On Vandalism

by John Thompson

March, 2004

A March 2004 Letter to the Editor (Alas, unpublished) in reaction to the spray painting of a Jewish cemetery. The opinion stands.

I hate vandalism and I hate vandals. The pusillanimous pinheads that choose to scribble some semi-literate slogan with a spray can on a church or synagogue by cover of dark evidently have not got the guts to speak openly, and so have nothing that is worth saying. Daubing a swastika on a gravestone or a peace sign on a war memorial mars both the memory and the craftsmanship of much better people than the vandal can ever be, and is a graphic illustration of the inadequacies and worthlessness of these midnight misanthropes. My real regret in dealing with these bipedal cockroaches is that, alas, the cane (or better yet, a public flogging) is no longer available as a suitable means of judicial chastisement… vandals deserve no less.

J. Thompson

Toronto.