Unnecessary Roughness

By Baxter

One of the most depressing things about e-mail, Twitter, YouTube, and the Internet in general is that we all get to quickly realize how mean people are.

Whether it's that idiot girl at UCLA who seems to think that there's a superior mode of behavior known as "American manners," or Gilbert Gottfried (whoever the heck he is, we cats can't be bothered), the ease of hitting the "send" button means that there's very little self-censorship going on. But we cats feel compelled to point out that Republicans have raised nastiness to the level of high art.

The latest episode to catch our attention is the pig-shaped man (see above) who was GOP cartoon character Haley Barbour's press secretary until he was caught joking in his e-mailed press clippings about the tsunami in Japan and former Attorney General Janet Reno.

First, let us cats set aside the screamingly obvious issue of why any adult professional would put such adolescent drivel in writing and send it out to the world to read. Because his choice of targets just really struck us as unbelievably below the belt. Why would you pick on a country that's grappling with a triple-whammy disaster and probably tens of thousand dead? Why would you zing a Democratic Cabinet member who's been out of office for a decade and who's currently battling Parkinson's disease? Because you're a mean, unfeeling Republican asshole, that's why.

And from where does that Republican assholiness spring? From the sense of entitlement that privileged white guys feel. In their cushy world, people who don't look like them, who don't share their gender, or who just don't think like them are subhuman, easy to make fun of — even when they're bearing up under the stiffest of challenges.

Consider us cats disgusted. And glad that our guy, President Obama, appears to be the only grownup in the room.

UPDATE: We cats have just watched the entire YouTube video of that dumb girl at UCLA, and — goodness gracious. This stupid young woman is racist, but her rant would not have received nearly as much attention had she not been blonde and flashing cleavage. Pathetic!