John Cochran, Humor Guru

Cheers:

Professor David Solomon:Professor David Solomon: The popular philosophy professor was recently honored by the The Center for Bioethics and Culture and the Paul Ramsey Nominating Committee as the 2013 recipient of the prestigious Paul Ramsey Award for Excellence in Bioethics. Solomon is the founder and director emeritus of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture (CEC) and a longtime member of Notre Dame’s philosophy department. Current CEC director Carter Snead had this to say of Solomon upon hearing of his selection: “We all owe him a debt of gratitude for his courage, his vision and his friendship.”

US Senators: In a bizarre and uncharacteristic moment of clear, unemotional thinking, US Senators blocked Obama’s recently proposed gun-control bill. Sadly, knowing our representatives, this is likely to be a cheer with a rather short expiration date.

Margaret Thatcher: In memoriam. The first female, and longest serving prime minister of United Kingdom during the 20th century, Thatcher successfully governed throughout the 80s and 90s with a brand of conservatism that earned her the nickname the “Iron Lady.”

Jeers

Melissa Harris-Perry: In  a promotional piece for the Propaganda Department of the Communi… news network MSNBC, commentator and part-time race-baiter Harris-Perry remarked that “we have to break through our kind of private idea that ‘kids belong to their parents’… and recognize that kids belong to whole communities.” Yikes.

Kermit Gosnell: Abortions tend to be jeer-worthy around here, but the heinousness of the ‘abortions’ performed by this physician are beyond description. Major news coverage has been less-than-forthcoming (no surprise), but perhaps the details of the case will spark a franker discussion of this issue—and more robust protection of the most innocent among us.

Whoever bombed the Boston Marathon: Rounding out the awfulness that is this issue’s jeer section is the terror attack during the Boston Marathon. While the crime needs no further elaboration, Americans once again displayed their true spirit, from the marathoners who donated blood immediately after finishing the race, to the heroic first responders.