Not long ago, I came across a writer who used the term, beyond the pale, in describing some act he deemed unacceptable. Dictionaries have defined the term as “beyond the limits of acceptable behavior”.
This idea is derived from English and Irish history in the 14th century. The origin of “beyond the pale” goes back to the 14th century in England and Ireland. The four eastern counties of Meath, Louth, Dublin, and Kildare were the “obedient shires” and the only part of Ireland remaining under the control of the English crown.
People would mark the “King’s perimeter” using wooden fencing known as “pales.” The settlement would fortify the boundary over the centuries, providing protection against cattle and livestock feed ransacking.
Those people living within the borders of the “Pale ditch” received protection from the crown. Those “beyond the pale” were subject to the savage laws of the Irish, with no protection from the crown. (this comes from a web site called English-Grammer-Lessons.com) It also was used in Russia, denoting where Jews were to live, which continued from 1791 to 1917.
Now when one uses ‘beyond the pale,’ it suggests actions and ideas that violate what normal, moral humans accept as reasonable and right.
What does this mean in our national discourse in 2022? Just a few of these will show that one group of politicians and activities have been acting and advocating policies that are ‘beyond the pale.’
Is not killing unborn children ‘beyond the pale’? Those who advocate for abortion on demand seem to believe that this bloody procedure is a right enjoyed by all women. Since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973, more than 63 million babies have been eliminated, predominately in the black community.
Beyond the pale? Unfettered illegal immigration on our southern border qualifies for this epithet. Those who have pushed for this have caused an influx of over 1.4 million illegals this fiscal year (2022, which ends on 30 September). An increase has been seen this past week, which prompted Texas Governor Greg Abbott to quip that if this keeps up it will be the equivalent of Houston’s population entering his state by year’s end. Can you truly say this is not beyond the pale?
Transgenderism is far beyond the pale! Only those whose IQ is below that of my beloved dogs and cats (combined) can believe that a man can become a woman and a women can become a man. Back in my day, biology stood for something — scientific truth, and those who push trans (including our President* Mush for brains) are willingly going beyond that which is acceptable in ‘polite’ society.
What about the COVID response, the mask mandates? Study after study proves that those masks we were required to wear did nothing; governments federal, state and local proved their policies were beyond the pale.
COVID spending was in that territory, also. In a misguided effort to help Americans, all of us are hit by inflation that will make the stimulus checks we received to be woefully inadequate to equal the amount that we are now paying for goods and services. Thank the feds, who went beyond the pale in order to make themselves feel good, but saddled us with increasing prices far into the future.
Policies pushed for education are in that same territory. Critical Race Theory, sex education for children as young as five years old, drag queen shows for elementary students — the list could go on and on. But our ‘betters’, the self-identified ‘elites’ in America seem to push those acceptable ideas which are and ever will be truly beyond the pale.
Energy policy? Under our low energy President*, that part of his agenda is far beyond the pale. Former President Trump had America energy independent for the first time in 70 years, but Biden canceled pipelines (Keystone XL and others), denied drilling permits on federal lands and refused to allow drilling on large swaths of land which had huge amounts of oil and gas beneath them. Now we are importing oil, with Gropey Joe now in Saudi Arabia trying to beg the Saudis to pump more oil to help out our gas prices. Actually, the proponent of said policy is what (or who) is beyond the pale.
What can we do about this? That is an easy question to answer. Elect men and women to political offices who have common sense, who are grounded in scientific truth and conservative values, and we will see few, if any, policies and ideas which are beyond the pale.