GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN MY ASS

This morning on the news we were greeted with headlines about the "government shut down" "entering its second day". We wonder: is this the headline they use every weekend? The government shuts down for at least two days every week! 

These "government shutdowns" do practically nothing but give thousands of government workers an unannounced vacation with pay. Yet every time a Republican refuses to bend to Democrat will to the point of not authorizing a budget, the Democrats seek to get everybody all stirred up about nothing. And since the Republican we are discussing here is Donald John Trump, the efforts to magnify the possible consequences run to ridiculous lengths.

The buzz words Democrats are using right now are that President Trump is having a "temper tantrum"; but the only ones we see stamping their feet and protesting are the Dems. They are in a snit because since Trump has been instrumental in changing criminal sentencing guidelines that disproportionately keep black people in prison longer thst needed and indeed has been shown to have benefitted blacks and other minorities in solid ways that the Democrats have not (despite rosy promises abandoned once the victory has been achieved at the polls). Black folks are stunned at how this man - painted as a "racist" by the Democrat propaganda machine - has sought to inprove their lot in solid ways and not just with words but with actions. Those knee-jerk black Democrat votes are showing signs of drying up.  So now they are trying to play the illegal alien card: the one where they use illegals to stand in for dead people at the polls. 

Ever since President Trump was elected the Democrats have been hearing the Gotterdammerung sounding ever louder and have gotten ever more panicked. However, we remember - and you can look it up in the annals of this blog - how at several points we feared Trump was deliberately trying to lose the election and hand the Presidency over to Hillary Clinton. As it turned out, he knew what he was doing then, and he knows what he is doing now. And he will win this one, too. 

Hail Trump.

THE TWIN PILLARS HOLDING UP THE HYPOCRISY AND DOUBLE,STANDARDS OF THE LEFT

Ever wonder how so many lefties can assert two three four or more things that wildly contradict each other and assure the listener with straight-faced confidence that every word he or she has asserted is true? Do they really believe this crap? 

In most cases, yes. This is because they have in many cases been trained by people like the ridiculously named 'bell hooks" (yes, just like that with no caps) to believe in two things that dxon't exist in reality. These two things are "white privilege" and "intersectionality".

Oddly enough when you ask what "white privelege" is you are likely to get a reply of "Well, what do you think it is?" and then when youj've supplied your own answer the questioner says "Exactly!" and starts on a diatribe. 

As to "Intersectionality", well, this posits that all "oppression" and oppressed groups and people "intersect" sorta like follows: It's okay to give Jews shit because they bought black folks from Moslems and sold them to white folks. but Moslems can't be touched because they are against the oppressing Jews; and white folks are fair game since especially white men sit on every other group; and especially women and children are to  be believed when they bring especially sexual accusations against especially white males (but against Moslems and Democrats not so much. And blah blah blah it's all such a load of shit; but they have some kids and young adults buying it and thinking it's sandwich spread instead of horse shit. Juggle the balls in the appropriate manner and you can justify almost every nubar leftist belief as a "quest for justice" or some such crapola. To understand "intersectionality" go stand in the middle of an intersection. It's bad luck to stand in a crossroads, sweeties. You'll get run over.

PETE DAVDISON'S LITTLE SMARTASS REMARK ON SNL

Gentle readers, we are really trying to contain ourselves after finding out that Saturday Night Live regular cast member Pete Davidson made fun of a former Navy SEAL's war wound on the "Weekend Update" portion of the show. 

Davidson displayed a picture of the veteran (Dan Crenshaw, who is running for Congress as a Republican) and referring to the eyepatch the man wears (due to the eye he lost in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan) said: "You might be surprised to know that he's a congressional candidate from Texas and not a hitman in a porno movie." Davidson then said: "I'm sorry, I know he lost his eye in war or whatever. Whatever" as he and the other cast members cracked up. 

We looked up some material about Mr. Davidson. He was seven years old when his father, a New York City firefighter, died in the collapse of the world trade center. He has his father's badge number tattooed on his arm. He also suffers from Chron's disease and has said that he is incapable of performing without the use of cannabis. 

So we wonder what Davidson would say to Crenshaw's kids about his father? Would he enjoy having to sit and listen to someone making fun of the way his Dad died? 

We rather doubt that Davidson's father would be proud to learn that his son is a farty little pothead who makes jokes about the price a war veteran has played in keeping him free. We wonder if he has been fired yet. 

Also we personally think Davidson looks like he's homosexual. Maybe his "fiancee'" dumped him because she found out Davidson just wanted her for a "beard". HAHAHA how's it feel, you little creep?

FINAL COUNTDOWN TO THE 2018 MID TERM ELECTIONS

We have not posted here for a few weeks because all the hubbub about these mid-terms has been like the blast from a fire hose. Democrats are pulling out every stop and pulling every dirty trick and propaganda ploy they can think of to try to capture at least control of the House of Representatives. 

Races are so close that no one knows really how it will all work out; polls have been lately so politically biased that it's hard to tell where statistics end and bullshit begins. And in the middle of all this comes a "Caravan" of hispanic aliens waving foreign flags and bragging that they cannot be stopped from entering the United States. This cannot be allowed, and President Trump has been forced to warn them away and advise them that they will NOT enter this country. Of course the Democrats pounced on that with the usual tired old cries of "racism"

We of course are hopeful that both houses will remain in Republican hands; but what if the House were to fall to the Dems? We can expect to see the nation's time wasted in futile efforts to oust President Trump that are doomed to die in the Senate; and we will see President Trump use this to expose these new Democrats for the horses' asses they are. It's amazing that Trump's political enemies cannot learn that he is one crafty dude and will hand them their heads before they know they're off their shoulders. 

Of course the only way any of us will be able to affect the outcome is to VOTE. This is important. Come Tuesday get out and vote like the fate of the nation depends on it. Because it does.

AN OPEN LETTER TO CHRISTINE BLASSEY FORD

Madam Doctor Ford;

We here at the Alexandria Daily Poop, having heard all the evidence available concerning your allegation about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavenaugh, and as a former law enforcement officer  have concluded that you are full of crap. However, we also believe your life may be in grave danger, and not from conservatives but from the "progressives" of the Democrat Party. We are not writing here to argue the details of your allegations, but to warn you of what may be done to you by those who are currently using you to derail Mr. Judge Kavenaugh's confirmation. 

