Pushing the boundaries

Of course, the British tabloids had a field day with the photo of Prince Harry at a costume “bad taste” party. His German military attire with a swastika arm band drew immediate criticism from the press and outrage from many. (A party-goer had a camera with a cell phone – ahhh, technology!) A personal statement from Prince Harry himself is expected. An emailer sent me a note this morning wondering what pushes a costume into the acceptable range? Obviously objects of terror are the stuff of dress-up: Satan, Dracula, a mobster – that’s expected. But Bin Laden? A Nazi? You’ve crossed the line. It was said today on the news that this event will be there to haunt Harry for the rest of his life.

So why is it that I wasn’t shocked to read the story of the costume? Is it because I think that the British tolerance level for offbeat jokes of this nature is higher than our own? Yesterday, as an addendum to my post on Blair's dwindling hair, a reader sent a link to a photo from the Blair campaign back in 2001, when the Tories attempted to discredit the Labor Party. Would this have been an acceptable campaign ad here, or would it have backfired? [I think the latter.]