SKIN

Oh, I don’t give a damn about the color of it.  What gets me is how it seems to be getting thinner and thinner all over the damn world.   And that somehow lots of people are OK with that.

The Charlie Hebdo attacks were a direct result of this thin skinnedness – which is viewed as appropriate in the Koran apparently.  At least enough Muslims support this with their own thin skins, that terrorists feel comfortable acting in the open.

Then there’s the inability of the White House to say the words “Muslim” and “Terrorist” in succession.  Screw the body count –somebody might get their feelings hurt! 

And my personal last straw today – Lena Dunham of “Girls” fame, announcing that “Deranged Neo-Cons” make twitter an unsafe emotional space.  Twitter is about free speech, not emotional safety.  That’s something adults are expected to provide for themselves or if they can’t, to ask for and ACCEPT help.

Freedom you see, seldom has much to do with safety.  It’s more important than that.  And if anyone else wants the freedom to be an idiot, they have to let me be an idiot in turn.  That’s it, my whole argument.  But many, many people can’t handle that anymore.  Including the President, apparently.  It’s sad. 

How it is that being so thin skinned that any idiot can goad you into fits is somehow safer than working up a little tolerance and self-control is beyond me.  If you run around wearing a sign that says “PLEASE – DON’T KICK ME” sooner or later someone is going to kick the hell out of you for their own personal amusement.  Might even be me.  I’ve had a few less than noble moments in my life. 

Seems European Muslims are finding themselves in this spot now.  It’s probably overdue because the longer it goes on, the bigger the price for stopping it.  No go zones and separate laws will not fly.

Anyway, we ALL could use some thicker skins.