Sunday, October 17, 2010

Laugh at Yourself First: The Salvation Shark


Read "The Salvation Shark," and more short fiction, scripts, and very little poetry at Laugh at Yourself First.
pauljuser.blogspot.com

I received an email this week that got me riled. Apparently, a devotee of Glenn Beck decided to "start a revolution" by shooting a few desk clerks in an office of the ACLU. I hate the 8 hour work day as much as the next guy, but history has shown shotguns to be the messiest and least effective methods of voicing your opinion. Byron Williams made the right choice, at least by action movie standards, abandoning his plan in favor of a 12 minute gun battle with police in the middle of the a busy highway. No one was killed, not even Williams.

The email demanded that Beck be held accountable for this crime, and that all of FoxNews be yanked from the airwaves. While this would certainly make my supermarket experience more pleasant, I need to stand against. In a leaked interview, Williams compared Beck to a "schoolteacher on TV," and freely admitted he accepted Beck's conspiracy theories as truths. Williams was also twice convicted of armed bank robbery. Parents should be telling their kids not to be like this guy no matter their political leanings. Williams made himself every DA's dream, admitting on tape that Beck would never advocate violence. Chances are, Williams would have reacted the same way whether he was upset over news entertainment, or if his 14th-level elf had been slain by a kobold. If it wasn't Judas Priest's fault, and it wasn't Slayer's fault, and Beavis & Butthead didn't do it, and the Beatles can't be blamed, then we must remember that such a "revolution" would endanger Beck's paycheck as much as yours or mine, and he would be the last person to let that happen.

If you're here with me in Binghamton, you can come see me December 4th, reading selections from Man-In-Sea at RiverRead Books. RiverRead is my favorite bookstore in Downtown, and that has nothing to do with being the only bookstore in Downtown. Trust me, you should have seen some of the bookstores we had in the past. RiverRead has science books in the front and fresh coffee in the back with the fiction. They also have a store kitten, which may be copyright infringement on a local comic book store known for its over-sized black and white cats. Both stores carry Man-In-Sea, and I certainly shop in both places, so you won't see me picking sides should the issue heat up. My good friend Dave Rasey will be performing as my life-long hero, Rod Serling this Friday from 6-8 as part of PAST's "Spirits of Binghamton Walking Tour." Thanks for reading.

-Paul
printisbetter.blogspot.com

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