Babies And Bathwater — By John Reed

Babies And Bathwater
The old admonition about not “throwing out the baby with the dishwater” dates to at least 1512. It refers to overreacting to an event or idea, and our current times abound with such. Let’s get started with an example.
To the bemusement of some of my neighbors, I take care of about a mile of roadside around my property. I mow the grass along the shoulder, and pick up the trash. Most of the trash I pick up is cigarette boxes and light beer cans. So I could make the case that all smokers who drink light beer are litter-throwing pigs.
Of course, there are many reasons why that assumption is erroneous and over the top. Yet it’s no different from things we hear previously rational people say every day in public. It’s time we filtered that metaphorical bathwater:
Not all Republicans are bigoted racists. Not all Democrats are triggered snowflake communists. A great many on both sides just want what is best for our country; it’s the loudest extremists who get all the airtime.
Here’s a local example. Last Saturday, the Trump campaign made a brief stop here, parking their bus in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot for a few minutes to speak to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters. Not long after, some took to social media to complain about the business allowing the event to take place on their property, going so far as to propose a boycott. Again: overreaction.
Aside: irony is a lost term these days. These folks objecting to free speech in the middle of town are now encouraging their kindred ilk to shop at Walmart instead. Let’s see: champions of the underdogs supporting a trillion-dollar corporation with controversial salary issues over a smaller hometown company. Umm anyone else see it?
Anyway, I doubt we’ll see any letup in the polemics from either side anytime soon. Maybe after November 3? Doubtful. Whoever wins will be challenged for the next four years. The best we can hope for is for the rest of us to tune it out…
…And try to hold onto our babies.