One of my New Year's resolutions was to quit using the word "stupid." It has become inflammatory and politically incorrect, although I was raised in a time when it wasn't a cuss word, it was a description.

Feelings got hurt and, as a culture, we decided we're too sensitive to face the human shortcomings of ignorance. American egos are fragile and flaccid things.

I wonder if we can all get behind a common definition of stupid and move toward a dialogue that has balance, instead of veering left and right like drunks in a Porsche.

The definition is this: Stupid is about choosing ignorance. Anyone with an ounce of self-determination can learn whatever they want. Stupid doesn't want to learn.

My philosophy is "know what you don't know." It requires that I not only acknowledge my ignorance, but I also must rectify it. It is basic self-preservation.

The easily offended and defensive stances of the neo-conservatives that bullied us through 20 years of elections appealed to false fears and ignorance and got their way. For now, we can only wait and see what happens, and give the benefit of the doubt for the outcome.

On the other hand, the media and administration play their own games and push buttons for effect. Case in point: Joe Biden commenting that gun control could be a matter of executive order.

Is he trying to start a civil war? To what end? Is this some planted story from either side for some obtuse purpose?

The ones that profit most from this kind of eye-poking are selling guns and ammunition in vastly increasing quantities. Billions are being made by manipulating an off-hand statement. Now imagine the scale of that comment, over time, as it becomes fodder for the treacherous. More guns, more money, more fear, more death.

I feel certain he had a stupid moment, along the lines of Mitt Romney's "binders of women" statement that slammed our televisions in the election. What a ridiculous game that insults us all. It's a game capable of killing us.

I'd tell Biden he might stop and learn about the red states, and stop burying his noggin in the hype. He obviously doesn't respect the gun religion, and that's just the start.

Mary Hart-Detrixhe is a lifelong resident of the prairie and Ellis County. Her work can be found at www.janeQaverage.com.