Ravnsborg, Toobin and the caprice in our lives

I remember the word "caprice" as description of the Grimm Fairy Tales. It described the nature of mid-European life in that setting. I also remember Roger Ebert saying that Hollywood, much as it tried, had never truly replicated the "eerie" quality of the Grimm tales. 

Are elementary school kids still exposed to this material? My sense is that there could be political correctness issues. The stories belong so far in the remote past, maybe it's not practical anyway. It would of course give a lens to those times, always an instructive thing. Ah, "Chanticleer." 

Well, caprice is an element we are most reminded of today. Careful as we may plot our lives, everything can get upended out of the blue. It's not a matter of a deliberate misstep. Let's say it's circumstances or as Curly Howard would pronounce, "SOYcumstance." Jason Ravnsborg and Jeffrey Toobin have been victims of "circumstance" lately. Both were involved in an incident that will follow them the rest of their lives. They have been plunged into notoriety. 

Part of us might think "there but for the grace of God go I." Can any of us say we have never had our attentiveness slip a little when driving? Can any of us say we have never gotten at least a little drowsy when at the wheel? Especially, maybe, when driving through the boring landscape of the Dakotas? Oh, not that we don't have a lot of this in Minnesota or any rural part of the country. 

Have you been pulled over for speeding? Aren't you irritated with the way a patrolman will lecture or scold you, as if only a rank idiot would let the speedometer creep up to 65 or 70 MPH? In the wide open spaces? Yes, they talk to you like that. But we all know we can let our guard down in the wide-open rural country. 

So we're looking at Highmore SD, the name of which will now be attached to a fatal incident for a long time, probably forever. The South Dakota attorney general was at the wheel of the car in question. We are maybe torn over whether we should really beat up on the guy. The late Bill Janklow was famous for ranting about speed limits across his state of South Dakota. He killed someone with his lapse in judgment, a guy on a motorcycle. Even after the incident, he couldn't back off from comments in his usual vein. I was amazed at that. 

Jason Ravnsborg ("newsbreak" image)

And now we have the case of the SD attorney general, fellow named Jason Ravnsborg. A name like that makes it easy to zero in with Googling. Look up the guy now and there's an endless succession of links related to his infamous episode. Finally we got word that he had committed "distracted driving." We have not heard yet what the distraction was. He was driving home at night from the frivolous affair of a Republican Party fundraiser. How much money was raised at the event compared to the cost of investigation of the fatal accident? 

Ravnsborg wiped out a guy on foot. His vehicle was rendered non-driveable. Yet he reported at first not being sure what he hit. He claimed it was in the middle of the road but it turned out not to be. Shall we condemn him? That is a good question at this point. We are reminded of the sheer power of a motor vehicle. How easily we can overlook that. 

We hear so much about distracted driving. The law is still catching up to this. Some notorious incidents have resulted in punishment far less than what we might expect. So what will happen with Ravnsborg? Good question. I find it strange he has not resigned as attorney general. He's in the prevailing political party in South Dakota but that should not matter. 

Ravnsborg obviously showed insufficient concentration, and for that he needs to face consequences. I cannot find it in myself to condemn him. Driving at night at highway speed entails more danger, I'm sure, than many of us bother to think about. If I were a pedestrian? Well, I think I'd take a few steps into the ditch when a vehicle was approaching. That's just me. 

Jeffrey Toobin

OK what about Jeffrey Toobin? You snicker. You make a face. Here's a case where we might talk about "throwing the first stone." Bill Maher speaks in disgust about how he once shook Toobin's hand. Amazing: Maher is a guy, apparently, who has never ever engaged in "self-stimulation," my preferred term. 

Sexual impulses cause a kaleidoscope of problems for people everywhere, yet these problems are shrouded by such taboo, we cannot confront them or get help for people who need help confronting them. We have gotten over the taboo on being gay, largely. 

How many people are criminally punished for behavior where they had sexual impulses consuming them, commanding them, yes leaving them basically helpless IMHO? The unacceptable behavior must be attacked, of course, like for the Catholic priests. Kevin Bacon was in a movie about a pedophile, a movie that tried to get us to understand such people while at the same time recognizing that there are innocent victims who had to be protected. 

I wish Toobin had been brought on the air immediately in the aftermath to just do his thing, a superb legal commentator. We'd all get over it so fast. 

To refresh, he was caught in the act when he didn't know his laptop camera was on. Ah, the caprice of being caught in an unguarded moment, as with Ravnsborg and his lapse in driving - it only took seconds. Oh my. As advanced as our civilization has become since the Grimm tales, the caprice and fragility of our lives seem much the same, don't they?

 

Addendum: The Kevin Bacon movie was "The Woodsman" (2004). 

 

My podcast for November 6

As of noon today (Friday) there is no certain presidential winner. What would it take for Trump to concede? He'll just keep putting forward lawsuits forever. Don't you realize that? Please listen to my "Morris Mojo" podcast for today:

https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Post-election--still-uncertainty-em49fc

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com