May I Be Politically Incorrect?

Okay? Thank you so much. Political candidates are rarely held to the same standard of public deportment as the rest of society. This is particularly true during the election season.

Donald Trump and let me just say his name appears as a springboard here, not as the focus of the topic. Demands have been made that Trump apologize to Megyn Kelly of FOX News because of the "bleeding" comment. I apologize to Megyn Kelly for misspelling her first name in a previous post.

That said, there is a game of obnoxious banter between media and other public figures who equally use it to their advantage. I have full confidence that Kelly can deal with the fiery rhetoric of Trump, a man who has appeared on FOX so much, he should be given an office.

When I was growing up there was no political correctness. We had something called manners, which refers to social conduct and etiquette. Being polite and civil to one another as often as is possible. Sometimes it becomes necessary to suspend civility when dealing with an asshole. Yes, there are assholes in the world and we have all dealt with them. It is incumbent upon the civilized person to try and diffuse the smelly entanglement but there does come a time when the asshole must be called out and chided.

Donald Trump says there is too much political correctness in the country. He is not alone in that assessment, the very political party which now seems to wish to muzzle him have been asserting this for many years. Even moderate Democrats and many independents share this view.

In anger every human being is capable of uttering a word or words that they later regret. Words that do not necessarily reflect what they believe, socially or politically, but which project the greatest ire in the moment. You feel bad, you apologize and you move on, if warranted. Those who deliberately engage in baiting and absent of anger specifically elicit an emotional outburst are deserving of no apologies.

Carly Fiorina has been praised by some, for going after Trump. I for one am not one of them. Fiorina and other Republicans, but let's stick with Fiorina, called Hillary Clinton a liar during the FOX kiddie table debate. She routinely says this but offers no specific instances combined with proof. Is that acceptable behavior and what we want in a President? I have no problem calling someone a liar but I actually argue the fact that defines the lie. The Republican Party wants Fiorina to call Clinton as many vile things as she can think of. Woman on woman bashing to assure no suggestion of sexism. But isn't that sexism as well, something akin to a male dominated field attempting to organize a mud fight? Hey, I'm just asking. Don't get your panties in a twist.

Let's talk about women. I'm so pro-woman that even women find it nauseating.Allow me to explain. I believe a woman can do anything a man can do including lead our country. However, not all women believe that. In the late 80's I used to routinely conduct my own informal poll. I asked every woman that crossed my path if they would vote for a woman for President? The data was stunning, the majority said no. Most wouldn't answer my further questions, apparently they thought I was a kook, which is more or less true. One woman, an R.N. did elaborate for me, stating that any woman who would put her family second wasn't fit for anything. I said, what about Margaret Thatcher? The R.N. stared at me silently, then said who? Since she was my best friends girlfriend, I moved on to other topics. That's what good manners is all about.

Bill Maher, whom I consider to be one of the wittiest and funniest people of our time, used to host a show on ABC late night called Politically Incorrect. Bill was ironically fired for being politically incorrect. An ABC executive with the juice to fire thought that Maher made a derogatory statement about the troops. He actually didn't, but even if he had that was the point of the show. That executive should have been fired for lacking a functioning brain that understood the  premise of his own network's show. Even Jay Leno, whom I do not consider one of the wittiest and funniest men of our time, subsequently had Maher on his show and attacked him for his alleged remarks.

Don't just look to the right, consider the left as well. The Black Lives Matter movement has gone out of it's way to attack Democratic Presidential candidates, their most likely allies in the halls of power. Martin O'Malley was booed and demonstrated against at the NetRoots Convention for saying all lives matter. Bernie Sanders was similarly treated at the same convention and has been targeted at his own rallies, this in spite of Sanders own personal history of marching for Civil Rights. Yes it is understandable that the movement calling itself "Black Lives Matter" doesn't want to be sidelined nor should it be but attacking your natural allies for what you perceive as political incorrectness is not helpful. When did it become unwelcome to say all lives matter? With regards to Sanders core message, when did the plight of the economically disadvantaged become a totally unrelated issue to race and class?

Good manners is a virtue to be nurtured and cultivated. Political Correctness is a blight on society which stifles honest dialogue, silences innovation and causes people to constantly look over their shoulder.

It has been said that "All In the Family" couldn't be made today. Archie Bunker was representative of more Americans than some care to admit. At the core of his being however, he was a decent man who said stupid things and regurgitated a bigotry he really didn't understand. In doing this he demonstrated the ignorance of bigotry and stripped the bark off of taboo subjects. Have we become so sensitive that contrary to speaking truth we have returned to some perverted bizarro image of the 1950's absent the good stuff like smoking and drinking?

Of course that's just my opinion, if it's okay with you.