History is full of examples of heads of state doing or saying something which then goes on to become a social tradition or a famous catch phrase. For example, there is the custom of concert audiences rising just before the famous Hallelujah Chorus in Haendel’s oratorio ‘Messiah.’ No one knows for sure why King George decided to stand up at that particular moment. There have been lots of guesses, but nobody really knows for sure. But the reason is irrelevant. The fact that the King did it was sufficient reason to enshrine the practice forever in the book of proper concert manners. I mention this because something similar and most remarkable as occurred of late, that could have a similar effect on what is or is not polite bipartisanship.
From now on, if one is confronted by some right-wing conservative who insists on ignoring or misstating historical fact, it is now socially acceptable to respond by simply saying, “Sir (or Madam), you are behaving stupidly.”
It’s now ok to call it what it is. From now on, if it’s undeniable, incontestable, unadulterated stupidity, then we won’t call it a shovel.
To wit: To all those who place partisan political issues above the common good, whose motivation in life is greed and whose motto is ‘survival of the fittest’, I say that you are behaving stupidly.
Greedy, selfish behavior, and working against the common good are stupid behaviors because they rule out cooperation. They guarantee unending conflict. They divide the house against itself, and thereby make it impossible to create a common sense of unity and purpose. They are stupid behaviors because they are inherently self-defeating.
To all who obstruct and sabotage efforts to repair the massive damage that was done to our constitution and to our economy during the past administration, I say to you, “You are behaving stupidly.” You want our ship of state to sink with all of us aboard, just so your side can win. You don’t seem to realize that your side is on the very same ship you are trying to sink. You are behaving stupidly.
To those who lied, who knowingly bore false witness on mortgage loans, I say that you have behaved stupidly. Your greed was at the heart of the lie that caused the problem in the first place. You failed to consider the consequences of all of those bad loans coming to term at relatively the same time. You took the money and ran. That was stupid behavior and bad manners as well.
To all those pseudo-Christians at C STREET who believe themselves to be the chosen ones, and therefore above and exempt from the laws and customs by which we all agree to live, I say that you are behaving stupidly. You forget that God made us all. We are all brothers and sisters. We are all His children. To claim to be Daddy’s favorite, and then to use that as an excuse to break the rules is stupid behavior.
To John Ensign, who displays such shameless hypocrisy, I say that you are behaving stupidly. In public statements you said that others in your particular situation should resign public office immediately. But you will not take your own advice. Hypocritical behavior is always stupid behavior, because no phony front can last forever. Sooner or later the truth comes out.
To Governor Mark Sanford, who allowed his private life to interfere with his public life in such a shameful, scandalous and unprofessional manner, and who still expects to have the trust and support of honest people everywhere, I say that you are behaving stupidly. You can reframe your behavior into whatever sequence of words, images or excuses you choose, but it is what it is. It is behaving stupidly. It’s certainly not a shovel.
To Richard Cheney, who is about to come under scrutiny for the no-bid contracts he steered to Halliburton and others in the military-industrial complex, as well as for any deferred compensation he will receive, I say that you have behaved stupidly. It was obvious from the moment you chose yourself to be the vice-presidential candidate that you had your own secret agenda. The wars, the military spending, the de-regulation, the secret energy panel of anonymous experts, and the vigorous attack on the constitution could not have come about as they did unless you were the vice-president. You thought nobody would ever figure it out. Sooner or later all secrets and lies are exposed, and if you don’t believe that Sir, then you are still behaving stupidly.
If you are an elected politician or political appointee who receives government run healthcare and who would then work to deny the same to everyone else in the country, you are behaving stupidly.
You project the image of an enormous, selfish, mean-spirited and very stupid bully, a ‘politician’ in the worst sense of the word. You sit in pompous, pious hypocrisy with your own government run health care plan, while you deny it to the rest of us. That is pure and simple elitism, and it is stupid behavior.
If, for partisan reasons, you act to block the health care reform effort you are behaving stupidly. You are concerned only with corporate profits, while I am talking about human beings, human lives and sometimes, the ends of human lives. The ‘no-starter’ attitude about a public health care option is another example of behaving stupidly. It is a perfect example of the us-against-them-my-way-or-the-highway mentality. This mindset is rigid, bullying, unreasonable and inflexible. It’s this kind of thinking that generates stupid behavior.
From now on, anytime you are confronted with some myopic GOP sop, touting some warped and bizarre Conservative vision of the world as it must never be, don’t bother with logical discourse. Don’t try to be reasonable. You won’t be understood. Simply cut to the chase. Say, “If that’s what you believe, then you are behaving stupidly,” and leave it at that.
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