Oh for . . .

First, read this. And then this.

Okay, no argument, Richard Stack put both feet firmly in his mouth - after completely disengaging his brain. No question he should have been called on his comment, right then and there, by the "dozens of staff members" or by the parents who were reportedly present (the two news accounts vary on that). He should have been made to retract it and admit that it was a stupid and thoughtless thing to say. That's where it should have ended.

Instead, the school board has not only canceled his next appearance in their district, they've banned him from appearing at a school in the area ever again.

Four things come to mind about this:

First of all, the fact that it took three days for the parent(s) to figure out that they and their children were hurt and offended by it. Hurt and offended enough to complain to the school board. I don't know about you, but it rarely takes three days for me to figure out how I feel about something - I usually know within a second or two. So what was going on for those three days? Were they plotting strategy? Working themselves up by fueling the grapevine? Trying to deal with the school and getting nowhere? Badmouthing Richard? Getting their children debriefed from the incredibly traumatizing event of having someone say something stupid? What?

Second, why wasn't this dealt with on a school level? Given that the media hasn't recorded any other complaints from any other appearances, and in fact had no negative comments relating to that appearance other than the "get naked" line, the single comment should have been referred to the principal of the school in which it happened - this wasn't an issue that needed the school board involved.

Third. The parents who weren't there, who didn't see or hear it, who may or may not have had their children present, and may or may not have had their children relate what happened, support the school board's action of forever banning the author from his fans in their school district. Whatever happened to hearing both sides, and judging dispassionately, and making up your own mind on the evidence in front of you?

Finally, and this really scares me, the email list I heard about this on (a children's writers list) overwhelmingly agrees with the decision - to ban the author for life, from the entire district, for one single, stupid comment. The man did not attack the child. The man did not suggest the child engage in immoral acts. The man did not say or do ANYTHING that aroused the suspicions or ire of anyone present in the room at the time in a way that prompted them to act immediately to intervene in what was going on. And the discussion has veered to "what he really meant" and is gradually moving over to the conclusion that the man must be a closet pedophile or he never would have said something like this. It's not quite that bald, it's implied and in between the lines, but it's there.

People are happy to condemn someone for a stupid comment, to destroy not only his livelihood, as this brouhaha seems to be headed toward, but are also willing to insinuate that he's one of society's greatest nightmares simply because the man spoke before he thought. We're happy to ban someone from something forever because of one stupid comment.

This really, really scares me.