My, my Dr. Ford. Did you REALLY expect that all you needed do was throw out a "she-said" accusation and it would be accepted at face value? More importantly did you know the kind of people you were getting involved with and what their motives truly are?  Do you not know that the stakes here are PARAMOUNT to the objectives of the Democrat American Statist Progressives. A dependable majority of the Court would be indispensable to their ramming their agenda down the throats of the American People. And they will stop at nothing bar nothing to attain this, including bloody foul murder, if need be. 

Consider this: Did you find and hire that lawyer of yours on your own, or was she recommended to you by some member of the Democrat Party? Your advisors and counselors in this matter, have you known them before, or are they Democrat Party operatives you hereunto have not met? Are they providing places for you to stay and directing your movements to "help" you? Dear Dr. Ford, THEY ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN ACHIEVING THEIR GOAL OF CONTROL OF THE COURTS! And if your sudden violent death (or suicide) would help them do this, do you or do you not think they would not think twice about it? If the only way to keep up this stall would be a headline in a special edition of the Washington Post saying "KAVENAUGH ACCUSER FOUND DEAD IN WASHINGTON ALLEY" (which would likely put off the vote for at least another couple of weeks); do you think the Democrats would hesitate for a second to arrange it? We believe it likely that that contingency has already been arranged, to be used if need be. 

We do not want you dead, Dr. Ford. Your interference in this matter rankles us to no end, and we support President Trump and Mr. Judge Kavenaugh. But take steps to protect yourself from your new "friends". If they can only stop Kavenaugh's confirmation by sacrificing your life, we believe they will do it. THIS IS NOT A SATIRE. WE ARE SERIOUS. PROTECT YOURSELF!! You have chosen to dance with Satan. He doesn't give a damn about you.

LET'S NAME HURRICANES THE WAY THEY DO FOOTBALL STADIUMS

Heavens to Murgatroyd. All this nonsense in the political arena and now we have a hurricane to deal with. Florence (Or just to be friendly, "Flo") is headed at last glance for the border between the Carolinas, where she is predicted to rapidly weaken to a Category 1 and then turn west by northwest through South Carolina into Tennessee, becoming a tropical system in the process. We probably can tell Flo to "kiss our grits" here in the D.C. area, but still everybody who has Trump Derangement Syndrome around here and in the media nationwide is making plans to blame President Trump no matter what happens. Just today a leftist publication announced that "Yet again" the East Coast is being "threatened" by a major hurricane and that "Trump is complicit". ("Yet again"? The East Coast has not been hit by a hurricane for a record 11 years!)

Trump is to blame for a hurricane? These people are insane. Nevertheless, whatever happens the media will find the worst result and harp on it, even if the worst that happens is some kid's treehouse was blown to flinders while he was safely with his parents in Ohio, they'll make a big deal out of it. And if a high pressure system arises and just blows the whole storm back out to sea, It'll be Trump's fault for ginning up such a disruptive panic. And if a thousand people die and the lights go out some places for days, boy will the leftists make a fine hash out of that.

Well, we heard on Rush that some kook study has found that hurricanes with female names are the most destructive. We also know they are running out of names to use. Here's an idea: Corporate sponsorship of hurricanes. Here's how it would work: A corporation would donate 25 million to FEMA for the right to the name of the storm. Then they could say for example:"This natural disaster brought to you by Nike shoes." See, I got the idea because Nike is already sponsoring the Colin Kaepernick disaster......

Get it? Forget it.

.

SHAPES OF THINGS IN THE NEWS TODAY

We are aware that we haven't been publishing new stuff for a while. But seeing as how we have to work to stay alive, and seeing as how the news is gushing out and changing often the same day it has been announced, it's just not possible for us to put in the time to write about this or that person saying thus and so, only to have this retracted before day's end.  Currently if we were to make a movie about for example the Mueller probe, we'd have to bring back the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges to play the main figures. 

However, we are convinced that this whole thing is actually the death throes of the Washington political establishment, as they try madly to hang ANYTHING on President Trump. And they have destroyed not a few good people in their quest to oust Trump and they will fail. 

There is a Red Tsunami coming in November, and not a "blue wave". Remember that this blog was one of the first nationwide to predict Trump's victory and how he would do it. The Democrat Party has been giving voice to every whack-a-doodle moron in the country. Their "ANTIFA" thugs (comprised of the worst of the "Occupy" hoodlums) wreak havoc wherever they go, acting just like the Sturmabtielung thugs Hitler used to fight in the streets. Their shills on TV are snarky, smarmy and off-putting and their "demands" are ridiculous. The American people do NOT like this behavior, nor do they like the Democrat affinity for illegal aliens and flag-disrespecting overpaid footballers. They clutch at straws to try to hang a "racist" jacket on a conservative Republican who said that Socialism would "monkey things up" --- because the Democrat opposing him is black. 

The Democrat party should have learned from Trump's election that people are tired of the stupid crap they pull. But no, the Democrats are doubling down on it. Our prediction: In November a 50 seat net gain for Republicans and a 13 seat gain in the Senate for Republicans. Now lets see how things shake out!

SENATOR JOHN S. MCCAIN 1939-2018

America lost a great patriot and hero this weekend with the passing of John S. McCain (R-Arizona).  

Mr. McCain has most recently been noted for his opposition to President Donald Trump, who has had for some time an axe to grind with Senator McCain. It was McCain who started the "Russian Collusion" canard rolling when he obtained a copy of the infamous Steele dossier and  gave it to then FBI director James Comey. 

But in our opinion, Trump's decision to disrespect McCain by flying the flag at half-staff for only two days after his death was petty and not worthy of the President of these United States. (President Trump has since come to his senses and ordered the flag to fly at half staff until Senator Mc Cain is buried).

Although we did not often agree with Senator McCain's political positions, he was and remains an American military hero of the first water. He endured savage and brutal torture at the hands of the North Vietnamese government. In the end, he cracked and signed a coerced "confession" of "war crimes". 

We are a member of an organization called "Oath Keepers". This is an organization of people who have taken an Oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against 'ALL enemies foreign and domestic". Certain of this group have called McCain a traitor for breaking under severe torture and claim the North Vietnamese call him "Songbird" for revealing military secrets under torture. We seriously doubt these claims. These claims state that McCain gave the enemy information about deployments of American forces and demonstrated how American weaponry could be defeated, etc.  These claims were made by the Communist generals themselves. We do not believe them. 

Also, McCain was offered release from captivity by the North Vietnamese because he was the son of an American admiral. He refused to be released until all his fellow prisoners were released. Nobody would have blamed him had he accepted. But he stood fast with his fellow warriors. He acquitted himself honorably as a POW.

