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One piece of advice: before you do something — anything — please try to take some time to sit down in a quiet room, relax, and really think to yourself: “What are some potential consequences of my actions?”

I only say this because this week, I’ve noticed a lot of stories in the news about people doing some extremely stupid shit that could probably have been easily avoided.

It all started with Georgia Congressman Paul Broun, who claimed that President-elect Barack Obama may turn this country into a dictatorship much like Nazi Germany, policed by a “Gestapo-like security force.” He warned the country by saying,

“We can’t be lulled into complacency … You have to remember that Adolf Hitler was elected in a democratic Germany. I’m not comparing him to Adolf Hitler. What I’m saying is there is the potential of going down that road.”

You may not claim you’re not making a comparison, but saying the name of your new president and the name of the man who murdered six million Jews in WWII in the same sentence probably won’t get you any positive press anytime soon. Good luck living with that gaffe for the rest of your life.

Then, there was this news story from Idaho, which reported that second and third graders were caught chanting “Assassinate Obama” while riding their school bus.

I’m going to assume that seven- and eight-year-olds don’t have the capacity to formulate and support such hateful ideas, and guess, like the man interviewed in the story, that parents had a big part in getting those thoughts in their kids’ heads. Perhaps the parents should have thought that might not be the best idea in the world.

Finally, there is this tragic story from Marysville, Washington. After he asked his six-year-old daughter to fetch his .45-caliber pistol, 42-year-old Richard Peters accidentally shot and killed his daughter while — get this — cleaning his guns while “drinking ‘double vodkas.’” Getting drunk and cleaning your firearms, all with your child in the room? Simply brilliant, logical thinking, Mr. Peters. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to mull over your decision while you serve time for “first-degree manslaughter charges”.

So please, everyone, before you end up doing something stupid, just sit down and think about it for a while. The world may end up a better place for it.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 11:36 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.