Overreaction for justification

I will do my best to piece together my many, many scattered thoughts on this subject. It is semi political, but if you're not a fan of politics, you will still find this interesting from a human psychological perspective. If you follow current events, even slightly, then you have heard the extreme rhetoric in the political arena and even the political fringe.

People have been quoted comparing the President to Hitler. Our troops in Iraq to mercenary murderers. Bush has been called the greatest terrorist the world has ever seen. That he should be on trial for war crimes. He has been called a huge racist. Besides the hate speech (which I will get into that topic soon) against the sitting President, who deserves respect simply because he is such, whether you like him or not, there has been a ratcheting up of accusations at others as well. Just look at Imus and his situation. I have never seen such a firestorm over 2 1/2 words. (Nappy-headed is hyphenated, so i only give it credit for 1 1/2 words). Leading the way is the infamous Al Sharpton, with Jesse Jackson in tow. Now another shock jock talk duo is in trouble for making fun of asians, lampooning their speech characteristics. You know, like in "The Christmas Story" when the asians are singing Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra, Ra Ra Ra Ra instead of La's. It's funny. It's true in some cases.

Unfortunately, Bush, Imus, the new poster boys for freedom from speech, and many others in the public view have been vilified beyond rational thought and reason. Why? I enjoy proving a point by simply asking questions and letting you come to the point I'm trying to make by yourself.

Think of 5 important people in history. Not just American history, but world history. Some of these people might come to mind:

Jesus Christ. Martin Luther King Jr. George Washington. Gandhi. Abraham Lincoln. Rosa Parks. Churchill. And the list goes on. So with this list, what do all these people have in common?

Try this. They all overcame something great. (Great as in large/huge not great as in good) Jesus Christ, well c'mon, he overcame hatred from his own people, umm, you know, death, temptation, challenges. Martin Luther King Jr overcame racism, TRUE racism, not what you hear Sharpton yelling about over Imus. Washington overcame the British in the war for independence and was the first president of a unique nation, overcoming doubt and the unknown. Ghandi, overcame the freaking British. Lincoln, overcame civil war and slavery. They all have that in common. They all overcame something great and usually evil.

So how does this relate to what's going on now? Think about it this way. All generations born in the late 60's and forward have not had that great evil to overcome. We have not had the severe hardships our previous generations had to deal with and overcome. Starting to see the connection now? The current "leaders" and politicos have exaggerated the evils of certain people to make their cause more just, more noble, more pious. Take Imus for example, since it's fresh. You're right, I'm not black, I'm not a woman, whatever. Nappy-headed ho's will not ruin your life. That phrase is modest compared to what I've heard in rap music and from comedians, mainly black ones. So spare me the fake outrage and devastation. But to Sharpton and Jackson, he's the worst of people, the most racist, etc. etc. They have to talk him up to be far far more evil than he actually is, otherwise their cause and position wouldn't be as important. Overcoming a bad thing or a semi bad thing isn't nearly as important or noticed as overcoming a super evil, a sociological wrong, etc.

This entry didn't come out as smoothly as I wanted, but I hope you got the point. The supercharged rhetoric you hear nowadays is simply an exaggeration to make their own cause appear more noble, more just. Without this over-vilifying of characters, they wouldn't have the position they have, such as Sharpton. If he makes race relations out to be the worst ever, then he has a position and will continue to rake in the dough. If he was honest about it, a clear defiance of his character, then we would know it's not nearly as bad as he makes it out to be, and he wouldn't have his lofty position of power and voice. If we were only so lucky.

This topic is tied into so many others that I want to outline over the next several days, including loss of perspective by Americans. Loss of humor. A loss of a common identity. An over selfish society destroying trust. The Knee-jerk generation of today.

Please, leave your thoughts. Leave your ideas. I'll be back soon.

D