Regular readers of this column know that there is seldom, if ever, anything positive said about celebrity award TV shows. The Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, MTV Awards pretty much all of them have turned into boring political lecture spectacles. The celebs strut across the glittery stage, give each other awards and then proceed to scold the viewing audience about how we should live our lives, what causes we must support, and how America is the root of all evil. They are predictable and tiresome, and the numbers of viewers are shrinking every year because of it. Seriously, does anyone really care about the world views of a scowling Sean Penn, Madonna or Beyonce?
So, it came as a pleasant surprise to watch the Academy of Country Music Awards (ACM’s) recently, because there was none of the above. In fact, the show had its biggest audience in many years, because it was announced well in advance by the great Reba McIntire that the theme of their awards show would be entertainment and fun – no politics. And she and all the other talented performers made good on their promise. Said Reba, “We have no intention of being mean or catty or nasty toward or about anyone”. Whether you like Country Music or not, most agreed this year’s ACM awards was a refreshing change from all of those other shows that have fallen into a rut, which is turning the American public off and in response, Americans have tuned those other shows out.
I received a scathing email from a Brookline resident about one of the topics in a column I wrote last week. I have to admit, I enjoy, a lot, getting scathing emails from Brookline residents. The writer took issue because I said drugs flowing over the Mexican border are a huge contributing factor in the deadly opioid crises plaguing our country and causing so many deaths. The fact that I advocated for tighter border security in the form of troops and a wall sent the writer ballistic. I like it when they go ballistic too.
Here’s the thing. Virtually everyone knows the dangerous drug problem has reached epidemic proportions and, as was stated in last week’s column, law enforcement on every level confirms that much of it is coming over the southern border. Those who claim to want to stop this from happening but will never agree to support tighter border security are, to be blunt, hypocritical. They claim they too want something done to stop it but are unwilling to agree to allow our border patrol, military and President Trump to deal directly and decisively with one of the biggest sources of what’s causing this problem. A problem that is killing so many people and devastating so many American families.
So please, writer from Brookline and those who think along the same line, write all the nasty letters to me that you want. Whatever makes you happy. But never think that I buy for a minute that you are truly sincere when you say that you too want this crisis solved, if you are not willing to support action that everyone knows will put a huge dent in it to be implemented. Reality can be a hard thing to accept sometimes. But being reality-challenged and blinded by political ideology is no way to go through life.
The latest data out on gun ownership shows an increasing uptick. It is now estimated that 42% of American adults have at least one firearm in their home and that number is expected to continue to climb. Many homes have multiple guns. The number of legally owned firearms in the hands of the nation’s civilian population is now said to be more than 300 million which shows that Americans certainly consider their Second Amendment rights to be very important.
I’ll close this week with a report on a touch of the absurd. Some of you may have already read about the pre-school in the town of Georgetown, MA that has banned their young students from using the term ’best friend’ to describe well, their best friend. This has caused some of the young students to go home crying and some of the parents to be outraged. One parent, Christine Hartwell said her little 4-year-old daughter Julia came home upset, because she was told she was no longer allowed to call one of her classmates ‘best friend’. Mrs. Hartwell called the ban outrageous and silly and said the “children should be allowed to speak from the heart”.
When the news spread throughout the area and beyond reaction was swift and overwhelmingly against the decision of the school. Said one young mother on social media and I quote – “OMG Stop!! This politically correct nonsense has gone on much too long and way too far. If my children’s school ever instituted such a ban I would pull them out of that place, so fast, heads would spin”. Most would agree with her sentiments completely.
