Public Announcment?

THE DEATH OF COMMON SENSE
Today we mourn the passing of an old friend by the name of Common Sense. Common sense lived a long life but died from heart failure at the brink of the millennium. No one really knows how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools, hospitals, homes, factories and offices, helping folks get jobs done without fanfare and foolishness.
For decades, petty rules, silly laws and frivolous lawsuits held no power over Common Sense. He was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as to know when to come in out of the rain, the early bird gets the worm, and life isn't always fair.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adults are in charge, not the kids), and it's okay to come in second.
A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, and the Technological Revolution, Common

Common Sense survived cultural and educational trends including feminism, body piercing, whole language and new math.
But his health declined when he became infected with the If-it-only-helps-one-person-it's-worth-i... bug. In recent decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of overbearing federal regulation. He watched in pain as good people became ruled by self-seeking lawyers and enlightened auditors. His health rapidly deteriorated when schools endlessly implemented zero tolerance policies, reports of six year old boys charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, a teen suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student. It declined even further when schools had to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student but cannot inform the parent when the female student is pregnant or wants an abortion.
Finally, Common Sense lost his will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churc

What you call common sense isn't very sensible. I am extremely wary when someone asserts that something, besides very basic universal concepts, is heralded as common sense. Most of what you are calling "common sense" is actually thought-terminating clich茅s, commonly used phrases, sometimes passing as folk wisdom, used to quell cognitive dissonance.

Also, what is your grudge against rights? Do you not like the idea that people don't have to conform to what you think is sensible?

I didn't realize that it was. (Maybe you need <sarcasm> tags, lol.) There are so many conservative reactionaries at R&S that I didn't even consider the possibility that it was sarcasm. My apologies if I have insulted you. Report It

Oh, silly me. Here I thought separation of church and state was common sense, but I guess it's theocracy.

If theocracy is common sense, I'm glad it's gone.

awesome piece...I am sorry to hear of his passing but I did hear that 'Common Sense' became very ill...when the court system declared that 'God' in our public schools was bad but condoms are good....

I note that Citations for Assertions has also passed away.