John McCain served his country all his life. While we do not agree with every position he has held, still we say that he was an American hero and patriot. To his loved ones we offer condolences. and our hope is that his rest is sweet and peaceful. 

He has earned it.

ARETHA FRANKLIN 1942-2018

American "soul music" artist and cultural icon Aretha Franklin passed away today after a brief but grave illness. Specifics of that illness have not been made available at the time of this writing. She passed away at her home in Detroit, we are given to understand. 

Aretha Franklin's singing helped bridge America's racial divide back in the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. Her lyrics spoke to a common human experience and the hurts and joys felt by every human being, no matter his or her race. 

Franklin first sang gospel tunes and she wore her Christian faith on her sleeve, so to speak. She never sang about "Hos" "Bitches" "Niggas" or big ol' butts. She was never crass or crude.

What a contrast to the musical fare presented to us these days. The Lord gave us Aretha, and the Lord has taken her away. And doubtless she would like us all to say: Blessed Be The Name Of the LORD.

TRUMP "MISSPEAKS", LEFTISTS GO BATSHIT AND EXPOSE THEMSELVES AS THE MADMEN THEY ARE

Yesterday after his Helsinki summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin President Trump announced that he saw no reason to believe that Russia would have meddled with the 2016 Presidential elections. This statement caused a complete meltdown of the Left. 

Trump was called a "traitor" by former Obama CIA chief and commie rat Brennan. Some Tennessee senator named Cohen (democrat) called for the military to step in and depose President Trump. His statement was called the equivalent of every disaster and atrocity from 9-11-2001 to the Kennedy assassinations to Pearl Harbor and even (WTF?) Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom that was a prelude to the Holocaust. 

\

The President let these fools percolate for about 24 hours before he explained that in an attempt to avoid a "double negative" in his speech he had misspoken and meant to say "WOULDN'T". 

We believe the President knew EXACTLY what he was doing and how these fools would react. We admit we were flummoxed at first, but then we decided to wait and see what President Trump had up his sleeve. Now these Lefties have been exposed as dangerous nutbars. Republicans may well have a more solid majority in the Senate as well as the House in November if the idiot Democrats keep talking like this. Keep it up, fools. Keep it up.

REMEMBER RYAN WHITE

Today marks the 33rd anniversary of the day 13 year old Ryan White got thrown out of school because he was infected with HIV. White had been diagnosed just six months before, and had been given only six months to live. As it finally turned out, Ryan lived to be 18 and passed from this world one month before he would have graduated high school.

Ryan was a native Indianan as am I. He was born in Kokomo and spent the majority of his short life there. He died in Indianapolis, where coincidentally I was born. 

Ryan was a hemophiliac; commonly known as a "bleeder"; and contracted HIV - then commonly called AIDS - from a tainted blood product. But in 1985 people were scared and many were fearful that AIDS could be transmitted via sneezing and coughing. And in a darker vein, crackpots believed that one had to be homosexual to catch the disease and believed that Ryan was gay and receiving "God's punishment in his body". A year-long court battle ensued, and Ryan was finally permitted to attend school again. 

That didn't end Ryan's battle. It was only the beginning. He was required to use separate restrooms and "excused" from gym with its requirement to shower with the other boys. He was also treated as a pariah by many. His story became national news. His family ultimately decided to move elsewhere when some ignoramus fired a bullet into his home in the dead of night.

The family moved to Cicero, Indiana where people were more educated and accepting. He quickly became an international celebrity and a spokesman for victims of his disease. Michael Jackson gave him a 1968 Mustang, Elton John lent his mother money for a down-payment for a house in Cicero and donated the re-payment to Ryan's sister's college fund. 

But Ryan always was emphatic that he would have very happily given up all this to be free of his disease. 

He contributed so much to the erasure of the ignorance and fear surrounding this poorly understood and feared virus. And he suffered so greatly. The actions of the people of Kokomo made me almost ashamed to be a native Indianan.

Ryan White made me proud to be a native of Indiana again.

At some point in this controversy the Washington City Paper wrote an article about Ryan and his struggle. In response I wrote a letter to the editor. An excerpt:

"And through all this, this brave young Hoosier displays the qualities of our finest young men, smiling and taking the blows of the disease and the harassment and court battles seemingly in stride. 

The Flag of the State of Indiana is a torch aflame surrounded by stars. The torch is Hope piercing the darkness of ignorance and despair. And the highest star today belongs to Ryan White."

I hope I meet you in Heaven, Ryan.

SHOW ME WHAT A REPRESENTATIVE REPUBLIC LOOKS LIKE

IN A RECENT DEMONSTRATION ABOUT IMMIGRATION AT THE HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING; AN ILLEGAL DEMONSTRATION AT THAT; AN INCREASINGLY COMMON CHANT WAS EMPLOYED. This chant, which may soon overtake the tired old "Hey hey! Ho ho! (insert what's pissing the rabble off) Has got to go!" Is this: 

A fat butt floppy tit four eyed dyke gets on a megaphone and shouts: "SHOW ME WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!" And the crowd, composed of ridiculously dressed or costumed disorderly rabble replies: "THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!"

Exactly. Democracy - direct democracy - is basically rule by mob. The biggest mob wins. It's two wolves and a lamb discussing what's for dinner. That's why the Founders who wrote the Constitution didn't provide a democracy. They provided for a Representative Republic with the executive and legislative members elected in a democratic process. 

The Republican Party believes in this. Increasingly, the Democrats tend to use the violent mob. That's why the parties have the names they have. 

Shut up, sit down and go vote in November and show me what a Representative Republic looks like.

NUTCASE WITH A SHOTGUN AND A GRUDGE SHOOTS AND KILLS 5, INJURES 2 AT NEWSPAPER OFFICE; LEFTIST MEDIA BLAME TRUMP, "ASSAULT WEAPONS"

ONCE AGAIN A KILLER ATTACKS A "SOFT TARGET", AND ONCE MORE THE LEFTIST MEDIA MAKE DEMANDS ABOUT GUNS AND TRY TO BLAME PRESIDENT TRUMP.

This is getting monotonous. A man who had been identified years ago as a potential threat attacked a small newspaper in Annapolis, MD. with a gun. No one in the office was prepared to deal with an armed threat even though they all knew the guy was deranged and a possibly lethal threat. He took a shotgun to the newspaper office and blew open the doors with a blast of buckshot and then fired away, leaving five dead souls and two injured before being stopped and taken alive by police. 

The left, including members of the newspaper staff, wasted no time in ... 

