Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Chicken Little Politics

Is it over now? Can the non-hysterical, non-bed-wetters come out now?

The mere notion that significant (or at least very noisy, very publicly-attended parts) of a political movement would display utterly hysterical, hide the children (literally) behavior because the president was going to speak to school children is, frankly embarrassing. I'll admit that I've been annoyed, disgusted, shocked, stunned, appalled and revolted by both actions and political performances of the GOP in the last decade. But I have never run to cover the eyes and ears of my now teenaged sons when any politician spoke publicly.

In fact, on occasions I made sure that my sons listened to a speech by George W. Bush, so that they could hear him, and so that we could talk about what he said, what it meant, what it implied... and whether that was objectionable or not.

No sheets were soiled. No hysteria about protecting children from hearing words dripping from demonic lips.

I'm embarrassed for the GOP. I recall having intelligent conversations about policy over the political divide with my grandparents--but I know for certain that they'd have been utterly mortified by the shameful performance by the standard-bearers of their party now. So yellow, so terrified of their own imagined shadows that a speech by a president had to be avoided? The cartoons should be showing an elephant cowering on a tabletop, avoiding a mouse.

Just so... embarrassing.

1 comment:

kimc said...

The media, and the men behind the media, have been working hard for many years now to make us into a nation of cowards. They seem to have succeeded with a number of people.