pain. At the same time, we should be careful in assessing their policy statements, holding neither them nor ourselves to notions formed in the crucible of shock, anger and lingering grief. To do so would be to dishonor the greatest part of those they mourn - the lives they led, as opposed to the too soon ending of those lives. It would also make as much sense as putting the TurkeyBlog in charge of a fast food restaurant five minutes after they messed up his order. 
posted by gbarto at 1:10 PM |
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Day By Day© by Chris Muir.Old TurkeyBlog here.
