CSotD: Post-Holiday Kvetching
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I wasn’t going to revisit Trump’s state fair or run anymore July 4 cartoons, but Deering’s commentary is not only funny but thought-provoking, combining Dear Leader’s mentally-questionable assumption that the world revolves around him with the growing sense that fewer and fewer people care. He’s still got an active sucker list, but he’s losing some people who might previously have fallen for his endless con-games.
It occurred to me yesterday that we’re about to have a few years of other 250th Anniversaries, the chief of which, for me, will be the Battles of Saratoga, since I lived in the area during the 225th Anniversary. I researched Burgoyne’s campaign, visited the battlesite and wrote a 20-page tabloid handout on the campaign, which followed the route as local communities celebrated their parts.
While the newspaper and the regional chamber were planning the program, the question of merch came up. We all agreed that nobody needed another coffee mug, but what might we offer? As a joke, I suggested “Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne Farewell Tour” T-shirts and everyone laughed.
But one of the guys at the table was both a graphic designer and a passionate re-enactor, and he trotted out a few hundred shirts on behalf of the chamber.
He should have made a few thousand, because they went like hotcakes. My older brother, a history teacher in Florida, wore his every September 19 thereafter as he taught the battle, and I’ve still got mine. Haven’t seen any memorable merch from yesterday’s holiday, but we’ve got a few years and several battles yet. No idea is too silly.
As said, I’m not running more July 4 cartoons, but I don’t have to, because Toro collected an impressive collection which he posted on his Substack. He’s got a particularly keen eye for instant classics, but he shares the spotlight with several of his contemporaries, and this is well-worth a visit.
I like the idea that the Founders wanted a celebration and not just a memorial service. And, after all, the champion sausage-eaters in the coming struggle were the Hessians, many of whom stuck around after the Revolution and became solid, productive citizens. (We didn’t have ICE in those days.)
Juxtaposition of Get Over Yourself
The latest feel-good thing is crusading against fireworks, which began about a week ago and is now done for the next 51 weeks.
As noted the other day, I’m sympathetic to dogs and people with PTSD, but I’m no fan of unverified facts that fade when examined closely. Social media listings of horrible things fireworks do remind me of similar claims that domestic abuse is a major crisis on Super Bowl Sunday and that there is more crime during a full moon.
Skepticism doesn’t make me a fan of domestic abuse or crime, but I am a fan of accuracy, and this website even concedes that, if a lot of runaway dogs are named Bella and Luna, it doesn’t mean naming your dog that will cause it to run away. It means a lot of dogs are named Bella or Luna. But their stats remain dubious, since people often find their dogs without filing official reports and a lot of dogs escape repeatedly.
Mostly, however, you should do something if it matters that much to you. The dog/PTSD issue is less of a problem if you know that your town has scheduled a half-hour of fireworks at 9 p.m. on July 4. It’s more of an issue if drunken neighbors are setting off their own explosions at random times within a week either way of the holiday.
If you think inconsiderate firecrackers are an important issue, get a ban on personal possession passed and then insist that your community ramp up local enforcement.
Juxtaposition of Get Over Yourself #2
There’s something comically ironic in complaining that the Swift/Kelsey marriage got too much coverage. It seems to fall under that thing about how if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.
I’m not entirely unsympathetic: One of the local convenience stores is having a clearance sale of pickle ball equipment and my response is that perhaps at long last our over-coverage nightmare is ending.
However, there are some reasons to like this particular couple, and not just because they aren’t grifting off the Middle East crisis and planning to destroy an unspoiled island in Albania. They aren’t grifting at all: They just donated $26 million to a host of charities that are about feeding poor people, particularly children.
Another is that Taylor is both a fun entertainer and a good role model. I’m hardly in her demographic, but one of my young reporters covered one of her Denver concerts and it sounded like so much fun I almost wished I’d been there and was genuinely happy that so many young kids had such a good time.
Also, I knew guys in college who appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated regularly, and I know they had issues sorting friends from fans. I like that both Taylor and Travis have been in the spotlight enough that they can just be lovers and live their life together on a level they share and understand. A little Bogey and Bacall is good for the world.
Anyway, Here’s a solution for people who can’t stand hearing about them: You should give $27 million to fight hunger. Beat’em by one!
Juxtaposition of Get Over Yourself #3
I’m not a fan of our governor, but she did veto one of those stupid bathroom bills, which is probably good, since I was planning to start publicly verifying my compliance by dropping trou before entering any public restroom.
The war on trans people is a depressing display of self-righteous bigotry, and the battle to keep an occasional trans girl from playing sports is not just hateful but stunningly stupid, given the lack of frequency with which it comes up and how rare it then is for such a thing to have any genuine impact.
And we’re mostly talking about high school sports, ferchrissake. A week after the season ends, who cares?
This idiocy is a sign of ignorant sexual dysfunction among throwbacks and witch-burners.
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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