ARE OUR VALUES DIMINISHING?

Maybe it is just because I am getting old, but I have come to the conclusion that the American value system is quickly plunging to hell in a hand-basket. Immediately my children and grand-children say come on Dad or Grandpa, “Get with it.” Well I think I am on the right course of thinking, but only time will tell.

Just consider the adulation we swamp on celebrities these days. Personally, I think it is misplaced in most cases, and totally unjustified in a growing number of situations. Why do we continue to see our media report on the disgraced ex-Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer? He is a scum-bag and should be totally ignored. Don’t you wonder why Spitzer is not in jail?

Why does the main-stream media continue to write and report fawningly about ex-President William Jefferson Clinton who brought world-wide embarrassment to the United States presidency, his integrity, and honesty? Why does the world press continue to cover the recent arrest of child molester Roman Polanski? The scum should be in jail and totally ignored for the rest of his life.

West Coast media organization TMZ exists and thrives solely on its coverage of movie and television stars making fools of themselves or even committing criminal acts. Who cares and why? For instance Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears…do you really care if you ever see or hear of them again? If we were to ignore jerks of this ilk, it is your Commander’s position that society and the world would all be much better off.

While I still consider myself to be a Christian and a believer in turning the other cheek along with forgiveness, there is a point at which some individuals no longer deserve our sympathy, because their transgressions are just so egregious.

This commentary could run on for many pages, but in the interest of brevity let me suggest that some societies have it right when they just SHUN those individuals who all on their own have destroyed their lives, so why should they continue to be idolized. To ignore and isolate these individuals would be a justified penalty, which withdraws the praise and adulation they thrive upon. I suggest that we are naive to give them another pass, because the overwhelming majority of them will just stick their finger in someone’s eye again.

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