Revolution in the air

By Joe Spear
Free Press Editor

When I made a reference to revolution in a recent editorial, the feedback was surprising, and slightly scary.

One comment came from a regular "My View" contributor who was appalled I made reference to hoping the next revolution wouldn't need "cannons." I guess it was sort of an off-hand reference to the American Revolution, but that the loose use, even if metaphorical, of weapons is certainly not my usual style. Seemed like a convenient crunch to give some spark to the opinion.

Such use leaves too much room for emotional interpretation in these times where shooting up workplaces and schools is all too frequent.

The other comment came from the other side, the dark side you might say: an anonymous sympathy card for my loss, and some hand-written scrawl saying something like, "If you didn't notice, the revolution has already started."

Kind of scary. Kind of creepy. As a writer, I will be more careful about my light treatment of weapons metaphors. Lesson learned, I guess.

In an interesting coincidence, this week, we also carried the story of a Blue Earth County deputy who made, he says, a joking reference to "shooting the place up" in reference to his unhappiness with a union contract. The sheriff's office didn't get the joke. He's been charged with a felony.