Dumb and Dumber

Another title with copyright infringement potential. Get used to it...I'm not that creative.

Jerry Falwell recently passed away. It's been interesting to hear the various comments to get an idea of what kind of legacy he left. He certainly wasn't perfect and said some things early and late in his life that perhaps mitigated his Christian witness. However, he did a lot of good as well. He did stand for Biblical truth although I don't think he always approached it from a loving viewpoint. That is the difficulty in trying to get across absolute truth through a medium like television or print. People who don't agree with your position will immediately feel like you are condemning them which is an understandable reaction. This is why witnessing is most effective when you have established a relationship with someone and can take the time to convey the fact that Christianity is not ultimately an attack on their behavior but rather a plea for their heart. I have read some of the left wing sites and their comments on Falwell's death are more heartless than I imagined. The darkness out there will indeed take your breath away.

So, Imus lost his job and Akon lost his Verizon sponsor and now Opie and Anthony are suspended for giving radio time to the subject of raping the First Lady. Does anyone else find the fact that all these things are happening in quick succession kinda interesting? After 20 or so years (starting with Howard Stern) of letting media celebrities say and do whatever they want there seems to be some pent up backlash being released. Perhaps there is a rethinking of allowing free speech no matter what. After all, isn't there some level of decency and responsibility that goes along with free speech? Sure, you can say whatever you want but you don't live in a vaccuum...particularly if you work for a larger corporation whose ultimate goal is to make a buck. If your corporate boss feels you are endangering the product by alienating advertisers and listeners than your free speech will be quickly curtailed.

But these media giants are creatures of a declining culture. They were built because people liked the provocative and controversial things they were saying. The dumbest members of America flocked to them to get their fill of the basest humor around and now we wonder why so many of these blowhards exist? Don't blame the Howards of the world. Sure, there should be some personal accountability on their parts but they have jobs because the mindless drones in this country bought what they were selling...and asked for more. Now, we blame guys like Imus for their racist and sexist remarks. How could he say that? These are just young women who have overcome great obstacles in their life to get where they are. Well guess what? You created the monster. Don't pretend you have a conscience now. For some reason you now feel guilty enough that you desire scapegoats to make yourself feel morally whole again. So fire them and suspend them. Let the pendulum swing back toward the destination of decency and morality again...if even for a short while.

My guess is that it won't swing that way for long. Here is a recent stat to back up the dumbing down of America. 35% of Democrats...15% of Republicans...and 22% of the overall voting electorate believe that George Bush had knowledge of the 9/11 attacks before they occurred. Which effectively means that they believe George Bush allowed almost 3,000 civilians to die that day without lifting a finger to stop it.

Need I say more? The dumb are only getting dumber.