Senile Dementia Round-Up

Burt Prelutsky addresses a Rotary Club.

Next, a man stood up to tell me he had been offended by my comments about liberals. When I asked him what was so great about liberalism, he began by saying they were for social justice. Before, [sic] he could pick up a full head of steam, I said that justice is justice, whereas “social justice” is code for one set of rules for the rich, another for the poor; one set for whites, another set for minorities; one set for straight men, another for women and gays. In short, I pointed out, it’s the opposite of actual justice. Before he could even reach the door, the president announced the meeting was over.

Oh, one tiny correction we're sure his editor just missed:

Before, [sic] he could pick up a full head of steam, I said that justice is justice, whereas “social justiceconservatism” is code for one set of rules for the rich, another for the poor; one set for whites, another set for minorities; one set for straight men, another for women and gays. In short, I pointed out, it’s the opposite of actual justice.

We all know what a tough time rich, white, straight men who are not women or gays have been having lately. Why, the tax rate alone is a crushing burden.

Fine, I was wrong to assume I was addressing the choir. But, there were still two things that particularly annoyed me. One was that the conservatives in the audience were so cowed by the boorishness of their colleagues that they slunk out of the room, afraid to even offer me a polite smattering of applause. Which, I am willing to wager, was a first in Rotary history.

News for Burt: It's 2011, & the Rotary Club may no longer be a choir of old white guys sitting around bitching about "them" & "you-know-who." It might even be possible that the "conservatives" in the room (a faculty lounge at UCLA) had no interest in defending or applauding a statement that gets the entire concept of rights 180° wrong.