By Walter Geiger Remember when ‘˜tell it like it is’ was a national catchphrase? So do I. Aaron Neville had a hit song that bore these words as its title. Sadly, we can no longer tell it like it is for fear of offending some obscure minority. It is political correctness run amok. In one instance, Santas were asked not to say ‘˜Ho, ho, ho’ because the jolly old elf’s go-to line thrice repeats a word that is street slang for prostitute. In some places, Easter eggs are now ‘˜Spring Spheres’. In San Francisco, public libraries have installed privacy screens around computers so perverts can watch online porn. Sexually confused or transgender kids are, in many places, allowed to choose the public restroom of their choice. It seems every television sitcom must have at least one homosexual among its cast. Military chaplains are being forced to perform gay marriages against their will. Christianity is becoming increasingly politically incorrect. A school in North Carolina ordered a sixyear- old girl to remove the word ‘˜God’ from a poem she wrote. The poem was in honor of her two grandfathers who had served in Vietnam. A teacher in New Jersey was fired for giving his personal Bible to a student who did not have one. Islam, however, has free rein. We bend over backwards so as not to offend Muslims. They pretty much can say and do whatever they like without sanction and bow to the East whenever or wherever it suits them. Our own buttery-soft president cannot even bring himself to mutter the words ‘˜radical islam’. Political correctness invaded the sports world years ago. Remember when teams and leagues named most valuable players? Now stars are designated the most outstanding player because, as you know, we must all be of equal value. There are many out there who would love to see the end of naming champions in any sport. If everybody doesn’t get a trophy then it is unfair. Participation trophies are now the norm in youth sports where there can be no winners or losers and certainly not a most valuable player. I first encountered this many years ago when a friend and I, in moments of temporary insanity, agreed to coach a youth football team. We practiced hard. We encouraged our kids to win, thinking that if they learned success on the gridiron they would have a better shot at succeeding in life. When the time came for the first game, coaches on both sides noticed that the recreation field scoreboard was off. We asked a staffer about it and were told in no uncertain terms that we would not be keeping score because it would be bad for the self esteem of the kids on the losing team. I was taken aback. We appealed to a person of authority who told us that the kids did not care who won or lost and the score was unimportant. That man was standing around after the game which we lost. One coach asked a group of kids from both teams what the score was. Every kid except one big lineman accurately repeated the score. I don’t think the lineman knew what day of the week it was. The coach then cast an ‘˜I told you so’ glance at the official who stomped off several paces then turned and threw a clipboard as he lit up a cigarette. We were all left to wonder which set the worst example, keeping score or slinging the clipboard, but we kept our mouths shut. It doesn’t pay to cross the PC crowd. Walter Geiger is editor and publisher of The Herald Gazette.
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