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A Voice from Fly-Over Country
March 21, 2014
Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones,
but Names…
by Robert L. Hale
fitzgerald griffin foundation
MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA — "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can never hurt me." That was what we said as kids in America's insensitive days. Back then, we all learned that there are bullies, brats, smart mouths, and plain idiots in the world. And we simply ignored their foolish rhetoric and moved forward with our lives.
Today, the politically correct — those with little or nothing to do — believe words are the most harmful, hateful, and dangerous things one person can hurl at another. Possibly, this attitude comes from these mental midgets' misunderstanding of another saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword."
America now exports politically correct speech. Unfortunately, this devolution is making America, once famous for freedom of speech, the laughingstock of the world.
America used to export ideas and products to the rest of the world. No longer. America now exports politically correct speech. Unfortunately, this devolution is making America, once famous for freedom of speech, the laughingstock of the world.
The latest targets of America's sensitive and politically correct stalwarts are the nicknames and mascots of schools and athletic teams. These defenders of — who knows what — clearly have nothing better to do than imagine hate and bigotry as the only motives for choosing a name.
What a sad world these folks live in. What is even sadder is that our media and talking head elite take these folks seriously. No wonder those of us who have a sense of reality think the world has gone crazy. It has.
Wars are going on around the world. Terrorist activists are killing people senselessly. People are being slaughtered because of their religious beliefs.
With these real atrocities occurring, what do the activists focus on? The horror of sports team's names. The National Football League's Washington Redskins have become the target of international concern. The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights will soon take up this grave human rights abuse. We should all congratulate Dan Snyder, owner of the Redskins football team. He pointed out that the name is "a badge of honor" and said he would not change it.
Rational people must be scratching their heads and wondering if these people can be serious. These people are. It would be interesting to be able to look in their heads and see what is actually there. I suspect little or nothing. If anything, some terrible irreparable harm had to have befallen them. What is inexcusable, however, is that their ranting has been given credence and respect.
By taking up this cause as an international assault on human dignity, the United Nations is ratifying its gravity. The mighty media spend hours discussing it as if it deserves any attention at all. Those who claim to be harmed are demanding that the offenders apologize, offer penance, and be punished.
With … real atrocities occurring, what do the activists focus on? The horror of sports team's names.
The world has gone crazy. The activists need to be laughed back to the stone ages; the media and talking heads need to see their ratings drop to zero. The United Nations needs to be defunded by American taxpayers.
It is clear to anyone who has not been completely brainwashed by the public educational system, liberal media, social do-gooders, and too many politicians that much is wrong in America. But the names of academic and professional sports teams certainly do not make the list.
What is wrong is clear. Public education brainwashes instead of educates. The liberal media condemn any and all of America's accomplishments. Social do-gooders seek to impose their twisted idea of what is good on all of us. Foolish and arrogant politicians pass totalitarian rules and regulations and tax us to keep in good stead with the education bureaucrats, liberal media, and social do-gooders.
It is true that sticks and stones can break our bones, and names can never hurt us. Unfortunately, the pen is mightier than the sword, particularly when politicians use it to pass laws that hurt us and destroy the freedom that once made America the inspiration of the world.
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A Voice from Fly-Over Country is copyright © 2014 by Robert L. Hale and the Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation. All rights reserved.
Robert L. Hale received his J.D. in law from Gonzaga University Law School in Spokane, Washington. He is founder and director of a non-profit public interest law firm. For more than three decades he has been involved in drafting proposed laws and counseling elected officials in ways to remove burdensome and unnecessary rules and regulations.
See a complete biographical sketch.
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