I try to be easy going and good natured and follow Paul’s apostolic injunction that as far as depends on me I will be at peace with everyone. I try, but it is obvious that the world is organized in such a way that it doesn’t allow us any peace. The amzing amount of stupidity that I see is almsot overwhelming and as I have written the sound of stupid is heard in the land. So I have a curmudgeon note book that I keep notes in and here are a few of my latest entries. These have been backing up over the past few weeks.
I have come to the conclusion that I would have “a better life” if Sanjay Gupta would shut up.
Here are another few minutes of my life that I cannot get back. A rather large segment of time was spent on a “new study” which cost God knows how much money to inform us of all of these riveting facts – babies should be bathed a couple of times a week in “warm water that is not too deep and never left alone in the bath”. Younger children should be bathed a few times a week, more often if they get “soiled”. Teenagers and young adults should bath and shower everyday because they “sweat more”. This is of course scintillating information gathered by the glittering gems of researchers that come from our places of higher education”. In the discussion of “free tuition” and college for all, it might be nice to have a discussion of what those expensive college educations in such subjects as “optimum bathing prescriptions” and “Medieval Women’s Studies” are really worth. Maybe college professors who seem more interested in distorting information should be asked to take salary cuts.
Speaking of college tuition, I was just forced to watch a congressional hearing on the college loan “crisis”. If you need reification of what I mean by stupid you might want to go back and find it. It must be on you tube. The chairman of the banking committee who I will not name was berating a group of bankers for the loan crisis and suggesting that they are greedy capitalist swine and that the poor students who took out debt are being enslaved by these scrooge type managers of despair. She did a fascinating thing as she called them all to account and asked each one individually what they were going to do about these terrible debts that they laid on these young people who just wanted to learn. It is riveting television to hear and watch as each individual banker states that his institution had not been involved with any student loans for over ten years. The reason is the Obama Administration had taken over the student loan payment program years ago. The chairman of this committee was on this committee when this change took place. She either didn’t know it (ignorant); knew what happened but didn’t understand it, (stupid), or knew that the Government took over the program and made a mess of it but wanted to bludgeon bankers for political reasons (evil).
So I have to get this straight. A presidential candidate was found to have broken laws and obstructed justice but was not charged because the investigators could not find that she intended to do these crimes. Another candidate is being investigated still and we are told that although he committed no crimes we must continue to investigate because folks are certain that he intended to do bad things. So we are left with the idea that folks on Capitol Hill that cannot read the plain sense of a Bill or a Law, or the Constitution for that matter, are entrusted with making findings on “intent”. Reading minds by the mindless should be the headline. Forrest Gump rules should apply.
I get on Delta Airlines for a long flight and I looked at their magazine and have to admit that I was a bit confused. The information peace was about the Minnesota Congress person who wears a hijab and makes outrageous anti-Semitic comments and seems to think that she is pretty hot stuff. For her the hijab is a symbol of freedom. In the same magazine there is an article about an Iranian women who protests the wearing of the hijab in Iran where protesting women have been hanged for refusing to wear that article of clothing. She is called “the lioness” for her courage. So I guess I was confused. Heroic for wearing it and heroic for not. I am sure there is some brain twisting that went on in the magazine editorial board and a nuance and subtlety in their thinking that is beyond my small little brain. On the other hand they may be stupid.
The insult in the eye of the beholder is fascinating. One side can say the most vicious shameful and perverse things about the other side in our politics, and if they react with their own viciousness it is somehow off limits and off base. There is a shocking moment for all of us when we run into “gentle Jesus meek and mild” insulting in rather vile terms certain folks in the scriptures. I am afraid that the fine art of the insult is getting a bad deal here. It is hard to “whitewash” whitewashed tombstones but I’m sure some of you will try.
