Your Grrrs compiled by FOX News intern Jesse Lanier.
Todd from cyberspace: Are we really surprised that people do not take responsibility for their actions? Children hear from an early age that nothing is their fault. It is not their fault that they receive a bad grade — the teacher was too hard, is a racist, doesn’t care enough, etc. It is not their fault that they are arrested for a crime — the police are harassing them. So when they grow up to be adults who always point fingers, it should be no surprise.
Theresa from cyberspace: The blame game is the way of the world … in America, anyway. Thanks to all of the feel-good therapists out there who have influenced so many through books and educators, no one is accountable for their actions anymore. There is always a reason why someone has failed you other than looking to yourself for answers.
Clifford from cyberspace: Darn! All these years I thought my mistakes were my fault and now I find that I could just blame everyone else. When did avoiding personal responsibility become a national pastime?
William from cyberspace: Love your column! Just thought I’d let you in on a little INXS tidbit. At first I thought that Ty Taylor was blaming racism for his being voted off the show, but after seeing it again, he was only stating that in his opinion, there is not as much support from the African-American culture for that genre of music. Now, do not get me wrong, I still strongly disagree (look at Lenny Kravitz), but I do not think he was blaming racism.
Tony from cyberspace: Along the same lines of your grrrr on individuals neglecting to assume responsibilities for their actions is the widespread inability for people to sincerely apologize for things that they do wrong. I think people actually feel that “I’m sorry if…….” counts for an apology. “I’m sorry if you were upset. I’m sorry if someone got hurt. I’m sorry if I was misunderstood.” People think they’re too big or important to ever be sorry, it’s someone else’s problem or fault.
Kevin from Darlington, Md.: Oh, puh-leeeze. Everyone was rooting for the hated Yankees in the 2001 World Series? Get a life. There were plenty of Americans who never liked the Yanks and never will. Oh, and for Deanna from Texas: the Dallas Cowboys, America’s Team?! Give me a break: America’s Most Wanted is more like it. They risk parole violations every time they huddle for associating with known felons.
Peary in Laurel, Miss.: Hurricane Katrina didn’t just strike New Orleans and stop. The entire Mississippi Gulf Coast has been wiped off the face of the earth. And that’s not all. I live in a small town 100 miles inland. We suffered 105 mph straight-line winds and a handful of F-4 tornadoes as a result of Katrina. My town and the surrounding county have been completely torn apart. Whereas I grieve for the residents of New Orleans, those good folks aren’t the only ones who are hurting beyond description.
Pam from Kentucky: You have just identified what I believe to be the root of the great majority of the problems facing our nation today: FAILURE TO ACCEPT PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. It begins in elementary school, where teachers no longer use red ink to grade papers because it might make the children feel bad. When I was a child, if I had a poor grade, it was written in bold red ink at the top of the page where my parents were sure to see it. I learned that there were consequences for not being prepared for a test or waiting until the last minute to do a project. I learned that I alone am responsible for my actions and that those actions sometimes have consequences. Sadly, that is a lesson that has been lost on recent generations who feel the need to find a scapegoat for all of their failings. Accepting responsibility for one’s failures is a true sign of integrity.
Amy from Texas: My Grrr is to all the opportunistic instigators who prey on the ignorance of society to incite discord. The Rev. Jesse Jackson is a prime example of such an instigator. The latest shenanigan is the use of the term “refugee.” The definition of a refugee is a person who, due to real or imagined danger, has left their homeland or country of their nationality and is unwilling or unable to return. Those who lived along the Gulf coastline [homeland] who left for fear of the hurricane or left later because of the damage [fled for safety] and cannot return in the near future [unable to return] are refugees. Changing definitions of words does not make it any less tragic; it makes us all dumber. Instead of telling people not to use words because their interpretation of the word makes it seem insensitive, why are we not educating people on the proper use of words?
Michael from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: My Grrrrrrr goes to Louisiana Gov. Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Nagin who pronounce with great flourish that they are going to build New Orleans and want the rest of the USA to pay 100 percent for it. Maybe we should rebuild the city but leave out the corrupt levee boards and impeach Nagin and Blanco for gross dereliction of duty. Last thing I want to see is Nagin and Blanco on a float at Mardi Gras!
Rustin from Dallas: In regards to readers’ attempts to insinuate that the NFL, its owners and players have not made any significant donations to the Red Cross and other relief efforts, try going to Redcross.org and check out the press release with 15 bullet points outlining what the NFL community has done to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. And this doesn’t count the funds that will be raised by the all-out-blitz, PUN INTENDED, during every game this weekend to raise even more money for the Red Cross through the NFL’s Hurricane Relief Telethon. This doesn’t even mention the individual donation players have made. Drew Bledsoe is donating $2,500 for every touchdown pass he throws. Payton and Eli Manning, who are from the area, are spending their time and money to bring TONS of supplies to the victims. There is no other major sport that is putting in more of an effort to help than the NFL.
Thomas from New Orleans: A HUGE Grrrr! to the myriad of armchair ‘experts’ commenting on air about the disaster in Louisiana from far away locales. If you haven’t been down here, don’t understand the topography, don’t understand the history of the levee system and don’t know how to pronounce our elected officials’ names or our towns, then put a sock in your pie hole. And to the obliviots who suggest that New Orleans shouldn’t rebuild, then let’s immediately shut down the states of Florida and California due to hurricanes and earthquakes. Then we can move on to closing the Midwest because there are simply too many tornadoes.
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Mike Straka is the director of operations and special projects for FOXNews.com, and covers entertainment and features on the Sunday program “FOX Magazine.” He also writes the biweekly Grrr! Column and hosts “The Real Deal” video segments on FOXNews.com.
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