We had a lovely, low-key weekend, trapped as we were inside because of the snowfall. Just when Derek was seriously considering firing up our snowblower, we looked outside and someone had done the end of our driveway for us. Thank you, invisible stranger!
But something spiked my blood pressure to the highest level it’s been since I left news/talk radio. You likely saw it; a bunch of Catholic high school boys from Kentucky being incredibly rude and taunting a Native American elder at the Indigenous Peoples’ March in Washington. The boys were in D.C. for an anti-abortion protest when the two demonstrations crossed paths. The smug look on the one MAGA-hatted boy’s face is sickening as he stares down Nathan Phillips, a Vietnam veteran and the elder in question. How come pro-life demonstrators all to often deny the rights of the lives that are right in front of them?
The diocese in charge of the boys’ school has openly apologized. I want to hear it from this kid’s mouth. Expulsion is being considered. It should have been immediate. Look at the boys in the background. One is recording his buddy as if he’s pulling off a stunt for YouTube. The other is, apparently, chanting “build the wall”. Take away politics and race and Washington D.C. and you’re still seeing a kid who doesn’t even respect people older than him. Mom and Dad failed bigtime here but so did his church.
Ignorant teenage boys in stupid red hats are just a minor symptom of a much bigger problem. Complete devotion to the US President is part of it. Complete devotion to anyone is problematic. A lack of basic manners doesn’t help.
Another Catholic-related story occurred on the weekend. I remember watching Saturday Night Live in 1992 on the night Sinead O’Connor ripped up a picture of the Pope and thinking, what does she know that I don’t? A lot, it turns out, and she was right. Over the weekend, a Twitter user told a little-known story about how Kris Kristofferson became Sinead’s ally during that time, mainly because Kris is a decent man and Sinead was a 26-year old woman with the world against her.
You can read all about how this unlikely friendship occurred by following the thread at THIS LINK. And always remember that even though we don’t like the message, sometimes it’s in our best interest to listen anyway.
I don’t know if religion has as much to do with this incident as has affluenza. I don’t carry a torch for the Catholic church but these are rich kids who have likely been raised to believe they are better than others because they are members of a wealthy family. Entitlement and snobbery are ugly and the environmental examples they follow play a huge role in what kind of people they become. The parents should be apologizing along with their repulsive progeny.
You make a good point, Alex. But it was religion that brought them to DC in the first place and marching as a pro-lifer who doesn’t have regard for the life right in front of them – that’s religion.
Religion and hypocrisy. But, as Mark Twain said, “I repeat myself.”