When words are not enough. When words fail.
To illustrate the point, this blog will be (relatively) short. Not on stature. On words.
In commenting on the state of affairs in the botched Turkish coup, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said in a public statement that the Obama administration viewed the situation “with the gravest concern.” Would it have meant less if Kerry had instead said “with grave concern”? What if he had just said “with concern”? What if he hadn’t said anything? Would it really matter?
If it were me, I might just have said “And the purge goes on.” (With credit to Sonny and Cher.)
“Tragic and appalling,” said President Obama about the slaughter in Nice. Really? You think? Good thing he told us. Might otherwise not have realized it. Sure, he’s our leader. He needs to say something. Better still, he needs to DO something. To help get our world under control. That’s what we expect of the leader of the free world. At least that’s what I expect of him or her. Not that we seem very free today.
It’s one thing not to be able to identify all of those needle in a haystack lone wolves. But—-especially in the midst of a formal eight-month long state of emergency in France—-how was it possible for a truck to access and drive through a pedestrian holiday foot parade when the temptation to do so was so obviously high and the carnage such access would create was higher still?
France will be observing three days of official mourning. How many lives will that bring back? How many future lives will it save? If it’s such a good thing, maybe we should have four days of mourning. But, then again, what good has France’s eight month and counting state of emergency done?
It is said that French President Francois Hollande may be in jeopardy of ouster. Gee, really? You think? (He’s already a lame duck, with the emphasis on lame, given that his term expires early next year.)
Isn’t it about time that the real culprits, woefully lax we the people, start telling our leaders loud and clear that we expect better out of them? Their time in office not meant to be a picnic, nothing more than an array of retirement benefits for them to sample and choose?
Wow, all this could possibly be enough to drive one to vote for the likes of Donald Trump! He’s too egotistical and narcissistic not to take all this nonsense personally and step in and do something more to stop to stop it than what our leaders today are (not) doing. How much worse could he make it than what it is today?
Editor’s Note: Just to be clear, lest we be careful what we wish for, I am a man, or at least a voter, whose country has left him behind (or has fallen behind). I take our right to vote very seriously, but there is simply no way I can possibly vote for either one of our two major party candidates, using the term candidates loosely. Of course, with our media and our political dysfunction, why would any competent candidate subject himself or herself to such tomfoolery?
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