LAYING THE GROUND TO BLAME THESE KILLINGS ON PRESIDENT TRUMP. Their proof? The President:

(1) has called the Leftist media the enemy of America, allegedly encouraging and inspiring the killer; and

(2) has failed to support what these morons call "common sense gun control",thus enabling the killer.

The unhinged "tweets" and other public comment poured forth almost immediately. David Simon, former Baltimore Sun "journalist" and writer and producer of the (fair due excellent) HBO miniseries "The Wire" tweeted saying "Thanks a lot you fucking fascist moron". A "reporter" for the attacked paper, the Annapolis Capitol Gazette, who hid under her desk said that while she appreciates "thoughts and prayers" she needed "more than that" (meaning idiotic gun control measures which would not have stopped one iota of what went on) and if those were not forthcoming those thoughts and prayers were not worth a fuck. In so many words.

The tweets and other commentary along these lines has poured forth in a fast, furious stream of invective; unhinged, demanding and liberally laced with obscenities. 

But what really has them unhinged is that practically nobody believes these people anymore. 53% of DEMOCRATS think they are a pack of untrustworthy liars, 94% of Republicans and a whopping 78% of independent voters say the media are a pack of lying sacks of shit and not to be trusted. The media are in fact the propaganda arm of the American Statist Progressive (ASP) movement and report "fake news" all the time. And so what's the first thing they do when one of their propaganda offices gets shot up? Why, try to leverage the event to regain their "credibility".  And how do they try to do it? By spreading lies and idiocy and hyperbole with overblown appeals to emotion rather than reason. 

It's not working. The common man here in America fell for it for a while, you thought you had finally gained control of the national mindset; and then President Trump was elected and you got put on notice that nobody believes you anymore. And you try to counter that with more bullcrap that everybody is supposed to believe because five of you got murdered? 

Rotsa Ruck, ASPs. Here at the Alexandria Daily Poop, we of course offer our thoughts and prayers for the deceased and wounded and their families. We wish you would publish the names of the churches or organizations the deceased in particular belonged to so that donations might be sent to assist the grieving families. Why haven't you done that? Hmm?

DANICA PATRICK TO RACE AT INDY AGAIN! YOU GO, GIRL!

We are not in the habit of using phrases such as "You go, girl!". But this year's return of Danica Patrick - who has come closer than any female driver in Indy history to winning the race and is a superb Indy driver - has our admiration. We forget which race it was, but Patrick had to "Pit" several times, including once to replace a damaged nose cone on her car; and each time came roaring back to the front group of cars in the pack.  (That time, however she ran out of gas just as a pedal to the metal could have won the race.)

But after trying to win eight times, she went into a snit and took her act to NASCAR, a culture not particularly welcoming to woman drivers. We don't watch a lot of NASCAR but it's the only racing shown in most clubs we go to. And when Danica was racing on the TV in those watering holes, the fans wanted her off the track since she was always causing problems and wrecks. 

And we were upset with Patrick because all she had to do was learn a bit about fuel management and she could probably win. 

Now Danica Patrick is going to try for a win at Indy again. And if you are wondering why we're rooting for her, it's NOT because we think it's "time for a woman to win" or some such twaddle. Rather the fame she would gain from such a win could provide an inspiration for perseverance by our youth. And if she loses, tough. As long as she learns and applies that learning, she'll do better every year.  Go Danica! We'll be watching.

BE AWARE IN ALEXANDRIA! METRO MAKING PLANS TO TOTALLY SCREW THE POOCH IN 2019

We must say, even we could not come up with an idea more stupid than what the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Administration has come up with. First there was the "Safe track" project a couple years ago where they shut down whole lines for half a month to do inspections and repairs. Now they plan to completely redo the parking lot and bus facilities at the King Street Metro Station when there is nothing wrong with the way the station functions in its present configuration. But that's not the worst of it (although it will eliminate 32 parking spaces and really cheese off a lot of people). 

METRO PLANS TO COMPLETELY CLOSE DOWN EVERY METRO STATION IN THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA AND HUNTINGTON AND SPRINGFIELD IN FAIRFAX COUNTY FROM MEMORIAL DAY 2019 TO LABOR DAY 2019 TO COMPLETELY DEMOLISH AND REDO THE STATION PLATFORMS AT A COST OF HALF A BILLION FUCKING DOLLARS even though these stations work perfectly well without spending all that money. 

This move will play havoc with Alexandria's summer tourist industry and the hospitality and restaurant industries that feed in its orbit. Not to mention the hordes of federal workers that don't take the summer off but have to work anyway. You should see the crowds on weekday mornings and evenings. There is no way in hell that shuttle buses will handle these crowds without majorly screwing up traffic between the shuttle points.

We have been riding Metro pretty regularly since we retired from the taxi business last March, and there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THE DAMNED STATION PLATFORMS! Certainly nothing that justifies a complete replacement of all of them at a cost of nearly half a billion dollars. 

We have often said here that we try to be cynical, but it's hard to keep up. This is a case in point.

In our opinion Metro is BLACKMAILING THE CITIZENS OF D.C., MARYLAND AND especially THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA by denying Metro service for three months to the unfortunate residents of Alexandria and vicinity. We think the intent is for everybody to be absolutely begging for tax increases to keep Metro running after they see an example of what happens when it's cut off.

Sure, there were cases of falling concrete at a few Metro stations in D.C.; but these were due to lazy inspectors just re-wording the previous year's reports and declaring everything to be okey-dokey. There is NO reason to replace these platforms, and the people's representatives should be throwing a fit; but these jurisdictions in Virginia are all run by Democrats; and Alexandria is a one-party show. Republicans rarely even bother to run, knowing that they would be neutralized by the rest of the City Council. 

There is a silver lining, we suppose. This may just outrage enough of the citizenry that Alexandria and vicinity turns Republican.  There's always hope.

NATIONAL POLICE WEEK 2018

The police officers from across America and their families are arriving in droves this weekend to observe National Police Week, when the contributions of our law enforcement professionals are commemorated.

I say "commemorated" because also arriving with them are the families of officers who made the Ultimate Contribution of their very lives. This week is a living memorial to them. 

One of the most emotionally impacting images I have ever seen is of a little boy of about ten years, at his father's funeral and wearing his father's service hat, trying to come to grips with why his father had to give his life in defense of ours and why what happened happened. 

I have tried to come up with an appropriate phrase for this occasion. For while part of the week will feature fun and entertainment, obviously "Happy Police Week" doesn't quite cut it. 

