To quote a famous phrase from American history: have you no shame? Indeed. Are shame and embarrassment a thing of the past? Is civility dead?
First we have the embarrassment of a Congressman calling the President of the United States a liar on the floor of the House of Representatives! And immediately people start sending him money for his re-election campaign. What was he thinking? What is the American public thinking?
Then we have the spectacle of Serena Williams' meltdown at the US Open. Tennis is one of the last really civil sports left--in spite of Illie Nastase and John McEnroe back in their bad-boy days. Even McEnroe--a notorious hothead--never said what Williams said to the line judge. And never threatened anyone physically. What was she thinking?
And then there is the example of the small-time entertainer Kanye West, giving an award at the VMA awards ceremony to a very young Taylor Swift. As she is starting to make an acceptance speech, West grabs the microphone back and tells her that she really was not the best, and someone else should have been the winner. West might not have been embarrassed by his own rudeness, but judging by the audience's reaction, a lot of others were. The only good thing about the last example is that few people watch the VMA awards. Of course today almost everyone looks at youtube.
Once a nation starts down this path of incivility, I don't know how the course can be reversed.
First we have the embarrassment of a Congressman calling the President of the United States a liar on the floor of the House of Representatives! And immediately people start sending him money for his re-election campaign. What was he thinking? What is the American public thinking?
Then we have the spectacle of Serena Williams' meltdown at the US Open. Tennis is one of the last really civil sports left--in spite of Illie Nastase and John McEnroe back in their bad-boy days. Even McEnroe--a notorious hothead--never said what Williams said to the line judge. And never threatened anyone physically. What was she thinking?
And then there is the example of the small-time entertainer Kanye West, giving an award at the VMA awards ceremony to a very young Taylor Swift. As she is starting to make an acceptance speech, West grabs the microphone back and tells her that she really was not the best, and someone else should have been the winner. West might not have been embarrassed by his own rudeness, but judging by the audience's reaction, a lot of others were. The only good thing about the last example is that few people watch the VMA awards. Of course today almost everyone looks at youtube.
Once a nation starts down this path of incivility, I don't know how the course can be reversed.
3 comments:
Hi Uncle Clark- This post reminds me of something George Costanza would say. But you are so right!
Thanks! :-)
And these don't begin to include the incivility that so many of us experience on a day to day basis and just put up with it.
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