America's slap in the face

"Last night, the Academy should have never shown this slap. It should have been edited out. Will Smith should have been escorted out of the auditorium after he slapped the host. We have to do better than this. We have to BE better than this."

Oh please! Spare us the drama! Is this what it is going to take? To get us to once again watch the boiling babble of PC BS called the Oscars? Everyone is wondering if this "slap" was staged or real. My view? Who cares? It simply does not matter. It was insulting to those who have trod this planet long enough to remember when the Oscars was a classy and class filled evening. Now it is only a caricature of what it once was. A joke. A slap in America's face.

Any good news about last night's show? Two things. First, for the umpteenth year in a row, I did not watch it. Second, it is over. I saw one of the shows which was up for an award. The Spielberg remake of West Side Story. I saw it mostly because it was free on Disney Plus. I was also curious to see how Spielberg could improve on a masterpiece. He did not. I was very disappointed in this sad remake of something which is still very special to me.

Back to the slap. When would a slap be appropriate? Ever? How about Zelenskyy slapping Putin. Or Biden slapping Putin? Or the American taxpayers slapping Biden for shutting down our energy independence? Okay - back to reality. I can't remember the last time I saw a man slap another man - other than in pro wrestling. And we know how real that is. 

But here is my point. We are supposed to be a civilized people. The Lord has commanded us to love one another. We don't settle our disputes by slapping each other. That kind of behavior left unchecked, will devolve into something like - bombing a shelter, clearly marked as a shelter for children. A bomb which ended causing the death of over 300 children, women and elderly. Hard to believe this kind of behavior could start with a slap. But it does.

I remember years ago, listening to a behavior psychologist describe how wife beaters got to the stage they were at. He said that many started with cruelty to animals. That behavior, left unchecked, then devolved into cruelty towards humans. Maybe even cruelty towards a spouse or children. And once our compassion and empathy become muted, doing things like a slap, a punch, a gunshot, a bomb, or a missile - become easy. Then all of a sudden, mankind is once again, subject to his most carnal instincts and behavior.

Last night, the Academy should have never shown this slap. It should have been edited out. Will Smith should have been escorted out of the auditorium after he slapped the host. We have to do better than this. We have to BE better than this.

The good people of Russia need to get rid of their leader. Putin is poison to them. He is poison to the civilized world.

We need to be better. We have to be better. Otherwise, we might as well be like Putin. We might as well go back to being cavemen.