As I sit here in the lobby of the Old Town Hilton writing this, kids of families here for the occasion are ripping and tearing around as the adults distribute tote bags, pamphlets and stickers and agendas for the coming days. These are normal people with normal lives except for one thing: They put their lives on the line daily, and sometimes that line claims one of their number.

If you are one of them, I think I speak for just about everyone when I say "Thank You".  When I consider what you do, this seems wholly inadequate. Nevertheless, thank you.

FREE NOVEL OFFERED IN HONOR OF NATIONAL POLICE WEEK

EVERY YEAR AT THIS TIME we offer one of our police procedural novels for free on Kindle.  This year we offer "The Resurrection of Sergeant O'Bannon", the story of the solution of the 32-year-old unsolved murder of a D.C. police officer. The story (as is my custom) is full of twists and turns and has a very wry twist at the very end.  If you pick it up, you won't put it down until you have finished it. 

Available on Kindle for five days beginning Tuesday May 15th 2018.

R. LEE EARMY (Gsgt USMC RET. 1944-2018); RIP AND MAY FLIGHTS OF ANGELS SING YOU TO YOUR REST

This past Sunday an American icon passed away to claim his heavenly reward for his honest and faithful service to his God and country.

Much of his service was spent as a Drill Instructor with the United States Marine Corps. He portrayed such a DI in the Stanley Kubrick movie "Full Metal Jacket".  He seemed in that role to be a compleat asshole. But - as he later explained - the reason that DIs and other basic training instructors in the various branches of our military behave as they do is to instill new enlistees with the skills and coping mechanisms they may well need to live through what may well be the worst experiences of their lives. 

In his private life R. Lee Earmy was as tender and loving a man as any ever was. His tough-as-nails exterior was not fake, however. The same hands that could tousle the hair of an innocent little boy were very capable of killing an enemy who would threaten that kid in any way. 

We have no doubt that elements of America's enemies are celebrating the death of R. Lee. Unfortunately for them his career was spent instilling generations of other men with his values. R. Lee Earmy did not die. He is with us in the persons of the young men he trained and those who were trained by his protoge's.  And some of these will perform the same office as did he. Do not expect the American soldier and patriot to die off anytime soon. 

Thank you, Gunny; and enjoy your rest. SEMPER FIDELIS.

PRESIDENT TRUMP KNOCKS ANOTHER SPEECH OUT OF THE PARK IN MICHIGAN!

This evening President Donald J. Trump spoke at a Republican rally in the State of Michigan. He not only knocked the ball out of the park, "the ball" is headed for Mars as we write this. 

He listed his kept promises. He noted that even rapper Kanye West, who famously said that President George W Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina showed that at a minimum President Bush did not care about black folks, has come over to Trump's side. There's no ignoring the FACT that African-Americans and Hispanics have the lowest unemployment rate in history. Who would have thought that Kanye West would go so far as to don a MAGA hat in public. (West was even highly critical of Obama and the Democrat Party in his assessments). 

He proclaimed that the world's bad actors now respect and fear us again. He is rebuilding the military, already the world's best, into a near-invincible force ("Near" because at some point God might have other ideas). He asserted the point that the immigrants we welcome ought to be admitted based on merit, not a "lottery" that even gangsters might win. 

Trump's appearance at this rally was in lieu of his appearing at the annual White House Press Correspondent's dinner where he would have been ranked to the dogs and back. And instead of attending and being expected to smile like an idiot and laugh while he was being insulted he chose to speak to We the People. It was a wise decision, and we here at the Alexandria Daily Poop appreciate it. 

Praise God we FINALLY have a President worthy of the title!

SOMEBODY TELL ME WHAT "REGISTERED BEER" IS

Back when I was a teenager, a favorite illicit (for teens) quaff was a brand of beer known as "Weidemann's". (Because of the name we liked to drink it with a little weed). The company declined since but has recently made for a surge with a new brewery. 

Weidemann's advertised itself as "America's only registered beer". One jingle went: "Weidemann's got it.. go get it! Weidemann's registered beer". 

For decades I have wondered: Registered with whom, exactly; and for what reason and to what effect? I even e-mailed them with these questions and as a result have only been pestered with their new ads on Facebook. 

Does anybody know where this "registered" business comes from? Personally I don't register either my firearms nor my beverages. My guess is this has something to do with Prohibition.  Tell me if you know.

I'M GETTING THE HELL OUT OF FLORIDA AND BACK TO VIRGINIA WHERE I DAMN WELL BELONG ( TFH )

Tomorrow the Broward County Homeless task force will arrive to try and assist the homeless living in the encampment in front of the Broward Main Library. 

The majority of these folks are either nutso or drug and/or alcohol dependent. As for me, my plan had been to get assistance in filing for Social Security and go from there. But when I contacted Broward County Main Offices (right across the street) I was told to await the "task force".  which would be able to assist me. 

The experience of spending two nights on the street - the worst of which I recounted in my last post - has rendered me determined to get THE FUCK OUT OF HERE and return to Alexandria where I have some friends and prospects.  If I stay here I won't be a "beach bum".  I'll just be a bum with the rest of the bums waiting to glom off my Social Security. And that's completely unacceptable to me.  

Oh by the way, I did sample a wee bit of Fort Lauderdale's "Spring Break".  And even though the drinking age is raised to 21, the behavior of the male horn-dogs is worse than I ever saw it in other settings when beer and wine could be had by 18 year olds. It was a completely disgusting spectacle.  One way or another, tomorrow I am outta here and on my way back to Alexandria, even if I have to hitchhike. 

QUITE POSSIBLY THE WORST MISTAKE I HAVE MADE IN MY NATURAL LIFE. (TFH 2)

Gentle readers, you all know how it is that I had come to the conclusion that it be best I retire in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  This may well be the worst mistake I have ever made in my life. 

Right now as I write this I have set up camp with about 30 others on the parameter of the Broward County main library. My position is at the Western recess of the main lobby entrance, where there  is a pillar to hide behind.  

This particular pillar and the space between it and the wall are redolent of the aromas of old piss and puke. The concrete on which I lay now bears the bleach marks from the stomach acid of those who puked beforetimes, and fresh piss fills the area between the pillar and the wall. Why did I choose such a position? Because it is on the lee side of the building, and it's the last one availiable.  

Amazing. My original plan was to file for my SS, then find some kind of shelter and look for a supplemental job, then look for a room or something; and from there enjoy the beach! Great plan, until I found out that if there is a SS office nearby, it's in the Federal Building which serves as the entrance to the United States Courthouse with all the paranoid attendant security.  

