Grrrrrrrr.

I didn't have to dig deep for this one...it's been on the national news...but it angered me at such a primitive level that I had to talk about it.

Charges possible for toppled ancient Utah rock

So...you've got a couple of chuckleheads at Goblin Valley State Park in Utah, a park known for its strangely eroded rock formations. 

picture from A Trish out of Water.

 

Looking like nothing so much as a couple of drunk college students, Chuckleheads one and two knock a large boulder off it's perch, while chucklehead #3 films it all, and they all record raucous high-fives when they are done.

 

But...even worse then destroying a millenniums old geological structure is the excuse they have been clinging to since this story went public: They did it for the children!

 

Yup...they noticed as one of the kids(Oh yeah...they are frigging Boy Scout Troop leaders!) was climbing on the rock in question, it seemed unstable.  So, they knocked it over to keep some kid from getting hurt on it.  And that is the story they are clinging to like a drowning man. 

 

Here's a better answer: How's about you not let your Boy Scouts climb over unique geological formations like they are a school yard jungle gym?  Then they don't have to worry about hurting themselves on a rock.

 

The state of Utah is still deciding if they want to press charges, and I pray that the answer is yes...and I am also upset that the Boy Scouts haven't been more public in disowning these guys.  I guess the lesson is, Gay Troop Leaders are bad, idiots who destroy irreplaceable rock formations are okay though.

 

This is exactly the kind of place where public punishment would be the best solution.  While you could probably convince me that the death penalty is warranted, it seems something like tar and feathering, or 48 hours in stocks in front of a mall in Salt Lake City would be a more appropriate solution.

 

Heinlein does have something to say about that, though:



 

“Stupidity cannot be cured. Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death. There is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.”