We have so many who do it for a living that I find the term "art" sadly appropriate. There are hosts of cable news shows that get paid for and draw quite an audience to their overreactions. They invite overreacting pundits to appear on their show to either agree with, or loudly and rudely disagree with some other overreacting pundit.
Valid criticism aside, we saw a lot of overreacting during the Bush administration and now we are seeing it again with Obama. Most recent is the issue; should the President of the United States be "allowed" to speak to school children by way of video broadcast. To some, this is evidently a great horror.
Now I get the parent or teacher who says that they should have the opportunity to preview any content put before students. But we are talking the President here. We are not talking about Rush Limbaugh or his alternate universe twin, Keith Olbermann speaking to our kids.
The overreaction is almost comical. People in complete ideological agreement with each other and against the President are calling him a Nazi and a socialist. That's like saying he is a member of two opposing street gangs. I guess rhetoric is more important than truth in the art of overreacting.
Let me offer a little pastoral counsel here. Lighten up. If he gives a highly partisan speech, he will be skewered in the press for doing so, and his speech will have the opposite of what one might speculate was his desired result. He is the President for crying out loud. If he wants to talk to school kids, he can. When did we all become so fragile and easily offended by what we think might possibly, who knows, could, but might or might not not happen?
For those who don't like the President, be encouraged. Like all recent Presidents, every time he speaks, his poll numbers drop. Why? I guess ideas that don't sync up 100% with our own scare us. And fear is the key ingredient to the art of overreacting.
4 comments: