As a society we ponder the impact of divorce on our children and its cost in every facet of our daily lives.
Then, we turn on television to watch the sacrament of marriage degraded in as many ways a possible.
First, it was Dharma Conger accepting a proposal but backing away from marriage to a supposed millionare.
Then, we’ve watched first young ladies and then men practically prostitute themselves on the Bachelor and Bachelorette shows. Fortunately, no marriages have actually occurred from these shows as yet.
But, we’ve now reached the lowest low in terms of marriage fallacy.
“Married by America” aired by Fox on Monday evening was pitiful.
The premise, get a couple dozen handsome, beautiful and bright young men and women under the bright lights and let their parents, friends and ultimately the voting TV remote-flinging viewers of America choose their mate.
It’s like a cattle auction only under the bright lights of a dozen or so TV cameras.
Not for a date, like the harmless Dating Game of years gone by.
No, these folks are supposedly bound to propose or be proposed to based on what a mass audience thinks.
A lifetime decision based on a half-dozen or so questions posed not by the young people but by others.
To add to the “suspense” the viewing public had two hours after the show to “vote” for their their favorite suitor. The “winner” gets to propose.
Daughter Amy, who’s home for a couple days before venturing to Australia for an assignment with Boeing Aircraft, had control of the remote clicker or this show would have been off in minutes. Debbie was especially insulted by it.
Unfortunately we all laughed for an hour at this insepid premise.
Also, unfortunately, some folks probably took it seriously as a way to meet their “soulmate” or perhaps to have their 15 minutes of fame.
Sad.
—
We aren’t one of those persons who say the younger generation is falling apart, although as always, there are a few meatheads.
In fact, as one who spends a great deal of time in the local schools, especially high school, we are impressed by many teens.
Tory Petersen is one fine example.
We hadn’t known much about Tory, although his name has popped up on our radar screen several times in recent years.
Now, the whole picture comes together with his acceptance at West Point Military Academy.
As our front page interview notes, Tory set his sights on the Academy as a sixth grader and did what it took to be accepted.
His hard work and tenacity paid off handsomely.
During Monday evening’s wrestling banquet, Coach Thorpe had the senior wrestlers give a short talk. They usually thank the coaches, parents and their work out partners.
Most are better wrestlers than public speakers–but that’s OK. The delivery insn’t the point, it’s the message that’s important here.
Tory’s talk was to the younger wrestlers about commitment and dedication to an ideal.
It should have come from someone 30 years old, not 18.
We’re expecting some great things from this young man in time to come.
The same holds true for Robert Rice, whom we featured in a story a week ago.
A first class young man with a bright future.
And since we’re patting kids on the back, our high school sports teams posted some outstanding overall grade point averages during the winter season.
The boys basketball, cheerleading, wrestling and girls swimming teams all ranked in the top 10 in 3A in terms of overall grades.
The boys basketball team was fourth with a 3.66 GPA. The cheerleading squad was third with a 3.61 GPA. The wrestlers were tied for 10th with a 3.07 GPA and the girls swimming squad was tied for fourth with a 3.68 GPA.
Congratulations to all.
—
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that South Dakota is recruiting dairy farmers from England to fill the void of dairymen in the state.
Seems they need them to help ramp up cow herds and meet the needs of an incoming factory.
Our question, living in a state with 7% unemployment is, what about the thousands of young men and women about to graduate high school and college in South Dakota.
Wouldn’t that state be better off training and supporting them in this new venture rather than seeking help from outside our own country.
Nothing against the English but shouldn’t we hold up our own first?
While we’re at it, let’s take back our role as a manufacturing nation. We had the largest trade deficit in history last year. That means we bought far more from other countries than they bought from us.
We don’t see the long-term wisdom in that.
And as for NAFTA, I didn’t support it then and I still don’t.