Blonde on Blonde: The Arizona Shooting; Ghosts; and Light Bulbs

As the discourse between Deirdre Imus and her husband reached a fevered pitch today about whether one of them complains too much, it seemed appropriate to address the issue of violent rhetoric in American culture, which Lis Wiehl believes would be difficult to change.
 
“We are a country of the First Amendment, we live and breathe by the First Amendment,” said Wiehl, the legal half of Blonde on Blonde, referring to the very important right to freedom of speech.
 
In the wake of last Saturday’s shootings in Arizona, where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 13 others were wounded and six people were killed, much attention has been given to the often over-the-top, hostile metaphors and figures of speech employed be the media, and by politicians on both sides of the aisle. Even though, as Imus noted, there has been no indication whatsoever that Jared Loughner, the gunman, was politically motivated.
 
There are signs, however, that he’s got a few screws loose, though Lis doubts he will be declared legally insane. “When he gets on MySpace just hours before the shooting and he writes, ‘Goodbye friends. Don’t be mad at me’—why would you be mad at him unless he knew he was going to be doing something wrong?” Lis, a former prosecutor, said. “So it seems to me that is a giveaway that he knew right from wrong.”
 
Among the first people to politicize this issue was Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, who just hours after the incident blamed Loughner’s actions on “the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business.”
 
“He’s not sticking to the facts, which is what his job is,” Deirdre said, and agreed with her husband, who observed that Dupnik is “a long way from Wyatt Earp.”
 
So is a recent study that found two-thirds of pet owners in this country believe their dogs have a sixth-sense. Deirdre “absolutely” agreed, and knowingly sounded crazy as she described an encounter between Gibson, one of the dogs at the Imus Ranch, and a ghost.  
 
But her husband backed her up, telling the story of a beautiful, but very sick Afghani girl who had attended the Ranch and then sadly died a few years later. Not long after, workers repairing flood damage during the off-season reported seeing a little girl with braids wandering around the compound. Around that time, Deirdre witnessed Gibson walking down the hallway, growling at what seemed like nothing. 
 
On second glance, Deirdre claims, she also saw the apparition, leading Bernard to wonder, “What was that definition of legally insane?”
 
Whatever it is, it probably includes willingly eating a light bulb, as Todd Robbins, star of the off-Broadway show “Play Dead,” did the other night at Imus on Broadway. Knowing Lis would appreciate the anecdote, Imus recounted Deirdre’s interaction with Robbins backstage following his fine performance.
 
“She starts lecturing him, and says, ‘Do you realize how toxic it is?’” Imus said. “It’s a light bulb!”
 
-Julie Kanfer