A Cry for Common Sense

The thing I immediately hated about that now iconic Obama as Heath Ledger's Joker image was its ability to totally dehumanize on a visceral level the face of the man whom I (and I believe at least half the nation as well) are by now palpably, unashamedly "in love with." And I'm not simply talking about the kind of love that makes teenagers put posters of heart throb idols on the walls of their bedrooms-- the superficial icon crush that can wane in a matter of days or hours in favor of a different flavor, with a flashier poster going up to cover the face of the now forgotten object of fascination. The love affair in the heart and head that I'm talking about is the kind that can be transferred to every member of our President's family and White House staff, and makes me spend more time than I care to admit going through those Huffington Post slide shows displaying our man-child Commander in Chief in historic first of a kind photo-ops -- in cabinet meetings, cuddling his kids, canoodling his "first and only" First Lady, and gesturing in a thousand inspiring ways to adoring throngs across our benighted, withering globe. The instant I saw the crazy, leering "black man in white face" internet image of my beloved President (in the same way that the stricken-down POTUS John Fitzgerald Kennedy has become a beloved figure to me over the past four and a half decades) I became nearly physically ill. Bile rose within me and rage and grief welled up from somewhere deep in my gut. I wanted to reach thorough the computer screen and tear the sickening likeness into shreds of evil confetti. I wanted to hunt down the "artist" and pound him about the head and ears (of course it had to be a male.) I longed to slap him and choke him and bludgeon him while screaming and spitting in his face .... Yes, on an instinctive, mother grizzly level for an instant I needed to attack and destroy the creator of that vile image. To me it resembles nothing more than a callously thrown together shooting practice target -- the kind tacked on a fence for careless amusement accompanied by a penis enhancing, shriveled-ego boosting, friend-substituting firearm of choice. And yes, this is exactly the same way I feel about those cretins who are reported to be taking their firearms to public gatherings where their President has traveled in an effort to reason with their disgusting ilk. Damn them to hell. He can't say it, and his family can't, and the Democratic Party can't, but I can and will. I will shout it from the roof tops. Goddam their pathetic souls to hell.


Now is the time for a smart Senator or Congressperson to sponsor a bill that will make this kind of spectacularly stupid stunt illegal, and to strike a highly symbolic but long overdue blow for something which has become (in some way nearly incomprehensible to me) "politically incorrect" and verboten for any aspiring politician or elected official -- sane, reasoned, common-sense gun control. Russ Feingold ... Barbara Mikulski ... Neil Abercrombie ... Mazie Hirono ... hello !!! Is anybody home?