Washington, DC - Kathy Griffin crossed the line and CNN did the right thing in firing her. Griffin recently did a photo shoot holding up a decapitated bloody head resembling President Donald Trump. What she did was obscene and there was nothing funny about depicting violence toward another person. Griffin was terminated from the annual New Year's Eve program hosted by Anderson Cooper and Griffin. Anderson Cooper remarked that he was "appalled by the photo shoot and that the picture was disgusting and completely inappropriate," according to CNN.com.
Griffin apologized for the photos saying, "I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far. I made a mistake and I was wrong," according to a post on Instagram.
The photograph was taken by celebrity photographer Tyler Shields who later took down the photograph as requested by Griffin.
The photo was a stupid stunt by Griffin and by photographer Shields both guilty of losing all sense of reason.
For the last decade and more we have heard too many times about Islamic extremists cutting off the heads of contractors and journalists and others taken hostage. Americans and people around the world have shuddered as good people have been tortured and decapitated for the world to see. Such acts have been carried out by the most evil and heinous depraved persons of the world. Is this the kind of person Kathy Griffin wants to be?
Everyone who has the opportunity to be a comedian, entertainer, public speaker or television personality has a lifelong opportunity to say something stupid or just be stupid in general. Every day is a life of guarded speech and guarded life decisions. It's easy to blurt out something accidentally and blow a career. It's also within a human's ability to literally orchestrate a moment such as Griffin and self-destruct. Griffin probably hasn't totally blown her career but losing the New Year's Eve gig is probably something she won't regain. On the other hand some far left wing liberal media group will probably embrace her and offer her another show or spotlight her in some way.
It's only been recently that our President Donald Trump was recorded saying something on a bus that was vile and ignorant about grabbing women in a certain offensive way. His statement did not cost him the election but it was an ignorant and ugly statement.
Statements and actions can go from the obscene insane to just making up big lies such as Brian Williams did on NBC nightly news. Williams admitted he, "Said things that were not true," back in June 2015. He lost his NBC anchor chair but has bounced back a bit by his new role on MSNBC, which is not exactly a shabby position.
It seems the last few years that people have said whatever they wanted to say and we want free speech. Yet, Griffin crossed the line too far and demonstrated there is still a line that can't be crossed, way; way out there and she managed to get there with a lot of help from Shields.
We all have heard that no man can tame the tongue and out of the same mouth come blessings and cursing.
I wonder if Griffin's recent stunt will help any of us in America? Is there any possible chance that we might think a little more about what we say or in Griffin's case, what we depict ourselves doing? Often it only takes a spark to get a fire going. While Griffin suspected there would be a firestorm from her picture, I don't think she ever imagined the severity of the burns. Most people who play with fire never do.
Glenn Mollette is a syndicated columnist and author of eleven books. He is read in all fifty states.
