Never Miss a Chance To Keep Your Mouth Shut....

For those not familiar with this saying, I did research and found it was attributed to Robert Newton Peck (from A Day No Pigs Would Die), a children's book author who grew up in Vermont (he authored other titles as Soup and Me and Soup on Wheels).

Why quote this, you ask? I have fought the urge to comment on those claiming to hear from God, but after New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's comments yesterday, I can't refrain. It seems that everyone these days has an opinion about something, and the above phrase might be applicable in this case--granted, Nagin had a captive audience during the speech he made on Monday, but public speakers ought to be deliberate in their words and not spout off. Later, Nagin apologized and indicated that he "said some things that were totally inappropriate."

America is a great place where we are all allowed to voice our opinion, but it doesn't mean that every thought should be voiced out loud, for the whole world to hear. Pat Robertson has had several situations that have created quite an uproar and ended in him apologizing for his comments, though some of it may be due to his age. Still, with Nagin and Robertson being public figures, some responsibility has to come into play--for Robertson, while I might agree that Chavez in Venezuela is not the best news to American policy, calling out a hit is not something I'd say on national television.

Of course, claiming that one has heard from God that "God is mad at America" (said by Nagin, he said, evidenced by both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hitting in rapid succession) is something on quite another level.