Where's the outrage?

Where's the moral indignation?

Seems like there's plenty of it.

But I happen to think most of it is misplaced.

Everybody's outraged at political incorrectness. Ann Coulter calls John Edwards a "faggot" and we're outraged. Michael Richards calls someone a "nigger" and the shit hits the fan. You're not supposed to call someone a "cripple" or "midget" or "retarded". People get their panties in a wad if you say "black" instead of "African-American".

I'm digressing a little (again), but why don't us "whitey's" get pissed because they don't call us "Swedish-American" or "German-American" or "Russian-American"? My maternal great-grandma was a Cherokee Indian and I was born here. Shouldn't I be outraged because no one calls me a "Native American"? My paternal grandparents immigrated here from Sweden...so by all rights, I oughta be called a...what?..."Native Swedish American"?

Everybody gets all indignant and shit about profanity...words like "cock" and "pussy" and "fuck". People even squirm a little when they hear "vagina" or "penis" or "intercourse".

Words. Words raise our hackles. Words fan the flames of moral indignation. Words incite hatred. Words.

I was always taught that actions speak louder than words. Words are mighty powerful. Especially hurtful ones. But only if you instill power in them. Only if you let them hurt you.

I happen to be a fat woman. My feelings don't get hurt if someone calls me "fat". I AM. It's a truth. Don't gimme any horseshit about "full-figured" or "plus sized". I'm FAT. I is what I is. Don't sugar-coat it. Don't pussyfoot around it.

Words...words by themselves...rarely outrage me. Action...or sometimes, lack of action...is what outrages me.

People who sit on their asses and won't lift a finger to help their fellow man. People who value the almighty dollar over human dignity.
People who lend their voice to a cause just because it's trendy and not because they believe in it.

Greed. Hypocrisy. Stupidity. Cruelty. Politics. Child molesters. Liars. Fundamentalist anythings.

Those are a few things that outrage me. Those are the things that I get morally indignant about.

Not words.

It just seems to me like we're all wasting a lot of precious time worrying about words...when we oughta be worrying about actions.