August 28th, 2009

Yesterday I had the unique privilege to speak with author Gail Kelly-Cuter. Gail is a descendant of George Armstrong Custer and the information she provided about her family was invaluable. I’m writing a book about Elizabeth Custer for Globe and got some great stuff about George’s relationship with an Indian woman name Monahsetah. Monahsetah knew George was married and eventually Elizabeth found out about Monahsetah. Historians will no doubt argue George’s involvement with Monahsetah. Gail has already taken a few hits for the book. When I say hits I mean people have been rude and insulting to her. The woman has been hurt and publicly ridiculed. Whether or not you agree with her story she deserves better than that from so-called educated people. I believe the fountainhead of all this bad behavior has got to be daytime talk shows. What an intergalactic freak show these are. You tell me, what Rusty the Bailiff Fan Club meeting do they go to harvest these losers? Ricki Lake? Richard Bey? Jerry Springer? These people should be not be allowed to own a TV, for crying out loud, much less be on it. And you know their guests not only aren’t ashamed of their asinine antics, they positively revel in their own grand mal ignorance. Screaming in people’s faces, screaming at the audience, the audience screaming back?. There have been so many times over the last five years I just want to say forget this culture, pack up some jerky, and go time-share with Jeremiah Johnson. I don’t want some vacant-headed Quaker land. That’s not civility, that’s banality. And I’m not talking about Martha Stewart civility either, where there’s nine forks arranged around your dinner plate like some cutlery Stonehenge. I’m simply saying, treat people with some decency. You don’t agree with what someone wrote in a book, try to engage them in a grown-up conversation about where they got their information. Don’t make fun of them in front of a large group of people or carry on about their work on a website. I guess people feel they don’t have to be civil when they hide in the dark behind a keyboard in their home or office. I believe when civility breaks down, the fall of civilization is close behind. It seems we’ve all turned inward and in the process have forgotten there are other human beings on the other side of the insults we hurl or lies we tell that put a good man in jail. That’s where civility comes in.