0946 am Friday March 23rd 2018

Over the night the wind shifted and it got really cold. Not Dayton Ohio cold but at least low 40s. When I woke up the sun was up but still quite cool, so I walked around to the back of the building. 

THERE WAS A TENT CITY HOUSING AT LEAST SEVENTY HOMELESS FOLKS IN THE PARK. It was larger than any similar encampment I have ever seen in Washington. D.C.  This is something I've noticed about Fort Lauderdale: If you even LOOK like you might be homeless, NOBODY will respond to anything you say,  even if you just want directions. It's understandable, because most if not all these homeless folks have no money at all, and they all want something, and there are so many of them that folks are sick of being pestered. Me, I still have sufficient cash for a couple days (but not enough to get me a $250 per night hotel room or - what I freaking wish I had right now - a bus ticket back to Alexandria where we have a SS office and the facilities and services to get someone back on his feet IF he wants to do so.

Some bunch of do-gooders is going to visit Tent City on Saturday. I'm gonna try to get them to pack me back to Alexandria.

I've heard about the best-laid plans of mice and men sometimes going astray, but this is damned ridiculous. 

FROM D.C. TO FORT LAUDERDALE: LITERALLY THE TRIP FROM HELL (FB TFH 1)

Oh, this trip is so damn frustrating and this is just the first leg of it.  I'm sitting in the waiting area for Greyhound Bus Lines with 3 hours to go until my bus leaves for Florida. When we finally board I have a 22 hour trip to look forward to. 

I started out from a Metro station in Virginia, carrying a 50 pound frame pack and a laptop carrier on my shoulder. Then I tried to buy a Metro ticket.  

A few years ago Metro stopped issuing farecards and required everyone to buy a "Smart card" to load fare money onto. I already had a "Smart card" but it would not work. So I had to buy a new one and load the fare onto it. But the instructions for doing so were not at all clear and I wound up being repeatedly offered tourist passes. Finally I located a station manager who got me what I thought was a card loaded with five bucks, enough to get me to Union Station in D.C. where the Greyhound terminal has been re-located.

Loaded down like a pack mule I squoze my way through the fare gates and onto the train. Once I was at Union Station I got off, only to find I had to put in another 40 cents to exit the station using a procedure similar to the megillah I went through when getting the card.

There were NO signs in Union Station directing people to Greyhound, just a couple arrows that said "Buses". Finally I found the "station".  Holy hell.

Back in the 1970s the Greyhound terminal was on New York Avenue NW. It had ticket windows, a waiting lounge, and a bar and grill on the upper level. And there were lockers where you could stash your bulky baggage and walk around for a bit as you waited for your bus.  This place is just a kiosk in the middle of a concrete plaza somewhere in back of the station. There is a semi-heated glass enclosed waiting area, but THERE ARE NO DAMNED LOCKERS AND YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR BAGGAGE AND CHECK IT AT BUS SIDE WHEN YOU LEAVE which means you have to lug it everywhere or risk having it stolen. I guess that's why it's called "Luggage".

Right now the waiting room is filling up with what looks to be the Deaf Lesbians Society. Funny but they are annoyingly loud.

A FAREWELL TO THE ALEXANDRIA VIRGINIA TAXICAB INDUSTRY

After almost 41 years of making my living behind the wheel of a taxicab, the time has come to retire. I am 65 years old and it's damned time. 

I can't say the decision is entirely voluntary. Last year I was involved in an accident with an Alexandria city bus. No one was injured (Thanks be to God!) but the City filed a claim for four grand. That policy expires on the 21st of this month. It would have been renewed but for one teensy detail. 

Yesterday I was driving down King Street in Old Town when a woman decided she was just by-god gonna jump into traffic and anybody approaching had damn well better stop. Long story short, our side mirrors hit. Mine was bent back as designed. Hers was destroyed. And I found out that although this crap was NOT MY FAULT; even so if she files a claim my policy will be cancelled. 

So, it's time I got out of this fucked-up industry anyway. 

No, it's not the advent of UBER, Lyft, and the rest of these quasi-legal "gypsy cab" phone apps calling themselves "ride-share" services. These services are losing money and circling the bowl, with Uber as usual in the lead. These services are used by Millenials and cheapskates, and they can have them. To do what a cab driver does requires the "right stuff" and the stuff most ride-share drivers have is WRONG.

I began driving with Red Top Cab of Arlington VA back in November of 1977. Back then one was required to pass a rather rigourous program of training before being allowed to lease and drive a cab.  The drivers also got their fudge thoroughly packed by the company. So I switched to the (defunct) Diamond Cab of Arlington. I also racked up so many points for speeding that I had to quit for six months. 

After that I went to Alexandria Diamond (also now defunct). I passed the City hack exam and went to work, but my traffic record was still too messy and the City refused me a permanent permit. I just stuck my expired Arlington permit up on the visor and started working from just after the Hack Inspector went home until he came back to work. That lasted until an Alexandria cop became suspicious and checked my permit in the fall of 1979. 

The next 14 years were spent as a store detective, a short-order cook, a private investigator, and a regional courier. By the summer of 1994, all the old hack inspectors had retired and my traffic record had cleared up.  I obtained an Arlington permit and worked with Arlington Yellow until 1997, when again i switched to Alexandria Diamond. 

 I was immediately appalled at the state into which the industry had fallen. In the 1970s most of the drivers were American military veterans who knew how to communicate by radio. Now the industry was awash with foreigners who picked up the mike (MIKE! not "MIC" and stop that crap!) and said: "Hello? Hello? Hello?".   But there was plenty of business, and I quickly fell back into the old groove. 

Back in the day, cab companies were run mostly by people who had been drivers before. But sometime around the turn of the millennium one cab company began to be handled by "professional managers" who had never driven a hack for a living in their lives. 

Back in the day, a driver could earn fifty bucks, decide it was time for dinner or a swim, then come back to work and earn another hundred. It was freedom and it was good. 

Then around 2005, the leadership of Alexandria Yellow decided that it would be good to REQUIRE all drivers to accept plastic for all trips. The advantage of course was that nobody got a nickle until the company got their cut -- ALL OF IT.  Goodbye, freedom; and fuck that. I and Yellow parted ways and I joined with a 2nd rate company that gave me a piece of junk to drive. The damn thing broke down so often I wound up getting thrown out of my residence because I don't get paid for sitting in the shop. 

Right now as I write I am working to make all the CASH I can before the policy is cancelled and I have to turn in the hack. After that, I plan to go to Florida and find something to do. Maybe I'll become a beachcomber. One thing is certain: I'll never again give a fuck what happens to the industry I once loved. I am retiring effective Monday March 19 2018.

