I've been watching the Sotomayor conformation hearings and have decided to be outraged.
From what I can determine (and I admit it isn't easy to make sense of what's being said by a group of people who've grown increasingly fearful of being quoted taking a definitive stance on anything not vetted by the fellas down in public relations) the main objection to Sotomayor by reasonable conservative voices (ie: the ones who aren't repeatedly shouting the word racist into their AM radio microphones) is that she's made statements (not while performing her duties as a judicial figure but while addressing large, disinterested crowds), that may, if one so chooses, suggest she feels whitey ain't fit to judge... cause he's not from the streets.
This is not what she said.
Nor did David Letterman warn Sarah Palin to lock up her grandchildren because he's got... ugh... I've been up all night and I don't want to make a half-clever infant rape joke.
And I'm sure there's another example I'm not thinking of... because I've been up all night.
But I'm angry damn it.
I'm angry because people are acquiescing to the notion of being held accountable for things other people assumed they've said, whether those assumptions are simply mistaken (because our language is screwy, which is why we have words like ampersand, buttonhole, and sweetheart... thank you Bill Bryson), intentionally misinterpreted to further political goals (or for gaining attention when they're not quitting their job as governor of Alaska), or are just plain stupid (like if someone ran for governor of Alaska and quit half-way through their first term because they thought it would help them become president).
And I'm not angry with the hard of hearing, the sycophants, nor even the truly moronic. I'm angry with the victims, in fact I blame them — I'm very literally blaming the victims and I feel great doing it.
David Letterman made a joke (he does it nearly every show, often times dozens of them) which he later admitted to being in poor taste, and I'm not going to argue with the standards he sets for his comedy show, but soon thereafter he was called a pedophile enabler, accused of being a big-city-hollywood-new-york-elitist-pervert, and at least one sponsor felt so horrified they deemed it necessary to pull their funding (it was the Olive Garden... where I still have a gift certificate and as such must continue to patronize their establishment for at least one more Tour of Italy, lest I inadvertently anti-boycott the spineless bastards' shitty restaurant).
Letterman then responded to the criticism by stating unequivocally he is not now, nor has he ever been the sort of comedian who makes jokes about raping children (half-clever or otherwise).
I respected this statement. I said to myself "go get 'em Dave. Don't let some crazy frozen-salted-nut-bar of an old-lady get away with calling you a pedophile. She's pulling that shit all the time. Remember when she was saddened to hear the president make disparaging remarks about the world's most precious and unique people?"
And then, despite a very strong opening, David Letterman chose to apologize.
Normally I'm all right with apologies. I like to apologize. I like to hear apologies.
I even like when people who aren't sorry say they're sorry to make stupid annoyances go away (sort of like this but different).
In this case, as well as the Sotomayor case, we have people willfully creating offense and then demanding recompense (backed by a dimwitted or more likely bored public with nothing better to do than watch cable news and work themselves into a lather about this sort of thing) who can make whatever insipid accusations they like and in turn are treated to either what they'll condemn as a half-hearted apology or if none is offered lustfully enter into a prolonged celebrity feud to rival the infamous... umm... Binyamin Netanyahu, Mahmoud Abbas tiff.
My point is I don't like it. I don't like that public figures can be called racists and pedophiles and have those words swirled around the banners of cable-news channels where they're beaten into the audience's consciousness as if by a drum-line made up of the world's most precious and unique people, until said public figures are left feeling the only dignified response must be to apologize for expressing a complex thought, or a silly joke, or a not at all silly joke.
