Royal distraction

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Another high school shooting. More kids slaughtered and more families left to confront a grief no one ever should have to face. More empty words and pointless prayers from politicians whose only concern about school shootings is whether or not it will force them to stand up to the NRA. Their prayers may help their guilty conscience, but they do nothing for the victims or their grieving families. Fortunately, we have grown so use to this it managed not to interfere with the more important news: the royal wedding.

Every day our president blatantly misuses his position to profit financially from deals with any nation, even those he boldly claims are enemies of the state. He has no regard for the laws of our land, believes he is above all laws, and has no trouble contradicting his own spoken words. He cares more about a leak than he does the disgusting comments made by an employee about an American hero. His followers have no concern about his past or his present because they believe he will lead them to a better future. They sleep well despite having sold their souls to a mad man who cares only about their vote and nothing more. Thankfully, he managed not to fire missiles at some poor nation just to upstage the coverage of Harry and Meghan. For that, thank you, Donald.

The island of Hawaii might blow up, but at least it won’t do so until the media tires of all the things they can think of covering regarding the big wedding. An Ebola outbreak in the Congo has become so yesterday that it hardly deserves a mention. There is no United States involvement in the upcoming World Cup so there is no reason to wonder why a nation that tried to rig our last election is being rewarded with another of the world’s major sporting events. Heck, we have even managed to forget about all our personal information that has been sold to anyone or any nation willing to pay a price for it just so they can make our lives miserable. There’s nothing like a royal wedding, especially when the bride is a gorgeous American actress with a family that is a lot like most others in our nation, a bit nutty.

So for a week, we have been blessed to have our social media filled with stories upon stories about the big wedding and for once, I am happy about it. I have never understood America’s fascination with England’s Royal Family. Maybe it goes back to our childhood and all the stories of a Prince Charming finding his perfect match. I was more of a Go Do, Go fan and Curious George lover to give a crap about any prince or princess. I never understood why so many felt compelled to follow the comings and goings of Princess Diana or that red head with the weight problem.

I am sure the Royal Family does its share of good work, but as a tax payer, I would not be happy seeing my money paying for their lifestyle when money is tight at the end of each month and bills are due. They hold no real power and are nothing more than very wealthy figure heads who suck the taxpayers’ tit. Why would we ever look up to them when we tend to resent people at home who do the same?

However, I will say for a young couple to have the eyes of the world on them, Harry and Meghan have carried themselves with a kind of class and dignity I would like to see from our leaders. They kept quiet at a time when the press was just clamoring for a controversy. No tweets, no press conferences, no personal attacks even when members of Meghan’s family spoke out or ended up in the hospital.

When I was a middle school PE teacher, a common complaint I would get from a student was that another student was chasing him. They wanted me to solve this problem. My suggestion was always to tell the complainer not to run, that way he could not be chased. Meghan and Harry chose not to run by not engaging in all the drama that lead up to their big day.  Theirs was not so much a royal decision as much as one of common sense. Your detractors will go away if you do not play with them.

Why is this important?

We seem to be inundated by a particular leader who wants to drag this nation, if not the entire world, into the gutter by making life miserable. He chases controversy which results in others fighting back and responding to his rants.

The one exception seems to be Robert Mueller. No matter how hard Trump tries to draw him out into the public, Mueller just goes about doing his business and refuses to engage a man who simply wants attention.

We do not have to be the worst of who we are to garner attention. Believe it or not, we can just go about doing our business, meeting our responsibilities, being respectful of all we encounter, and not engaging the miserable SOB’s who will stoop to their lowest level just to be recognized. Maybe it will not result in getting as much attention, but perhaps we might all be happier with a little less.

The Royal Kiss YouTube

Now that Meghan and Harry are on their honeymoon, perhaps we can get back to our lives and go about being a little more royal in our own actions. Rich or poor, young or old, black or white; we all have a choice in how we carry ourselves. Watching a young couple, where each comes from very different upbringings, demonstrate how easy it is to rise above the nonsense of the world and to demonstrate civility when all eyes are on them might make the money from tax paying citizens of England well worth it if the rest of us can do the same.

Thank you Meghan and Harry!

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Editor’s Note: To continue the theme of distraction we have chosen to use YouTube screenshots of the Royal Wedding.