“Please, Call Me Osama”

A few months ago I was watching Dan Rather interview some US official about Osama bin Laden. At one point during the interview, Rather asked, “And if we were to capture Mr. bin Laden, how would we try him?” At that point, it took all my strength not to pull out a revolver and shoot out the television screen (Bond villain style). Mr. bin Laden? What the hell did that guy do to warrant being referred to as a mister?

Just yesterday, the same kind of thing happened again. I was reading an article about the Washington DC snipers. In the article, the reporter referred to John Lee Malvo, the seventeen-year-old suspect, as “Mr. Malvo.” First of all, this Malvo kid is seventeen years old. His age doesn’t command that kind of respect to begin with. Besides that, let’s keep in mind that this kid sniped civilians for sport. Once somebody commits a murder, nobody will hold it against you if you don’t make an effort to kiss the culprit’s ass. When was the last time you heard somebody say “Mr. Hitler?” The last time anybody said that was probably in the mid-1940’s–and I’ll wager that person was speaking German.

I wonder if this whole “Mr.” business is only exclusive to the American style of journalism. Maybe some UK reporters do the same thing. All I know is, it’s silly. It just serves as another example of how political correctness has gotten terribly out of hand. Even when there’s nobody to offend except for the offenders, people in the American media are still too scared to show their disapproval. Well screw that. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Mr. bin Laden, Mr. Malvo, and Mr. John Allen Muhammad are all naughty men, and they need a time out. Harsh words, I know. But somebody had to say it.