Be Thankful

            We recently gave thanks at Thanksgiving for many things.  But being thankful didn’t end with the last plate of turkey leftovers      

Be thankful that you are not American international development worker, Alan Gross, a subcontractor from Potomac, MD., who has sat for one whole year in a Cuban jail cell.  He has reportedly been accused of spying but has not been charged with any crime. How has the United States responded? A statement from the State Department said His arrest and continued detention without charge violate I international standards of due process and judicial procedure.” The U.S. called the incident a “major impediment” to improved ties with Cuba.  That statement is said to be some of the strongest language used by the U.S. yet in the case. Some of the strongest language?  The poor sonofabitch has been sitting in a jail cell for a year and the best our Government can do it to make a piss-poor statement using what they called strong language? Be thankful you are not Alan Gross.

            Be thankful you are not Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the two UC Berkeley graduates imprisoned for about a year-and-a-half in Iran.  The Americans were arrested by Iranian authorities while hiking a trail well-known to tourists that runs along an unmarked stretch of the Iran-Iraq border. Our Government has used strong language to try and get them freed.  Be thankful you are not Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal.

            Be thankful you are not unemployed, dependent on unemployment compensation and in limbo over whether Congress will act.  The White House has used strong language to try and convince Republicans to cooperate.  Be thankful you are not unemployed.

            The apparent trouble with our Government using strong language to try and get things done is that they were addressing those who are tone-deaf. That’s right tone-deaf.

            Just check out these recent headlines:

China Blusters On

The Communist government's appeal to Europe to boycott the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony is another reminder of its tone-deafness.                                                                                                                      (New York Times 11/09/2010)

Tone-Deaf in D.C.

Both political parties seem tone-deaf to the hopes and needs of an anxious electorate.                             (New York Times 11/09/10)

Rape is not Trivial, King tells WikiLeaks Julian Assange                                              Larry King, a scholar of the communications strategies of accused celebrities, tutored him on his tone-deafness.      (The New Yorker, 11/08/10)

While each headline focused on different issues and entities, Communist Chinese, political parties in Washington and sexual-assault allegations against WikiLeaks Julian Assange, the items referred to the concept of tone-deafness.

            Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines tone-deaf as being “relatively insensitive to differences in musical pitch.”  Wikipedia says that someone exhibiting tone-deafness is said to be unable to "carry a tune."       Maybe the U.S. President, State Department and rest of the Government ought to, in a hurry, figure out how to whistle a different tune that doesn’t sound like an old song-and-dance. You’ll be thankful if they do.