Corporate America has been shaken recently by lawsuits and criminal charges of fraud by Enron, Martha Stewart and Tyco. Huge companies who lied to stockholders, the SEC and the government. They all took stockholders’ money and then violated their trust by mishandling it for the profit of top officers. Good old common greed at work at its best. But isn’t that what’s becoming of America? It’s all about the money.
For instance, the movie classic Gone With The Wind almost didn’t make it to theaters because of the last line spoken by Rhett Butler. In answer to Scarlet’s question, “What will I do?” Rhett’s answer of, “ Frankly, My Dear, I don’t give a damn” almost got it axed by the movie censors. How far have we come from that? How much garbage has our kids and their kids heard and seen since Gone With the Wind? But garbage sells.
The F-word is everywhere. Some folks cannot utter a complete sentence without it containing the F-word. Sex, violence, filthy language, bombards each of us daily. In entertainment, in advertising, in schools, in sports and on the street, the degradation of morality and goodness is commonplace.
Child sexual molestation and child pornography are killing children physically and psychologically. Parents are robbing their own kids’ of their childhood by dragging them at age five or younger to soccer and baseball fields or gymnastics and ballet. And in most cases the children observe their parents exhibit the worse in sportsmanship. The best uniforms, equipment, and trophies for everyone by age five feeds parents’ egos at the expense of damaging tender youth and innocence.
The government is no better. A president having sex with a young page and then lying about it stays in office. A Congress that begins each session with prayer while the Supreme Court is working furiously to band God from everything. The Ten Commandments treated with less respect than the Communist Manifesto. A virus that kills people by the thousands spread by the practice of homosexuality while such a lifestyle is being celebrated in television shows, movies, on the streets and even in Congress, state legislatures, and federal courts.
The very institutions that are supposed to uphold and protect the integrity and dignity of our society are waging vicious attacks on the moral fiber of this country. John F. Kennedy’s famous statement, “Don’t ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” has been perverted into the direct opposite philosophy. We are teaching Americans that it is just and right to take from those who work for it and give it to those who refuse to work.
The F-word and other notables
The NFL
Another American institution that has shunned its responsibility to the public is professional sports. Antics by players such as Randy Moss and Terrell Owens are degrading the game of football. When a player draws attention to himself, such as Moss's mooning act after a touchdown in Green Bay, it all becomes somewhat a joke.
Now Randy caught a touchdown pass. He is paid a lot of money to do that. He practices every day to catch passes. So why celebtate something he is paid to do? That's his job.
Now in order to catch a touchdown pass, the quarterback has to have time to set up and find Mr. Moss, which means at least five offensive linemen are blocking the rushing defensive linemen to give the QB that time. That means at least six other players were involved in the pass he caught. So how come he wants to take all the credit? Football is still a team sport is it not?
It seems that after every play some player is doing something to draw attention to himself. Why does a defensive lineman wildly celebrate a quarterback sack when that is exactly what he is paid to do? He practices sacking quarterbacks everyday. That's like a cook at McDonald's bounding himself on the chest and giving high-fives to everyone in the store when he prepares a Big Mac. And most of these prima donnas don't appreciate the fact that without football, they might be flipping burgers for a living.
Randy Moss Faux Moons Packer Fans
After the Viking's win at Green Bay - Moss was terrific in his play - and after the tasteless "mooning" a Milwaukee reporter asked Moss if he would take a question. He might as well have been playing the state lottery, because his chances would have been better. The transcript of the colorful exchange is as follows:
Reporter: "Randy, would you take a question?''
Moss: "Everybody but Green Bay, homey. If you're from Green Bay, the hell with you.''
Reporter: "What about Milwaukee?''
Moss: "Nope. You're part of Wisconsin, homey.''
We have a news flash for you and those others like you, and there are too many. There are teachers, social workers, policemen, and soldiers who have a positive influence on the lives of other people every day. Unselfish men and women who defend a nation and protect people like you. Whose annual salaries are less than your monthy take home pay. They save lives. They care about people. What have you done today or yesterday or last month to make another human's live better?
It's really sad that this country tolerates such arrogance as you display. In the near future Randy Moss will be just a figment of someone's imagination. You might even make the pro football Hall of Fame. You have the talent. A God-given talent that you certainly take for granted. But there are those who won't care. We will care about you the same as you have cared for others.
There is one thing you can be grateful for. That this writer is not the owner of the Minnesota Vikings. If so, you would be playing for someone else. I guess your boss just thinks your attitude and your antics are good "show business". Maybe someday the whole NFL will become like the Harlem Globetrotters - every game is not a game at all, but just show business.
