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Isn't This 'First-Person' Account Of Republican Principles Just Precious?

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Daniel Ruth

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 28, 2008

As you might imagine, there was no shortage of miffed readers who wanted to respond to a column last week on vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's parallel universe campaign, following the Alaska governor's appearance at The Villages.

Indeed, the column prompted one glowing admirer of this space to offer a first-person account of a recent experience.

"Go Sara," hunh wrote. Sorry to be a nit-picking evil-doing liberal member of the news media for this, but the governor spells her name Sarah.

"A lesson on Human Nature. I was talking to my neighbor's little 6-year-old girl the other day. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she replied: 'I want to be President!'"

I interrupt this story to note - isn't that precious? We now return to our story of hunh's conversation with this sweet child.

"Both her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there and they beamed proudly." Well, who wouldn't beam at such precociousness?

When hunh asked the kid what she would do as president, the obviously marxist/socialist/commie/pinko kiddo replied she would give homes to homeless people, to which our beloved reader noted, the child could start embarking on her dreams right away by mowing hunh's yard for $50, which she could then give to the homeless guy down the street.

"She thought that over for a few moments, while her parents glared at me. The little girl then looked me straight in the eye and asked: 'Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work and you can pay him the $50?'

"I smiled," hunh recalled of his or her chat with the little girl. "And said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party.'"

Word Burglar

Now I imposed this indulgence on you for a simple reason. This story is a lie. Even worse, it is thievery.

The little girl and the yard work story has been floating around the Internet ether for quite a while. I've received it probably 20 times, and yet hunh falsely claimed it was his or her own first-person account under the cover of anonymity. In my racket that's called plagiarism - the mortal sin of scribbling.

Why make an issue of this dolt stealing someone else's fairy tale? Perhaps this is why. The very same crowd that crows over Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden's long-ago gaffe in not appropriately citing a passage in a campaign speech to British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock have hounded the Delaware senator for some 20 years.

And yet some of these people, lurking in the black hole of cyberspace, think nothing of engaging in the same behavior. Now either hunh is little more than a hapless word burglar or he or she is incapable of an original thought.

Another enchanted reader, EHSFFL, also wanted to weigh in on the Palin column, noting: "The tone of this article and most around the nation is so biased against Sarah Palin, it will only help them.

"It's the liberal media versus Sarah/McCain and you know who middle America will support."

I have no idea who middle America will support. That's why we have elections.

But if exploring Gov. Palin's record, her background, her strengths, her shortcomings - in short, doing the vetting of someone aspiring to be a heartbeat away from the presidency that the McCain campaign so obviously failed to do - qualifies as some sort of liberal media bias, well, that's a perversely interesting re-definition of the term.

Redress Of Grievances

Regarding a recent column on local high school government teacher Gordon Johnston's efforts to challenge the constitutionality of the National Football League mandate to pat-down fans entering Helloooooo Sucker! Stadium, BugSpray (sheesh, yet another ridiculous pen name) was less than amused.

"For the last two years you railed against the Second Amendment (the ACLU and you must share the same bed) when Florida considered a law allowing you to keep a firearm in your car while traveling to and from work. But now you stand for truth, justice and the American way.

"A bit of hypocrisy, don't you think?"

Actually, I have no interest in keeping a firearm in my car. As for the Second Amendment, while I have never been shy about my belief that we live in a society with far too many guns, so easily obtained, put to such needlessly deadly use, I certainly understand Americans have every Second Amendment right to own a weapon.

Lastly on the same subject, tylgtrs1 mused: "Constitutional debate aside, the Johnston story should make us feel more secure. His actions are tangible proof that individuals do have the right to redress government for grievances. Freedom truly is more than 'another word for nothing left to lose.'"

Well said.

Keyword: Book of Ruth, to read and comment on Daniel Ruth's blog. Or tune in to WWBA, News Talk 1040 A.M., on Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m. to listen to his radio show.

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