If I call you short, when you are tall, have I offended you? If I call you smart, when you are dumb, have I offended you? If I think you are Chinese, but you are Japanese, have I offended you?
If I think you are from the South, but you are really from the Mid West, are you offended? If I think you are Iranian, but you are Italian, have I offended you? If I use the name of an animal to describe you in a derogatory manner, is it possible I am being derogatory not to you, but to the animal?
What if someone calls you a TWIT!!!
How Times have "changed".
When James Crowley temporarily arrested Henry Louis Gate's inside the Gates motel, Mr. Gate's behavior reminded me of Fred Sanford from the classic hit TV Show Sanford and Son. Who of the four should be offended by my comparisions? If I think James Crowley acted like Barney Fife (actually I don't, but I aim to be politically correct since I equated Henry Louis Gates with Fred Sanford of Sanford and Son), who should be offended, Crowley or Fife?
If Henry Louis Gates is Fred Sanford, and we equate James Crowley to Barney Fife, would that make Barack Obama, Andy Griffith? Dare I even equate Joe Biden with Gomer Pyle? Shazaam!
The two ladies (otherwise known as Aunt Bea and Betty Lou from the Andy Griffith show) who originally reported Fred Sanford's suspicious activities on the Gates Motel Porch that resulted in Barney Fife showing up to arrest Fred, were BOTH IGNORED and SHUNNED from the White House brew ha ha by Andy Griffith.
If I call our two heroines Aunt Bee and Betty Lou, would not that be considered a COMPLEMENT, or is it an insult to change our two leading ladies race when describing them in a television series context? I don't know anymore.
On the other hand, if this and the prior dailypuma article about these two lady heroines embarrasses the white house into meeting with them, then maybe it is not such a bad thing. Maybe if our two heroines weren't left out of the limelight, it might create more opportunities for females to be spotlighted alongside the Barney Fife's and Fred Sanford's of the word. I would like to see more news coverage that showcases women as community leaders.
Has the age of Political correctness reached such enlightenment that saying anybody is like anybody else can no longer be seen as an insult? If I say you smell like a pig, why is that an insult, and to whom is it an insult anyways?
Unfortunately for pigs, many humans find their smell rather delicious when cooked. Are we actually insulting an animal for the way they smell when they are alive even though many humans LOVE the way the way pigs taste when cooked? Now THAT is an insult, to the PIG!
Why do we associate practically every animal on the planet with an insult? You are a rat, dumb as an ox, he gets my goat, sly as a fox, He's a donkey's behind, you are an eager beaver, playing possum (probably not really an insult), a wolf in sheeps clothing, quiet as a mouse, and on and on.
When I made a conscious attempt to quit using animals as insults, I find myself occasionally tongue tied, aka, cat got your tongue?
CLICK HERE TO ENLARGE, IF YOU DARE. Thank God a cat has never grabbed my tongue, I think that would hurt. (Oh my god, I think I'm channeling Andy Rooney. Oops, was that that an insult? Is asking if that was an insult, an insult?)
Once I made the attempt to not use animal names as insults, I found using different types of people to describe a person, in an insulting fashion, made no sense either.
So just what is left? How about never insulting anyone ever again! Dare I try? Is avoiding insulting people when writing political commentary like holding one's breath, we know it will only last for so long?
But wait, what about Obots!
Obots!
Now there is a name I can use in a variety of insult worthy situations. You got an Obotomy! He's Obotnoxious, Oh the Obotony is boring beyond comprehension. Obotnomics.
The Obotymoon is over.
