Be shrill

It's not bad to be divisive for good purpose | Andrée Seu

Illustration by Krieg Barrie

I hate the word shrill. I mean I have a visceral reaction to it. I'm sure there is a legitimate use for the adjective that denotes a "high-pitched or piercing tone or sound"—like dog training. But I never hear that use of it. Since my radio is more often turned to political than canine news, I get to hear shrill as an ad -hominem, and it makes my skin crawl.

"Ridge Calls Limbaugh 'Shrill'" is the silliest headline I have read in ages. It crystallizes all the reasons I find better things to do than follow politics. I picture the local elementary school newspaper, The Glenside Bears, running with the lead story "Johnny Calls Eddie Dorky."

For the record, if there is one word that singularly does not apply to Rush Limbaugh, it is shrill. Anyone who has heard him over the years, and who will care to admit it, will be impressed that he speaks as a free man (in stark contrast to the pack that is after him). May as well rewrite Independence Day and call Patrick Henry shrill: "Give me liberty or give me death!"