I regret to inform you…

I was declared dead, again, for rhetorical purposes.

The MSNBC 11th Hour anchor opened his broadcast for February 20, 2020, with the announcement that I, Outrage, had died but was survived by my close kin Apathy. Apparently services are pending.

This was Mr. Williams’ not entirely droll, but clearly pointed way of starting a news broadcast that featured the news that POTUS had apparently fired his Acting Director of National Intelligence because that person’s staff in accordance with their lawful job duties held a briefing that featured intelligence information confirming statements made by St. Robert Mueller, to the effect, that employees of the GRU were already carrying out their assigned tasks to disrupt the 2020 U.S. Presidential elections, in favor of a dear friend and associate of their employer who shall not be named.

Mr. Williams, or more directly, to your team of not exactly comedy writers, as the eponymous inspirer of the Mark Twain Comedy Award, noted the reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. See https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/reports-of-my-death-have-been-greatly-exaggerated.

As for the status of my cuz Apathy, as always, A is still around with varying levels of influence.

As for my assumed death in the face of what I must say are several weeks of outrage inducing events, I assure you, I have not, as you so gently put it “died”.

Let me give you some closely held information, outrage does not die. It can moult and leave previous incarnations of itself littered about like certain insects and snakes. A key feature of outrage qua outrage, is this: outrage is good at allowing itself to be buried and exist in a seemingly dormant but unseen state. This version of outrage comes in a variety of flavors which may have short or long term periods of obvious exposure. Some instances of expression become permanent or at the very least have long lasting consequences and may become historic touchstones.

Consider: Paddy Chayefsky’s creation the disaffected television newscaster Howard Beale pronounced “I’m Mad As Hell And I’m Not Going To Take It Any More!” in the movie Network, thus creating infotainment and the 24-hour news cycle and reality TV. This of course has now resulted in our present political and constitutional crises. As I said, outrage, does not die. It does produce a great many seemingly unintended consequences, including the outcome of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.

Yours sincerely,

The Goddess Eris

Image of the Goddess Eris from an Attic Plate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eris_(mythology)