Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Politics: Gee, thanks guys!

To paraphrase blatantly rip off P.J. O'Rourke: "To label something as 'public' is to define it as filthy, insufficient, and dangerous. The ultimate paradigm of this is 'Public Restroom'."


What just kills me is the knowledge that there were people on that flight who were probably turned into immobile, quivering blobs of jello after hearing that a Bad Guy might have been among them. They'll probably clamor for more "safety" as soon as they can get to a voting booth, rather than realize that the uselessness of the whole system was just demonstrated to them, and vote to scrap it. It never ceases to amaze me that herd animals like these logic-challenged microencephalic Chicken Littles can somehow muster the wherewithal to peek out from under the bed every morning without a support team consisting of a Policeman, a Physician, and a Psychiatrist to give them the all-clear, as well as promises of protection and reassurance should the stroll across the room to the loo for morning ablutions turn out to be fraught with danger, uncertainty, low self-esteem or polyunsaturated fat.

We are reaping the fruits of a generation or two that was allowed, nay, actively encouraged to halt their emotional and ethical development at a childlike level...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Class, explain why:

The no-fly person is less dangerous between the mid-flight point and the point of origin, than between the mid-flight point and the destination.

Ya see, I'm sorta slow and stoopid, unlike the Wizards of War On Everything. Why go back?

Art

Anonymous said...

And it's only getting worse. I mean, smeg, I thought my mother was paranoid and overprotective, but compared to today's moms, she let me stick forks into electrical outlets -- and handed me the forks. I was a stunningly unathletic and bookish child (ditto man), but I still managed to have a treehouse, build forts in the backyard, aquire various amusing injuries while riding a bicycle sans helmet or pads or, ahem, WORKING BRAKES (hence the amusing injuries, which came in a moment of painful discovery).

But read this article and weep for the future. The thought that an entire generation is going to grow up wussier and more neurotic than me is terrifying.

http://health.msn.com/pregnancykids/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100142037>1=8404

Anonymous said...

Addendum: The URL didn't come out right...

Click here

phlegmfatale said...

The sheer lack of mettle of our populace is indeed worrying. I drove to work this morning, I thought "When the next wave of terrorism comes down the Pike, will I, a doughy, hurtling-toward-middle-age impeccably manicured hausfrau have to take up arms to defend the milquetoasts among us who don't know how to operate a screwdriver?"

FHB said...

You know, you leave nothing else to say. So I won't say anything.