Monday, January 15, 2018

Force Of Impact

By Baxter

We cats have believed for a long time now that the word "impact" should never be used as a verb unless two planets are colliding. But we realize that crusading against it would be fruitless. Things are "impacting" other things all the time — sigh.

Every now and then, though, somebody uses "impact" as a verb in such a revolting, weaselly way that we just have to speak up.

Latest case in point is the attorney for Eric Greitens, who is currently Republican Governor of Missouri but may not be for long. Greitens is not only a turncoat former Democrat and your typical "family values" hypocrite, but also may be a kidnapper and blackmailer. That's what you are when you tie somebody up naked, take her photo and threaten to spread it all over the Internet.

Now, Greitens is scrambling to save his job, and his lawyer has stepped in with what are supposed to be reassuring words for the Show Me State. Greitens's survival plan, the attorney said, "is to begin the process of making amends with people who may feel impacted by the lapse in his conduct."

"Impacted"? We don't know about anybody else, but yeah, we'd say that the woman Greitens tied up and threatened is feeling kinda "impacted." Like an asteroid just smashed into her and blew her marriage, her privacy, her sense of self and, basically, her whole life to smithereens.

We won't get into the weeds of her responsibility for the affair, but will merely point out that no one, not even a woman dumb enough to sleep with a Republican, deserves this. And let's hope that in the end, Eric Greitens will feel "impacted" right out of office and into well-deserved obscurity. We cats HISS.

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