If you designed a banner declaring, “The world is full of crazies” and ran it up the flagpole, assuredly, I would salute it.
On the other hand, as Veterans Day approaches, I realize the world is also full of opportunists — opportunists who devalue the dangers faced by the nation’s military personnel.
We’ve all witnessed it with increasing frequency: some office-holder, bureaucrat or celebrity (a) gets pushback for a totally outrageous statement or (b) finally gets busted engaging in some flavor of financial/political/sexual skullduggery.
Instantly, they switch from time-honored “fight or flight” mode to patented 21st-century “play the victim and shoot the messenger” mode.
“Death threats! Take my word for it! I’m receiving death threats ever since they misrepresented my humanitarian work surgically attaching ostrich legs to week-old kittens! My second family gets death threats, too. And my uncle who passed away in 1973. And my imaginary childhood friend!”
Sure, I understand that the cloak of anonymity is a siren call for hotheads with too much time on their hands. Judges have been stalked. Buildings have been bombed.
I simply find it a smidge too convenient that society is suddenly suffering a raging epidemic of death threats. Whether it’s a matter of exaggeration or bald-faced lying, something just doesn’t ring true.
A legitimate fear is a legitimate fear, but hyped-up allegations do a disservice to veterans and Americans currently in uniform. Ideally, a military career is a way to earn a living and learn valuable skills while dutifully keeping the peace; but looming “death threats” have always been part and parcel of the job description.
It’s a form of “stolen valor” when some huckster schemes to play the hero if a mean ol’ undercover investigator exposes his wrongful behavior and consequences ensue.
It’s not just our military personnel who are dissed. It’s also a slap in the face to the survivors of Hurricane Helene whenever some crybaby starts blubbering about being “flooded” by death threats (real or imagined).
Each of us should ponder the repercussions of our fiery rhetoric. Genuine threats of death or bodily injury should always be given serious attention.
But people caught with their hand in the cookie jar need to acknowledge their hand is in the cookie jar, take responsibility for their actions, stop blaming whoever caught them and cease their “this is the worst day of my life” caterwauling.
By its very definition, we don’t owe anyone unearned sympathy.
As we think about “boots on the ground,” the whiners who deflect scrutiny need a boot strategically placed somewhere else.
It’s appropriate that we honor our men and women in uniform for risking their lives to safeguard our sacred freedoms. But civilians have a part to play in the preservation of liberty as well. We need to be vigilant and discerning. If you wouldn’t want scam artists or romantic partners “playing” you, don’t let miscreants caught red-handed play you, either.
Allowing public figures to skate by and employ “death threats” as a “get out of jail free” card is not a mark of good citizenship.
In the home of the brave, we shouldn’t be bashful about demanding accountability.
Danny Tyree’s column is distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Reach him at [email protected].