RESPECT SHOULD BE EARNED, NOT AUTOMATIC
By Peter Moss

It is a serious detriment to the public interest that respect is automatically bestowed on certain persons by the media and by people who mistake the mass media for good coin. Automatic respect not only disregards the individual's ability and performance, but is bestowed even in the face of the most damning evidence of hard-earned contempt and disrespect. I am not just talking about the clerical pederasthood whether they are child-molesting priests or criminal bishops who conceal such crimes from the law enforcement authorities and on top, buy the victims' silence from collection plate alms, and on top of that transfer the pederasts to a new parish and a new supply of juvenile victims, not only without sanctions up to now, but as respected and nominally celibate "fathers." It will take most of us a long time to absorb the depth of this organized clerical hypocrisy, but there is worse. Much worse.

"Honorable" judges from small claims to the U.S. Supreme Court are respected as demigods. I should note here that the word "respect" covers two quite disparate concepts. One kind of respect is based on recognizing ability and achievement. The other kind of respect is, of course, a synonym for fear. When comedian Rodney Dangerfield complains that he 'don't get no respect," he means nobody is afraid of him and nobody is doing what he tells them to do. Although respect for judges was intended to recognize their intellectual ability and achievements, even calling them "learned judges," underdog victims wrongfully losing in court who do not vent their frustration on the judge show respect of the second kind. Such losers are afraid of the contempt of court sanctions that judges have discretion to impose. The dumbest of the judges probably mistake the fear of sanctions as real respect for their superior intelligence (they probably also believe their excreta are odorfree). While the clergy, given enough rope, will self-destruct respect for the clergy, the judiciary present a bigger problem because they are protected by big money interests. The solution: create lay juries to try unjust judges for contempt of justice.

The biggest problem of falsely bestowed respect is for the tenant of the White House, no matter how he got there, what his abilities are, or what he does to whom. Since impeachment is so cumbersome (except for intern-sex), the best way to undo harm by evil presidents, such as protecting the Enrons and encouraging pollution by the global warming creators, is to ridicule and curse the "dummy" as he is called in Europe. I always call him f***in Bush. Sounds more descriptive than George or Dubya. The seriously inhibited who don't like the F word can always call him SOB, short for goddam son of a Bush. If he wants to earn respect, he can sign the Kyoto treaty, replace fossil fuel and nukes with hydrogen cars and solar, wind and hydroelectric power, and take the other 1001 actions that will benefit the public at the expense of the top 2% rich.

Submitted to FfxNews