"...Shock DJs...whose cruelty and profanity amuse us all!" - Bart Simpson

It was a random comment someone made on Facebook the other day, in reference to this Anthony Cumia person, of "Opie and Anthony," a pair of shock jocks on the satellite radio that people on long car rides listen to out of sheer boredom.

Last week, late one night, Cumia went to Times Square in New York City and pulled out his camera to start taking pictures of people.

Who does that, outside of a Walmart?

Anyway, a woman did not like him taking pictures of her, although the law does tend to favor his side of it.  They got into a tussle, a melee, a fracas, you might say.  He took her picture, she didn't like it, words were exchanged.  That used to be where it ended.

But this is 2014, so Cumia had to go on Twitter to tell his story and say some really nasty things about the woman, and because his rants were so hate-filled, he was fired by the satellite radio network that people listen to on long car rides.

And then it was really on!  Fans of his radio show piled on, erroneously claiming that his First Amendment rights were being infringed upon.  The Constitution does not forbid your employer from firing you for making insane statement, however.

Cumia's posh Long Island home

And then the other side weighed in, saying that Cumia should have just stayed in his posh Long Island home and not bothered people by waving his camera at them.

And then came the comment I saw:

"When did being obnoxious become acceptable?"

They pay him millions
and he still can't be nice

A good question.  It seems to me that we - and by 'we' I mean most every person in the world except for a few cloistered religious who only speak to call the others in for vespers and meals, and lighthouse keepers on the rocky coast of Maine - all have a tendency to say things we shouldn't.  I'm certainly well ahead of the pack on that one, and I do try to stop picking on fools as often as I do.  But to call other people vicious hurtful names because they don't like posing for your late-night pictures in public places?  To wish that politicians would die in fiery infernos?  To post pictures of others photoshopped to look like they were doing something awful? To leave your shopping cart rolling around in the parking lot so it hits another car? To use vulgar language in public for the shock value of it?  To humiliate a service worker whose first language is not English?

We can do better than that.