The whole idea of “think before you speak” was hammered into my head growing up. It didn’t always work, but it saved me from many embarrassing moments. In twenty-first century America, “think before you speak” doesn’t seem to do any good. People neither pay attention to the idea nor follow the advice. The results can be comical, or they can leave you wondering how long the light has been on with no one at home.
It may seem like too much of a jump in reasoning for you to link this to political issues, but the lack of awareness demonstrated daily by public figures in America never fails to astound me. In a very recent event, one political party put a twenty-five-million-dollar bounty on the head of a dictator of a foreign country. That dictator had lost the most recent election, but he had used the military to stay in power. In his corruption, he bankrupted his once-prosperous nation, and this particular American political party placed a bounty on his head to seek his arrest.
Just a few days ago, the leader of the opposite political party in America sent American military forces into that dictator’s country and arrested the man and his wife, leaving the foreign nation free of the dictatorial rule for the first time in decades. The citizens of that nation are rejoicing and praising the Americans who freed them. But the political party that put a bounty on the dicator’s head? They are not cheering for his capture. They are furious that their political opponents captured him, so they are denouncing his capture and insisting that he be returned to power as a dictator. What a head-scratching, face-palming moment! They got the result they wanted, but since it was achieved by an opponent, they are enraged that he’s the one who accomplished it. Instead of rejoicing with the citizens of the foreign nation, they are lecturing those citizens and saying that the country should reinstall the crook.
In this case, I am calling them stupid. They are acting like spoiled children who ask for a treat, receive a generic brand version of it, and refuse to accept it because it’s not the name-brand one. The petulance is obvious to all observers, and there will be consequences for this foolishness, but the immediate result is that adults display childishness as acceptable behavior, and that sets a troubling example for a nation already struggling to find its moral compass. Childish, churlish behavior by adults leads to violence in the public square. It is the same boorishness that led to the murder of Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025, preceded by the assassination attempt on candidate Donald Trump in July 2024. Accepting violence while preaching temperance in speech and behavior for others, yet advocating for unruliness in their own followers, these adults are like the meme above: Coyly pretending they said the “Mississippi,” and when called on it, they defend themselves with “river” or “state,” depending on which one their opponent accuses them of saying. In such a manner, they try to wriggle off the hook of accountability, while knowing very well which one they meant.
So, is it a harmless mistake or intentional harm?
Mack Ames Books and Maine Moose Patrol 