exaggerate: to state that something is better, worse, larger, more common, or more important than is true or usual.
“I never exaggerate. I just remember big.” Chi Chi Rodriquez
“remembering -
so much between me and then
always wondering
did it really happen
or did I imagine it” Lynn Bueling
With the above I just imagined myself as being important enough to be quoted as if I knew something; therefore, I exaggerated. I believe that feeling of self-importance prevails in many people and what comes out of their mouths reflects that. The worst culprits in the present-day are those of the talk-show variety. What was it de Gaulle said, something about the graveyards being full of indispensable people. Megalomaniacs abound. I think of General MacArthur being fired by President Truman for thinking he was above and beyond civilian control as stipulated in our Constitution. I think of Napoleon who thought his army could prevail upon Russia with her vast distances and severe winters, I think of Hitler whose grand designs showed little care for people other than his master race.
We just passed the five-year anniversary of Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans. The city is still in the process of being restored; it’s been slow going. I heard with my own ears some who did not feel sorry for the residents of the city, they were ordered to evacuate, it’s their own fault for not leaving; therefore, no aid should be given to them. My ability to present philosophical argument is limited, but one point became very evident to me: most of the people stranded in the city did not have the means to evacuate. Their plight was never exaggerated, but those who felt no concern exaggerated their position of morality in this society.
A sizable minority say the United States is a Christian country and that it was established as such. Read the U.S. Constitution. It does not mention "God". It does not mention "Jesus". It does not mention "Christ". It mentions religion only twice. The first: Article 6, to establish that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States". The second: First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof".
Exaggeration really exploded at Glenn Beck’s rally in Washington, DC a few days ago. He estimated about 500,000 people attended, Michelle Bachmann from Minnesota bloated the figure to 1.6 million, but the park service thought about 87,000 was an accurate number. One of the guests Glenn Beck invited for his Washington rally was the Rev. John Hagee who has called the Catholic church a “whore religion” and said that God sent the Hurricane Katrina to destroy New Orleans because of some gay-rights gathering in New Orleans. Religious tolerance? Oh, yawn, I guess I shall stop talking about exaggeration.
