Thought Police

Recently, First Lady Michelle Obama addressed a High School graduating class.  In her speech, Mrs Obama told the students that "There's no court case against believing in stereotypes or thinking that certain kinds of hateful jokes or comments are funny.  So the answers to many of our challenges today can't necessarily be found in our laws."  Does Mrs. Obama think there should be such laws?

At first, this brought to my mind the question; "Why is she  talking about 'court cases' and beliefs?"  Then I realized that she is using a stereotype in her speech.  There is obviously more to this than meets the eye.  If there was a "court case against believing in stereotypes", I have a feeling Mrs. Obama would be in violation of it.

Mrs. Obama continued; "As you go forth, when you encounter folks who still hold the old prejudices because they've only been around folks like themselves, when you meet folks who think they know all the answers because they've never heard any other viewpoints, it's up to you to help them see things differently."  Is she talking about herself and her husband here?  Because I haven't seen people so quick to play the "race" card without hesitation as they have.

But of course, we should all know that she is referring to those whose viewpoints are different than hers and her husbands.  Part of Dr. Martin Luther Kings " I Have A Dream" speech in Washington DC mentioned a society where a mans skin color made no difference.  Although I rarely hear anyone supporting Civil Rights, and opposing racism, referring to that part of his speech.  That was always the most powerful of his speeches to me, because it spoke about true equality.  Sadly, that is far from what we have in America today.  It has been getting even worse, and more strident for several years.  If a white person in our country kills or injures someone of color, the media almost instantly turns it into a racial issue.  Yet when a person of color kills or injures a white person, if the mainstream media even covers it, it seldom is protrayed as a "hate crime".  The White House certainly doesn't interject itself into a local matter claiming it is a "racial" issue.

Mrs. Obama continued, and this is where I really started having red flags start coming up; "Maybe that starts simply, in your own family, when grandpa tells that off-colored joke at Thanksgiving, or you've got an aunt talks about 'those people'.  Well, you can politely inform them that they are talking about your friends."

Hmmm, let's see more vagueness.  The implication is there, that the 'off-colored joke at Thanksgiving' is a racial one.  Fortuneately, she has never been to one of my family Thanksgivings.  While there are plenty of 'off-colored jokes', they tend to have very little to do with race, if anything at all.  As for comments about 'those people'; think of any group of people, and I would virtually guarantee you that there is someone else who considers them 'those people'.  hell, I am one of at least three groups of 'those people'.  How many folks do you know that look down on bikers, or low income, or rural folks ( I am not a "redneck")?

But what really seems to put a burr under my skin, is the way the current administration seems to be turning on those who have opposing views to theirs.  Wanting more and more control over ever broadening aspects of the American publics private lives.  It does seem to have shades of an Orwellian mentality.  Especially when you look at Mrs. Obama's speech to the Kansas High School students, encouraging them to watch their own families for expressions of Non-PC thinking.  The government already monitors our phones, our internet use, and through GPS our travels.  Do we really need the thought police in our lives too?

Catch ya on the road sometime...