The Death of Common Sense

________________________________________


After watching President Obama in his first press conference in 10+ months, I flashed back to a book written in 1988 entitled, “The Death of Common Sense: How Law is Suffocating America”. Common Sense can now be officially declared dead. We have a President that ignores the law where convenient and recalls the law at his pleasure. We have a government that approves laws that they have not read and, in the same vein, disapproves laws that they have not read. What is happening here?

Three yards of black fabric enshroud my computer terminal. I am mourning the passing of an old friend by the name of Common Sense.

As an Iowan, I mourn the loss of this friend of my youth. As a Midwesterner, I cannot understand the failure of our leaders in not applying simple Common Sense to their responsibilities. As an American, I cry for our losses.

His obituary reads as follows:

Common Sense, aka C.S., lived a long life, but died from heart failure. No one really knows how old he was, his birth records were long ago entangled in miles and miles of bureaucratic red tape.

Known affectionately to close friends as Horse Sense and Sound Thinking, he selflessly devoted himself to a life of service in homes, schools, hospitals and offices, helping folks get jobs done without a lot of fanfare, whooping and hollering. For decades, petty rules, frivolous lawsuits, and ludicrous verdicts held no power over Common Sense.

A most reliable sage, he was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as to know when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, how to take the bitter with the sweet, and that life isn’t always fair. Common Sense also developed sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adult is in charge, not the kid) and prudent dietary plans (offset eggs and bacon with a little fiber and orange juice).

A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, the Technological Revolution and the Smoking Crusades, C.S. survived sundry cultural and educational trends including disco, body piercing, ‘whole language’ and ‘new math’.

Common Sense's health began declining in the late 1960s when he became infected with the I’m not responsible for my own actions and If-It-Feels-Good, Do-It viruses. In the following decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of overbearing federal and state rules and regulations and an oppressive tax code. C.S. was sapped of strength and the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, criminals received better treatment than victims and judges stuck their noses in everything from Boy Scouts to professional baseball and golf.

His deterioration accelerated as schools implemented zero-tolerance policies. Reports of 6-year-old boys charged with sexual harassment for kissing classmates, a teen suspended for taking a swig of Scope mouthwash after lunch, girls suspended for possessing Midol, a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student and an honor student expelled for having a table knife in her school lunch only worsened his condition. When a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee is hot, and was awarded a huge settlement; and when the president sold security related technology to a hostile nation, Common Sense fell into a coma.

It declined further when schools had to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student, but could not inform the parents and get their permission when their children were given mind-altering drugs or birth control bills; and when universities turned into cesspools of debauchery and socialist propaganda.

As the end neared, doctors say C.S. drifted in and out of consciousness, but was kept informed of new questionable regulations, such as thought control and partial birth abortion. Common Sense had a “Code Blue” event when congress passed multiple laws without 1) reading the law and 2) questioning who wrote the laws. He survived this event, but was gravely weakened. Finally, when the current president, claiming to staunchly protect the country from terrorist atrocities, yet allowing the same villains to invade the country through borders that are strangely very penetrable; being fully aware of what the grave consequences of such deliberate and ominous neglect can be, Common Sense died of sudden cardiac arrest.

Services will be at Whispering Pines Cemetery. C.S. was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Love; his daughter, Responsibility; and sons, Diligence and Reason. He is survived by three step-brothers, Deception, Greed and Ignorance. Not many were in attendance at his funeral, because so few noticed he was gone.

Memorial Contributions may be sent to the Institute for Rational Thought.

Farewell, Common Sense. May you rest in peace.

________________________________________

Note for Lori Borgman the original author: This piece was first published March 15, 1998 in the Indianapolis Star. It has been "modified" and "edited" by others including myself and circulated on the Internet, even sent to Lori several times. Imagine her surprise to see it attributed to some guy named Anonymous. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Lori can take having her work circulated on the web as a compliment.