Profanity and veracity

Hmmm...fan mail from some flounder, as Bullwinkle used to say to Rocky:

A------.

Way to exploit the tragic death of the Reeves'

Shall I write a 2000 word essay about Christoper Reeves because I saw Superman?

What about allowing stem cell research? Where do you stand on that issue, f---nut?

Pathetic

--Posted by Roger Doger to United Possums International at 3/12/2006 08:23:29 AM

Roger Do[d]ger, I don't mind you calling me an exploiter, but if you had two brain cells to rub together, you'd realize that your comments would have a longer shelf life here if you eschewed the profanity. I suspect you are the "Anonymous" author of the other comment that had to be deleted from the Superman post. That succinct comment flat-out called me a liar, and I would have let it stand on the merit of its content, but it contained a profane expletive.

“Eschewed” means “left out”, knucklehead. Profanity is usually a sign of an insufficient vocabulary. It is also efficacious verbal shorthand when you hit your thumb with a hammer, or fall down a flight of stairs. When used sparingly, it can emphasize a point by its shock value to your interloucutor. Gratuitous overuse is a sign of ignorance.

Georgia is a right-to-work state, meaning you don't have to belong to a union. That makes us enormously popular with Hollyweird as a place to shoot movies on-budget and on schedule, as opposed to wasting time and money on union arrogance and overpricing. I am fortunate to know several local people who are liaisons with the movie and TV crowd, and during the late ‘80s and most of the ‘90s, I was employed in various technical capacities on a number of films and television productions. I also had a day job and a family. I won’t run the whole résumé here, but the list includes “Glory”, “Gettysburg”, and the remake of “The Last of the Mohicans”. (See if you can find a common theme in these movies.) Turner Entertainment, headquartered in Atlanta, also produced a number of TV-movies during this time, and Terrible Ted is the Executive Producer of “Gettysburg”, which started life as a TV project, but grew into a theatrical-release monster. “The Rose and the Jackal” was produced by Turner Entertainment, and turns up on Ted's channels occasionally.

Civil War reenactors are also very popular with movie producers. We have our own uniforms and equipment, we provide our own horses for the cavalry, we already know the drills and formations, and we take orders and direction well. We look better and perform better than a crowd of vagrants collected on Ventura Boulevard and outfitted with polyester uniforms from Central Costume. Hiring us for any period-piece movie saves producers a great deal of money, and they live and die by the bottom line.

As I said, I don’t mind you calling me an exploiter or liar. If you doubt the veracity of the Superman anecdote, please explain your assertion. It was a minor incident. The train stopped, everyone dusted off, and we all went “back to A”. The tree limb was cut, and the next take went off without a hitch. Christopher Reeve was a warm and personable man, and always had time for the little people, of which I am one. I wrote the post as a eulogy from someone who met him exactly once, in his prime and enjoying what he was doing. How is this "exploitation"?

As for your question about stem cell research, I’m for it. I’m not going to jump into the whole abortion issue here, but I have personal reasons for supporting stem cell research. Doubtless you’ll call me a liar again, but I have spent the last 5½ years in a wheelchair, as a result of an accident of my own. It didn’t involve horses, and I am spared the agony and frustration of quadriplegia, but I have a pretty fair idea of what the disabled go through. To be born disabled is one thing; to be crippled in the middle of a normal, active life is, I think, twice as bad. I have the hope of walking again without assistance from stem cell research, but I fully embrace the hope it offers those who do not share my good fortune.

I suppose this stance will make me a hypocrite as well as a liar, since I’m a conservative Libertarian. I have, in fact, been castigated by some of my conservative friends, because stem cell research is linked to the abortion issue. The short version is: I think it’s possible to have the research without depending on the corpses of babies murdered for the mother’s convenience and disposed of as “waste matter”. It’s odd, but those conservatives managed to express themselves passionately, and take me to task, without uttering a single profanity.

I can cuss like R. Lee Ermey in “Full Metal Jacket”, and frequently do in the privacy of the Possum Den. When I’m in the company of strangers, or what we used to call “mixed company”, I find suitable synonyms, or keep my pie hole closed. The Internet is certainly “mixed company”, and for whatever reasons, children may find their way onto this blog. I have used a relatively mild expletive exactly once in over 50 posts on this site, to make a point, and it was buried in the text. I make the rules, so I can break the rules. There is only one real rule here, but it’s categorical: no profanity.

“Categorical” means “without qualification; absolute”, Roger. Night school for completion of that GED is ready when you are. See if you can come back and explain why you’re calling me a liar and exploiter without cussing. If you do, I promise I’ll leave your comments up for the world to read and judge on their merit.

If you keep cussing, be advised that the administrator’s view of this blog includes a little trashcan icon next to each comment. I can promise you that comments containing profanity will end up there. Cussing at UPI is like lighting a cigarette in church because the sermon's boring...it just isn't done.