Stupidity Takes No Holiday

It doesn't take long to spot stupidity these days. In today's case, it happened during the first 15 minutes of my weekly stroll through the Sunday St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In that short time, I hit a trifecta of ignorance.

First there was good 'ole Donald Trump who has really been making a new name for himself lately; not as the same egomaniac we've come to know and love, but as pure asshole; not to mention moron … if he really wants to be president, which I don't believe he does. If he were serious, how could he consider his latest comments about John McCain as a smart move strategically? Sure, the recent Trump comments on Mexicans, while difficult to agree with, make sense for him; Trump, like half the country, hates anything that walks on two legs and isn't white, straight and male. But with his mouthing off about McCain, he's gone way out of his way to piss off a whole bunch of veterans who would normally vote for him. My bet is that Trump doesn't care about being president any more than George W. Bush did. But these aren't even the worst thing he's uttered lately.

No – the most disgusting thing about Trump in today's news was his announcement that he did everything he could to avoid (successfully) the Vietnam War because he simply "was not a big fan of the Vietnam War." So I guess Trump thinks he gets to play by his own rules, according to his own laws – and has done so for a very long time. Yet he expects everyone else to obey the laws – on immigration, for example – to a T.

Speaking of obeying the law, it seems the gay haters are having trouble doing so. In a story on the country's divided opinions on gay marriage, some dope name Michael Boehm from Michigan predicts that there'll be "a conflict between civil law and people who want to live their lives according to their faith."

My question to those of the latter group, "what's stopping you?"

Then there's the guy from one of our very own St. Louis communities, one Rex Riordan of Crestwood, Missouri, who opines that "if there is no God, then we are bound by laws man makes. If there is a God, we are bound by God's laws." Yes, I guess that would be true if we were living in 17^th Century England, when the church ruled the land. The fact, though, is that we are in 2015 and living in a land of man's laws which take precedent over any "laws" of God's, per the Constitution of the United States of America. The Bible – essentially a history book of stories which is a fine read with some useful life lessons – is NOT the Constitution. The Constitution is the Constitution. And until dumbass dreamers like Rex Riordan understand that, this argument will go on. Unfortunately, people like Riordan have a tough time understanding the concept of law.

It seems that Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, who we are privileged to have syndicated in our St. Louis paper, appears to have a tough time understanding the concept of science. In his column today, he questions the sensitivity of the recently revealed comments made by Planned Parenthood Senior Director of Medical Services, Deborah Nucatola, who was hardly sensitive in discussing the process by which certain human parts are attempted to be saved during the abortion procedure. Point taken. But to perceive this as the "trivialization of life?" Well, golly, Mikey; sorry but science is a very cut and dried practice, requiring some pretty cold discussions at times. (Sometimes, this cold-heartedness isn't so bad. Would you want a doctor performing potentially life-saving surgery on your loved one to suddenly have an emotional flashback in the middle of the procedure due to the recollection of a failed similar procedure on one of his or her loved ones?)

By approaching this situation – or any medical situation – in such a "heartless," pragmatic way, these same scientists are attempting nothing less than everything possible for the sole purpose of prolonging and/or enhancing the quality of life. Let me remind you that scientists are not the people making the decision regarding a woman's decision on an abortion; they're merely doing everything humanly possible – within the realm of the law – to improve life for all.

Nikki Haley, Our Hero

It's been a good month for Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina. Through the middle of last month, some four and a half years into her tenure, she was just another redneck-loving, Confederate flag-waving head of state in Dixie. But on June 17^th, with the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, she was handed the opportunity to step it up and boy-howdy, did she, taking a whole week to call for the removal of the Confederate flag. In doing so, Haley painted quite sympathetic picture, though in taking so long to make what should have been an instantaneous decision, it was obvious her announcement was politically driven. Otherwise, why hadn't she made this request of her own state congress over the past 4+ years?

The reality is that Nikki Haley is no hero except to those who really know her and know what a charlatan she is. And while her words were phony, it could be said that her tears were not. But they were shed only because she and her ilk have lost this final battle of the civil war – at least the one raging in her state of South Carolina – to keep this nasty little corner of the south protected for racists everywhere. Yes, Nikki Haley was no doubt crying for every old rebel who still holds the ideals of racism dear and who still believe the black man's place is on the other side of town, with his own drinking fountains, restaurants and bathrooms.

Yep, it was a good month for Nikki. In the wake of the flag's removal a week ago, the news shows were buzzing these past few days with talk of Haley as a VP candidate on the Republican ticket. And she didn't say a word to quiet the buzz. To cap off this despicable display of behavior, Haley is now preparing to embark on what she has dubbed her "Emanuel Nine" tours, some sort of deranged PR ploy.

What a contemptible human.