By Mike Bogle, Windom
I was glad when my mother told me that Michael Marcotte had struck again (Letters to the Editor, “So much for weapons of mass destruction,” Sept. 25). I read his letter with interest three times, but I still couldn’t understand it. Maybe it’s just me. It could have applied to gun control, abortion or the “Un-Affordable Care Act.”
I was reminded of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, who never answered a question but would launch into convoluted rhetoric that left me laughing. The purpose of words to reveal, rather than conceal or impress, was lost on him, which was why Jesse Ventura was so refreshing. Even if you didn’t agree with him, you understood what he said.
In the 1979 movie “Being There,” based on the book by Jerzy Kosinski, Peter Sellers plays Chance, who when living in his own world can’t be understood. He’s therefore assumed to be brilliant, creative genius, and people hang on his every word. He attracts so much attention with his ability to utter strange proverbs that the president, much to his chagrin later on, hires him as a speech writer. Chance also attracts a beautiful woman who marries him, only to realize that his favorite TV program is “Captain Kangaroo” (insert MSNBC), which he prefers to her womanly charms.
The moral: Never equate obscurity with profundity. The Bible says “... except ye utter words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? For ye shall speak into the air.” (1 Corinthians 14:9)
