Merli Column: It's not the economy, stupid, it's August

Let’s just make it easy on everyone and set August aside as Let’s Be Stupid in a Public Place Month. (And yes, local newspaper columns are eligible.) We can make it a national holiday if we like, but
that would mean Congress would have to get involved and they’re such huge contributors to the fine art of Being Stupid in a Public Place that it could seem like a conflict of interest.

First up in the dog ring is Jesse Jackson. In early August (having finally turned into a near-perfect caricature of himself), the good Reverend actually had the odd sense to suggest that Michael Vick
deserves another shot at making millions in the NFL after serving time in prison for the abuse and killing of fight dogs on his Virginia property.

Jackson had some good company in his plea for Vick’s professional rehabilitation (notably sportswriter Sally Jenkins, a normally sane observer of the human condition). But it was Jackson’s attempt at
reasoning that got him into trouble. He likened the resistance that Vick is facing from most NFL team owners right now as being akin to the unfair racial discrimination that Jackie Robinson faced when
trying to break into the major leagues six decades ago. Jackie Robinson? Michael Vick? I know it’s August, but that’s just plain stupid.

Shout-downs at public forums on the controversial health care bill are another example of Being Stupid in a Public Place. Somewhere between our cherished Freedom of Speech and our Right to
Assemble, some folks suddenly got the notion that shouting down elected officials and anyone else who opposes their views is perfectly respectable in a civilized society — and the louder, the better.

In all honesty, (as attempting as it might be), we can’t simply blame all this alarmist incivility on all those Rush Limbaughs and Glenn Becks in the media. These guys are out there making personal
fortunes churning up the anger of hostile mobs to do their bidding for them — so if anything, maybe they’re the brightest among us. And as for you town hall shouters out there, what ever happened to
simple manners, stupid? We’re telling your mother.

Some potentially stupid utterances almost telegraph themselves before they ever happen. Sarah Palin’s totally fictionalized “death panel” comments last week? Come on, we all know she hates to read!
Consider the source, or lack, thereof. A few days ago the otherwise logical (almost to a fault) Newt Gingrich actually defended Palin’s silly “death panel” remarks and when George Stephanopoulos
quickly informed the former speaker that such insidious provisions simply are not contained in any versions of the bill, do you know what Gingrich’s immediate response was? Without denying it, he said
simply, “Yeah, but [the bill’s] a thousand pages.” In other words, who’s gonna bother reading it to disprove me? Now that’s just plain stupid.

Also, what exactly was the White House thinking when it decided to leave most of the details of any health reform legislation in the hands of 535 members of Congress? Well, actually we know what it
was thinking: “Don’t screw it up like the Clintons did 15 years ago.” But it forces the president to generically defend this ever-changing amoeba of legislation that is so voluminous it routinely prompts
admirable sighs for anyone who can proclaim, “I have actually read this bill!”

The administration’s attempts to gin up some partisan support — and needlessly try to rush a bill through Congress by the end of July — represent a form of political naivety so rare these days that one
hopes it can soon be bottled and sent off to the Smithsonian. August is not even half over yet, so I fear there’s more Being Stupid in a Public Place to come. As for members of Congress, considering
what’s happening out in the rest of the country, August is actually turning out to be a good time to be in Washington.

Merli has worked in print and electronic media for more than 40 years and has been a News & Messenger columnist since 1985. You can reach him at j.merli@Comcast.net.