Batman… Batman… Can somebody tell me what kind of a world we live in, where a man dressed up as a *bat* gets all of my press? This town needs an enema!  — Batman

Ever notice that it’s never the reasoned, sensible people who make the news?  It’s not the responsible gun owner that gets press, it’s the wild-eyed crazy who happens to have picked a gun for his tool of insanity.  The average police officer who does her job and respects the people she serves is outshined by the jackbooted enforcer.  City folk are always represented by the worst criminal, while country folk are represented by the closet KKK member.  And the list goes on and on.

We are coming to the point where the most abrasive example of any side of an argument is the only voice that is heard in the public square  The moderates are squeezed out by the zealots, and talking and discussion is replaced by shrieking and insults.  Of course, calm discourse rarely gets anyone a Pulitzer or a larger share of ratings, so that should surprise no-one.

We have to find a better way.  We have to find a way to take the glory from the bad actors and give it to those who deserve it.  We have to find a way to talk about what is right and wrong with our country and our society, even though we may stubbornly defend our positions, without resorting to invective.

The alternative is for things to continue to circle the drain, and for rhetoric to eventually give way to violence.  If you think things are bad now, wait until we go from making the retail psychopath an instant celebrity to glorifying the psychopath who dishes out crazy wholesale.