Ahhhhhh.....

AN OPEN LETTER TO PARKLAND SURVIVOR DAVID HOGG

To David Hogg, the Parkland, Florida massacre survivor who has been shooting his teenage mouth off about things he doesn't understand and acting like a brat, even hanging up the phone on President Trump:

Dear Child:

We at the Alexandria Daily Poop wish first of all to tell you that we understand the horror you and your classmates went through as you hid in a closet and made video records of what for all you knew were your last minutes of life.  And we agree with you that this is completely unacceptable. 

However we also find the things you and your cohort have been "demanding" (how very cute!) to be both unacceptable and based on Leftist lies. 

Your proposed "solutions" revolve around the control and banning of certain firearms. FIREARMS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM HERE.  Moreover, it is impossible to take firearms of any sort away from the bad guys.  If we wanted to have a submachine gun, for instance, we could make a variant of the old M3 "Grease gun" in a friend's basement. It would take all of 12 hours and less than two hundred buck's worth of sheet metal steel rods and pipe. Look the weapon up on You Tube. Imagine if Mr. Cruz had an M3.  

You, David, are now popular (We bet the chicks are all over you. We hope you use Brylcream(c) in your hair, as we are given to understand that the wimmens love to run their fingers through it). But we fear your popularity is due to your doing what so many teenagers wish so passionately to do: stand up to the adults and tell us we are full of shit.  You and your pals are being used as tools to attempt to completely disarm the American People.  I guarantee you your Leftist backers will quickly drop you and even try to destroy your young life should you EVER demand solutions to the REAL problem. 

The real problem is that Mr. Cruz literally did everything short of taking out a full page newspaper ad warning of what he was going to do. But he evaded trouble even after committing serious crimes because of a - words fail us - misbegotten and asinine policy designed to keep "minority" kids from going to prison after high school.  In accordance with this policy Mr. Cruz was allowed to "skate" on several offenses which would have wound up with either him in custody and unable to shoot up a school or on a local law enforcement watch list.  If the government had done its job, 14 kids and 3 adults would be alive today.  THAT's what you kids ought to be focusing on.

However, dearest David, focus on THESE concerns and just watch how fast all the free pussy dries up (You are interested in pussy, aren't you?). The praise the media has been showering on you will end, and you may even wind up facing criminal charges. (I wouldn't worry about that. Under Trump you're safe from political abuse of the Justice Department).  

David, when we were a child it was possible to order an M1 Garand .30-06 semiautomatic rifle form Sears or Montgomery Ward and have it shipped COD to your doorstep via the United States Post Office. And we NEVER had ANYTHING like Parkland or Columbine happen.  

It is NOT firearms that are the problem, David. If you want to show your leadership, then address the real problem. The trouble is, your peers don't want to hear it. 

ATTENTION SURVIVORS OF THE FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL MASSACRE: THERE IS MOUNTING EVIDENCE THAT THIS WAS DELIBERATELY PERMITTED TO HAPPEN FOR POLITICAL REASONS!

Many of our readers are probably wondering why, what with all the controversy we have been bathed in since the last Presidential election and especially what with this last horrendous mass shooting, that we haven't been very productive with this blog. 

Well, the long and short of it is that we need to make a living, and so have lately been bereft of time to commit to analysis of facts. But we have in the wake of this tragedy been so innundated with facts that we can no longer remain silent. 

 We think that the Democrat Party and the anti-2nd Amendment lobby have conspired to deliberately allow this massacre to take place.  We now believe that the reason so many "red flags" were ignored is that there were orders to "the authorities" - Democrat authorities - from on high to ignore all these warnings.  We did not want to believe this, but just this morning the news came to us that there were several OTHER deputies on the scene of the murders and, just like the one guy the news has been crucifying, they simply "set up a perimeter" and did not enter despite being able to hear the gunshots inside the school. The last straw was when the (Democrat) Sheriff said that the (lack of) action of his own deputies was "Not my responsibility".  

 WHAT THE FUCK??

Well, consider what we're dealing with here. The Democrat Party has long been attempting (and failing) to disarm the public.  First it was the attempt to characterize every weapon more powerful than a pop-gun an "assault weapon"; using the word "assault" to inspire fear.  They actually had some success in passing an "assault weapons ban"; but this was overturned once We the People returned to our senses.  Then came the massacre at Columbine High, followed by Virginia Tech University. Then came the killings of so many innocent little angels at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.  In the wake of each of these mass killings, the Democrat message was relentless: "LOOK AT ALL THESE DEAD BODIES OF OUR INNOCENT YOUNG PEOPLE! QUICK! PANIC AND JETTISON THE SECOND AMENDMENT!"

But in every case, the passage of time allowed us to return to our senses and filter our emotions through our facility of logic. Clearly, something had to be done to pump up the level of emotion and keep it pumped up as long as possible.  And if you don't think the American Statist Progressives (ASPs) who dominate the Democrat Party today are capable of what we are about to describe, think again.  

Now we readily admit that what we are positing is SPECULATION. But it is speculation based on what we have observed, and what we are presenting here is based on "reasonable articulable suspicion". In spades. 

We posit that after Sandy Hook failed to produce a groundswell of public antigun sentiment, the decision was made from on high in the Democrat Party to deliberately ignore any "red flags" to come from any future probable "school shooter".  Elements of the Obama Administration remained in senior levels of the FBI, and despite several warnings given that agency about the 38 visits from local police to the shooter's home and his propensity for odd behavior and violent acts (including social media comments about his intentions) these were NEVER forwarded to ANY local agency. 

We posit that these omissions were deliberate and possibly ordered from on high, and the Democrat Broward County Sheriff was in on this.  We posit that this whole thing was planned from the beginning, based on the FACT that a Democrat Senator ran to the Senate floor to remark on the attack as soon as it was announced on the media; and quite possibly while the shots were still being fired. 

We posit that the Democrat Party had put in place a "quick response team" which responded quickly to subtly organize the teenaged survivors and families of the dead into a loud demanding mini-mob which regurgitated all the tired old arguments which had previously failed. 

We had previously been considering a post calling all of you kids a pack of fools. However, it is now abundantly evident that the goal of the ASPs has been to play you as fools.  One piece of evidence is the FACT that media accounts keep referring to "17 dead kids" when THREE of those 17 were NOT kids, but rather UNARMED adults who died DEFENDING the kids DESPITE BEING UNARMED. 

