OH THE HORROR !

I must admit, some Halloween costume themes this year (as in every year) really are in very poor taste and are recognized as such by most civilized people. Ones like “Neighborhood Watch,” which portrays George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin with a bullet wound in his chest or the maimed Asiana Airline crash pilots with the phony names Wi Tu Lo and Sum Ting Wong. These are not amusing. They exploit horrific tragedies and show a real level of callousness, of untaught feelings in the people who are amused by them.

But then there are other costumes that some groups of people feign offense toward. Ones like the Sexy Indian Squaw, or Mexicans wearing sombreros, or the Sushi Chef. I mean really, if someone wants to manufacture offense at something silly like a girl in a Japanese kimono, let them go ahead and be offended. But I don’t believe it. Here’s what Anh Do of the Los Angeles Times reported on October 28th: “Pottery Barn apologized for selling a Halloween costume of a sushi chef and a kimono that an Asian civil-rights group had complained were culturally offensive.The retailer confirmed late Monday that the items had been removed from its website.”

WOOPS ! I HOPE I DON’T OFFEND THE GANGSTERS.

People who are easily swayed or cowered by this manufactured offense need to lighten up. And the perpetrators of this offense need to stop pretending that it’s a sensitivity thing. It is not. It is merely a way to gain power over other people. It’s like those who claim that if you are a White person and don’t like Barack Obama’s and the Democrats’ new health care law, it must only be because you are some kind of racist. These are nothing more than attempts by the political left to publicly flog or delegitimize the people who do not share their world view. Believe me – these things are related.

NOTHING OFFENSIVE HERE.

So don’t worry so much about offending someone with your or your kids’ Halloween costume. If people want to put their energy into being offended they should be offended by things that really matter. Things like politicians who lie and make promises like, “If you like your health care plan you can keep it,” etc. Or the fact that many of our members of Congress show an utter disregard for the U.S. Constitution, or the $17 trillion (and growing) federal debt racked up by irresponsible politicians, which will greatly reduce the living standards of the next generation of Americans. Being offended by things like that would not be misplaced.

Frotho

(All Halloween photos in the above post are from www.StrangeCosmos.com)