CSotD: New Realities
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Mike Luckovich does well on a topic over which just about everyone else whiffed.
I don't mind the flood of Teary-Eye cartoons, because, while they're not very helpful or creative, they're inevitable and if they sell, that's on the editors who made a cheesy choice.
Ditto with the various plays on "Our National Pastime," which say nothing except, "golly gee, we sure have a lot of shootings."
Well, golly gee, we sure do.
Luckovich points out a reason why, and does so more specifically than a few others who did suggest that we're becoming a bit divisive.
And why do you suppose that is?
Unlike others who merely wring their hands and weep, he provides examples of how this division has been ginned up and encouraged, and, while I don't normally like "they all do it" cop-outs, this is a time when "they both do it" is a fair accusation.
I wish I could think of a way he could have made it more clear that, while the elephant and the donkey agree we shouldn't have violence, they don't seem to be doing anything about it, and perhaps they don't recognize their own contributions to the situation.
Because there were also some cartoons that showed them arm in arm, teary-eyed, in a moment of sad, sweet solidarity.
Pardon me while I puke.
And pardon me if I look at the signs in Luckovich's cartoon and guess which two will disappear first, and which ones will remain forever.
Mostly, pardon me if I refer you back to Tuesday's blog posting about the armed loonies we've already let loose, and, perhaps more to the point, to an entry from last month in which I pointed out that a lot of people around the world have to live with these outbursts of psychotic violence and now we're part of that world.
Look: The fact that we all know who Adam West was made his death something that was noted and commented on and cartooned over, while any number of 88 year olds died the same week without making much of a ripple on the waters. That's completely understandable.
Similarly, the fact that those folks at the ball diamond in Alexandria were not the only victims of gun violence this week, or even yesterday, but got massive attention is similarly understandable, given their prominence.
And, to be fair, the people killed at the UPS facility in San Francisco got a little ink, too, though not nearly as much.
But Gabby Giffords was a member of Congress, too, and the murder of all those kids at Sandy Hook got plenty of media attention, as did the Aurora theater shootings, as did the murders at the prayer meeting in Charleston, and we all got teary eyed and then … nothing.
I don't expect anything different this time around. The folks who can afford security details will get them and everybody else better just keep your heads down.
Juxtaposition of the Day
(The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee)
Ah, this is only the start, kids.
As you slip out of that desireable 18-34 demographic, you'll find half the world assuming you're ready for the rest home and the other half bullying you into believing that people of good character still run marathons at 90.
Funny thing: The AARP magazine specializes in those "only people with low self-esteem act old" articles about youthful-looking, wind-surfing celebrities, while their advertising is almost exclusively devoted to hearing aids, devices to keep you from falling over and those chairs that carry you up and down the stairs.
Start looking for a comfortable spot in the middle, and remember that the kid in the grocery store who asks if you need help to the car is not judging your fitness but simply trying to get a three-minute break from bagging. Which doesn't mean you should tip the little shithead.
But you're not old yet.
Just wait: The day will come when people in their 30s start holding doors for you and you will have to remind yourself that punching children is a bad thing.
Or, worse, you'll appreciate it.
I was driving around yesterday and noticed that my blinker was on and apparently had been for some time. This annoyed me, because I realized that there had probably been other drivers thinking "There's a doddering old geezer with his turn signal on!" when, in fact, the reason it was on was that I couldn't hear it and not because I'm a doddering old geezer but because I had "Let It Bleed" cranked up.
And I had "Let It Bleed" cranked up not because I'm a doddering old geezer who needs to have his music loud so he can hear it but because I have never played that album pianissimo and can't imagine why anyone would.
Apparently, the supercool millennials over at HuffPo find this sort of thing worthy of comment, because old folks are supposed to wrap themselves in a shawl and watch reruns of Lawrence Welk.
Ariana Huffington is not responsible for that article because she stepped down as editor of Huffington Post a year ago, probably because she's gonna turn 67 a month from now and then she'll have to either sit in a rocker on the porch sipping prune juice or climb Aconcagua in flip-flops and the choice she makes will be an absolute measure of her character.
You can start practicing making those choices now by either dying your hair or rocking the gray and by either dressing in age-appropriate garb or extending your adolescence indefinitely.
But here's a tip: If you don't already have one, you need to get a car with flashing lights on the rearview mirrors so you can see that your turn signals are on when you've cranked up your Dave Matthews or Motley Crue or whatever the hell it is you crazy kids listen to.
Meanwhile, we old folks really like our jigsaw puzzles …
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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