We believe that you will agree that there is something putrid, not in the State of Denmark but rather in these United States. 14 kids and three adults were murdered not with an AR15 but by and with the consent of the Democrat Party.  Guns are not the problem. The problem is and remains either gross incompetence among Democrat officials OR - and what we believe is much more likely - a conspiracy against the Second Amendment by Democrat ASPs which regards the dead bodies of kids to be an invaluable asset. 

We sincerely hope we are wrong.

THE BALLAD OF THE BOSSY OLD HEN

We first conceived of this work when we offered our novel "The Peterson Investigation" for free to members of our high school alumni Facebook page and some hoity-toity bitch objected.  

The other day a fellow alum announced that his brother had committed suicide by gunshot, and that the gun did not have the blame. He was immediately set upon by a similar collection of hoity-toity bitches who pestered the Memorial page for our school to delete his post.  Herewith I offer my opinion of these toxic bossy women:

THE BALLAD OF THE BOSSY OLD HEN

Once there was a bossy old hen

Who thought she was Queen of the Coop;

She ruled beneath the benevolent gaze

Of the Farmer, who sat on his stoop.

A terror she was to all who dared 

violate her bounds of propriety

She demanded that all pay obeisance to

her standards of chicken sobriety.

One day she espied the new Rooster hitting on

Four hens, all comely and young. 

In outrage she began to tut and to cluck,

Then finally unlimbered her tongue.

"Why this is an outrage!" the old hen cajoled,

"These youngsters are your own daughters!

You sired them only one year ago,

This must be a criminal matter!"

"Shut up, you old biddy!" the Rooster replied;

"Making lots of new chicks is what I do;

And when they get old enough I make new chicks with them;

Now what are you supposed to do?"

"Your job's laying eggs, which you haven't in months;

I'm much more productive than you;

Hark! Here comes the Farmer, his axe in his hand;

Prepare to become chicken stew!

The farmer made stew of the Bossy Old Hen

With an old recipe from down south;  

but with the first bite he grimaced, spat and said:

"This hen leaves a bad taste in my mouth!"

THE BEST TIME AND PLACE IN HISTORY TO BE A TEENAGER

As you may have expected we are NOT talking about the present day.  And it's not getting any better. Increasingly today's kids are being taught on every side to expect and even enjoy being sheltered and controlled.  We recently observed as a mom taught her 10 year old son how to pay FOR A FREAKING CANDY BAR with a credit card. Never mind that paying for stuff with plastic can and one day will lead to some entity being able to dictate what you may and may not purchase (among other things). And it is nothing short of dismaying to see an 18 month old kid in a stroller occupying himself not with experiencing the world immediately at hand but rather with A DAMNED SMART PHONE GAME APPLICATION! What this bodes for the future you can easily forecast!

No, we are here talking about the American Midwest in the years between the assassination of President Kennedy and the second Reagan administration.  Consider:

The defining cultural event of the era was the advent of the Beatles. This in turn led to a revolution in rock music, with the Rolling Stones doubling down on the Beatles' "rebellious" traits of long hair and "provocative" stage moves.  But the tradition of having all members of the band dress alike continued, albeit with increasingly lame (and inspired by older adult managers) "costumes".  Paul Revere and the Raiders, for example, and those idiotic "Colonial military" costumes (Which were RED, the color used by the BRITISH!). And the ultimate irony with these "Raiders" was Mark Lindsay (the "cute" Raider) singing a song about how the "Cherokee Nation" had been oppressed by people WEARING THE SAME UNIFORM HE WAS DRESSED IN!  And if we were Felix Cavalier, the band leader of what was then called the "Young Rascals", I'd find whatever idiot decided to dress him and his bandmates in those ridiculous "Little Lord Fauntleroy" costumes and force him to walk down the street dressed like that while banging a tambourine against his ass. Eventually this dress-alike crapola faded away, and not a moment too soon.  

Even so, a wealth of very good music was made during our youth, and even today fathers and grandfathers find themselves grooving to the old songs along with their sons.  

We drove our cars on the then brand new Interstate Highway System, where the speed limits were 75 MPH (making it de facto 80 MPH); and five bucks would buy a tankful of gasoline. From Dayton, Ohio to Indianapolis Indiana in just an hour and small change.  And "Muscle cars" were all the rage, souped up Mustangs, GTOs, Bonnevilles, Chargers and Challengers (And older cars such as the venerable 1957 BelAir) participated in illegal street races all over. The police back then carried yardsticks to measure the height of rear bumpers. since so many of them were jacked up to accommodate sudden acceleration. 

Overdevelopment had not yet ruined nature, and there were swimming holes in which to skinny-dip in abundance. There was not yet surveillance all over the place, so finding places to "make out" was a snap. We left the house after breakfast in the summer and on weekends. and except for lunch and/or chores we weren't seen again until dusk and dinner. 

We were so free back then. Free to learn about life and relationships and other stuff from direct - and sometimes bitter - experience.  And if we had problems... Well, we watched Lee Harvey Oswald get gut-shot live via Telestar satellite, and nobody called in hordes of professional "Counselors" for us. We already HAD "counselors". They were called "PARENTS".  

But overshadowing everything was the specter of being drafted to fight in Vietnam. And the American Left used Vietnam relentlessly to drive a wedge between us and our American values which helped stabilize all this freedom. Explaining the ensuing cultural chaos which ensued and got us to where we are today would be akin to explaining how a bubble in a boiling pot came to the surface at one point and not another. But we do know this:

In 1969  we saw a man walk on the moon. He arrived there using rockets and spacecraft designed using slide rules and formulas worked out by a German engineer who designed a Nazi war machine; and guided by computing power that is outclassed by one modern "smart phone". 

Yet today what do modern teens use these devices which outclass the computing power of NASA in 1969 for? For "Sexting" naked pictures of their own selves to each other, and occasionally being arrested for "distributing child pornography" for doing that; and by law enforcement officials who wind up being prosecuted for kiddie porn offenses themselves;  all in the name of protecting the very kids who did the "sexting" in the first place, giving them felony records and a place on some sex-offender registry in the name of protecting them.  

"Common sense" and community values used to supply sufficient consequences for aberrant behavior. Today increasingly it is court decisions and an attitude that everything must either be prohibited or mandatory, that there must be a rule for every little thing that rules the roost. 

You who are teenagers today should know that we who came of age in the halcyon days we have here written about would not trade our ten worst days for the best years of your whole lives.  It's up to you to call bullshit on the crap you are being fed. We doubt you have the capability. And more's the pity.