Casualties of Hope and Change.

The other day, it was announced that the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus was closing after nearly 150 yeasts of operation.

Money problems were listed as the official reason,  but animal activists were claiming victory after getting the circus to end the elephant show a few years back.

So as a result of this The Greatest Show On Earth is no more because of our old friend political correctness.  Personally,  I suppose I should count myself lucky to have seen the show in my lifetime but there's a catch.

You see,  I was three years old and barely remember it.  The people who took me to the show are decades dead.  I have only a ghostly memory of seeing the elephant parade and the lions, being scared of the clowns and that's it.

I have a clearer memory of seeing the Shamu show at Sea World San Diego in 1988, 17 years later.  I was chaperoning one of my sister's band trips and as the sponsors of the bowl game they were performing/competing at they were treated to a presentation of that show.

Shamu is gone too.  Yup.  Thanks to activism and an underground video what was a very cool show at a marine/amusement park is no more.

Now before you accuse the writer of condoning animal abuse for the sake of entertainment, pump the brakes a few times.  In both cases there was legitimacy to these shows ending.  One could argue that these shows are victims of their own shoddy policies. 

That isn't my complaint.  No, it's the fact that the somewhat noble action of being politically correct has degenerated from being a noble crusade into a sick sport of forcing beliefs on people, and it got worse in the last eight years, I dare say 10-12.

It's another example of the pussification of this country at the hands of people who have ZERO business dictating right and wrong.  My high school here in Tulsa is a prime example. 

The school mascot was the Redskin, and it dates back to the 20s...long before everybody in my class was even thought of, or, in the case of my family, before we crossed the Mississippi River.

Over the years, the high school I graduated from grew from a quaint school on the outskirts of Tulsa into a super school of over 2000 students or more on site. 

Now when I was in school our marching band was better than the football team so as long as they hovered around .500 in wins and losses no one cared what the mascot was.  Not one peep was uttered.

Win the big high school class state championship 20 years later and BOOM--out come the signs,  picket lines and petitions.  There have been no less than five attempts to remove the mascot name from my old high school since I left in 1987.  All based on the racism associated with the Redskin name.

It survived every action to date, but any references to native Americans have slowly disappeared from the culture there.  

To be fair I do see the negative connotations attached to the name but it seems petty and opportunistic to make a huge deal out of the name after success as was done in that case.  

But that's the way things go these days.

Selective outrage overcomes good sense and something has to go...doesn't matter if it's been there 5 minutes or nearly 150 years.   Hopefully things are going to change as the new leader takes over tomorrow.

We'll see.