Thursday, August 20, 2009

“k’s to the Left of us – but mostly to the Right . . .”

Indulge me with a little word play, if you will. We start with the word “malarkey,” defined in Merrian-Webster as “insincere or foolish talk.” Now, if we take the “k” out of “malarkey,” and replace it an “n” – that would spell “malarney.” Malarney rhymes with Barney. Barney is the first name of Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank who, at a recent “town hall meeting” (I’ll explain the quotes later) responded to the question: "Why do you continue to support a Nazi policy as Obama has?"

The woman who asked this question, by the way, was holding up an image of President Obama with a mustache drawn above his lip, reminiscent of the one sported by Adolf Hitler back in the bad ol' days.

Without missing a beat, Congressman Frank responded, “On what planet do you spend most of your time?" He went on to say “[t]rying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table,” “I have no interest in doing it.” The congressman went on to call the woman’s question "contemptible nonsense" and "vile."

Whether you are a Barney Frank fan or not, give kudos to the congressman for calling that woman out for such foolishness, rather than letting it slide as so many others have. So, how does our little word-play exercise factor into this incident? It doesn't really – it was just fun for me. Hey, I write blogs – sometimes it’s all about entertaining my own self, as we say in Ocala! But if you want me to pull something clever out of that little exercise, then let me refer you back the first paragraph where I put “town-hall meeting” in quotations.

Now, I’m just a guy thinking . . . maybe too much. But here goes: Have you ever seen “America” spelled “Amerika,” with a “k”? Well, in fact, Amerika was the name of a 1980’s TV miniseries that took us to a parallel universe where the United States was a communist country having been taken over and governed by the then-Soviet Union . Of course, during the Cold War days, the Soviet Union was viewed by most Americans as a largely homogeneous, a socially and politically intolerant society where a small political entity (the Politburo) pretty much dictated and ran the show.

We saw the Russian country as a society where the status quo was the order of the day and dissidence in any form was summarily crushed. Ironically, in the case of present-day America , it is not the people who are being crushed because of dissidence; it is the government itself who is the victim! Ludicrous, right? Well, consider -- a very small group of people, relative to the sane population – is attempting to quash any movement towards changing the status quo. They want to keep “Amerika” their country -- a country of exclusion, intolerance and one devoid of fairness and compassion.

Coincidentally, this “movement” to remain stagnant (more irony) seems to share eerily similar principles and notions to those of a group that has its roots in America ’s shameful past – the Ku Klux Klan. Hey! Look at all those “k’s”!!

If you take a look at the racial composition of many of these “town-hall meetings,” but moreso if you listen to what is said at them, these meetings are anything but forums whereby people can confront and possibly influence their elected officials, or places where one can take the opportunity be heard. They are, in many instances, nothing more than Klan rallies – opportunities for people-bashing, fear-mongering and hate-filled diatribes.

The vitriol spewed at these rallies is dripping with racism and hard-core personal resentment. It is despicable to behold. So, in summary: the “malarky,” (with a “k”), that’s being spewed in “Amerika” (with a “k”), by some of the participants of thse klan-rallies (with a “k”) is . . . RIDIKULOUS, PATHETIK and DESPIKABLE!!!

Expecting people to overcome racial biases is difficult; maybe even a long-shot. My concern as a citizen of America (with a ‘c’) is that the majority – that is, the well-meaning, legitimately concerned citizens of this great country not be influenced by those . . . other folks (restraint is a virtue, is it not?).

Disagreement, while inevitable and even welcomed sometimes, should never be hate-based. In other words, we should all seek to know the issues for ourselves rather than depend on the irrational rantings of those consumed with hatred, prejudice and fear. Do this, and that “more perfect Union ” thing begins to look a lot more attainable. Hey – just a thought . . .

1 comment:

  1. Just awesome as usual. As one "word nerd" to another, it's wonderful to see something so important to say being said so well.

    Also, just wanted to let you know I finally figured out the blogroll thing and have added this as a link on "The Dogged Pursuit." More folks need to read your stuff!

    BTW - are we ever going to have a NMHS 25th reunion? BBQ? Chips and Dip? What the heck?!

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