There are Republicans in office in this country I respect but Senator Tommy Tuberville from Alabama is not one of them. I have the feeling that even some of the people who vote for him don't particularly respect him. A lot of politics these days strikes me as Republicans who think the world as we know it will come to an end if a Democrat is elected versus Democrats who think the same thing about Republicans.
So they vote not for the person who seems to be the smartest or the most honest or even the one who'll do the most for them. They vote for the person of their party who's most likely to win and keep the office in question away from the other party. They might prefer a different person in their party or even, on rare occasions, someone not in their party…but they vote for the person most likely to win. It's why Donald Trump won't lose certain supporters even if he's convicted of every count in every indictment and meanwhile, video surveillance footage turns up of him molesting E. Jean Carroll.
Senator Tuberville has lately been blocking military promotions even though senior military officials say he's damaging our forces. He's also done lots of things that his colleagues on the "R" side of the aisle would consider treasonous if they were done by a Democrat… things that some of us think are wrong when done by someone in either party. He also seems to think it's hilarious — and indicative of being unfit to serve, those times when Joe Biden has fallen down.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Al., has been metaphorically summoned by the karma police after a clip of him falling down some airplane stairs calls to memory the many times he mocked President Biden for his own ambulatory accidents. Tuberville's tumble took place on Wednesday while exiting the aircraft, at which point he appears to have lost his footing, causing him to slide down quite a distance, losing his grip on the luggage he'd been grasping in each hand as he made his way down.
As Newsweek points out in their coverage of this clip, Tuberville yucked it up with reporters back in July over Biden experiencing a similar difficulty, saying, "You watch Joe Biden over in Europe. I mean, I'm afraid he's going to fall down every time I turn on television."
And the article from which I'm quoting (this one) and others online say that Democrats are having a merry time of it mocking Tuberville. You want to know what I think?
No, you probably don't but this is my blog so if you don't want to know what I think, you shouldn't be reading this. What I think is that a person — especially an older person falling down is not funny and I have a really, really low opinion of someone who would laugh at that kind of thing. People die from falls…or sustain injuries that plague them for the rest of their lives. And yes, I'm 71 years old (mostly around the knees) so I have a self-interest there but I've felt this way since my age was in single digit. I never thought there was a scintilla of humor in someone injuring themselves for real.
And before someone makes the inevitable comment: Yes, I love movies starring people like Laurel & Hardy, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, dozens of others not in their class like The Three Stooges. Yes, I love It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and many other movies and TV shows in which people fall down. That's different. That's a movie. That's not real. When you see someone murdered in a movie, you don't have the same reaction you'd have if you saw someone being murdered in real life. At least for your sake, I hope you don't.
But I can remember a number of times over the years when I was present when someone fell and I was horrified by the reaction of some onlookers. When I was about twenty-two, I was dating a lady who somehow had a knack for being present when someone injured themselves…and it was a good thing she was. She was a Physical Education instructor at a junior college but she'd received extensive trading in First Aid. At times, I felt like I was out with a paramedic.
One night we were in Westwood Village and an older woman — about the age I am now — was walking down four steps in front of the old Hungry Tiger restaurant. We didn't see what caused it but we heard a scream and turned to see her hit the bricks (it was all bricks) having fallen down hard. Three seconds later, I was running towards her to help and my lady friend was three seconds ahead of me.
I very vividly remember that scream. And I remember the sound of laughter…people laughing at that poor lady. I still don't understand why that was funny to anyone.
Not everyone laughed. A lot of people tried to help. My lady friend took my handkerchief and used it to try and stop some bleeding. Someone announced, "I'll call an ambulance" and headed off to do so with others asking, "Do you need change?" No cell phones in those days…just pay phones. My job suddenly was to keep people back. A lot of folks wanted to crowd in and look and some, for a reason I will never understand, to laugh. My lady friend and I took command of the situation until an ambulance pulled up — we were about four blocks from U.C.L.A. Medical Center — and the professionals could take over.
Two or three dates later, almost the exact same thing happened outside the Ahmanson Theater downtown: A woman about the same age. A few steps she couldn't navigate. People laughing. I think some of those who saw it happen even applauded like it was done for their amusement. The same lady friend rushed to help her out. She was with me other times when similar things happened. Both us us were really thrown by the laughing and I think I turned to one of them who was amused to be looking at a 70+ year old woman who might have just broken her leg. I think I said, "There's no point in you standing there. She's not going to do an encore for your amusement!"
I didn't understand it then. I don't understand it now. Yeah, there's a little karma in Tommy Tuberville taking a spill…but funny? Not in the least, no matter who did it.