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The Trouble is that Gene is Right
Mr. Robinson starts off being correct:
According to polls, Americans are in a mood to hold their breath until they turn blue. Voters appear to be so fed up with the Democrats that they're ready to toss them out in favor of the Republicans -- for whom, according to those same polls, the nation has even greater contempt. This isn't an "electoral wave," it's a temper tantrum.
Temper tantrums, bullies, and everything we learned in kindergarten still applies:
These are the things I learned:
- Share everything. *Everything except for MY STUFF!
- Play fair. *Losers and suckers don't try to bend every rule in the book, remember!
- Don't hit people. *Unless you've decided to go on in this life as an asshole, that is...
- Put things back where you found them. *Unless there's more money to be made by ignoring those things...
- Clean up your own mess. *NO!
- Don't take things that aren't yours. *How do you expect me to have the nicest stuff?
- Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. *NEVER APOLOGIZE. That's losertalk...
- Wash your hands before you eat. *Unless you're in a hurry!
- Flush. *Not if you're in a hurry!
- Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. *As long as they're mass-produced for McD's!
- Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. *Squeeze that in where now?
- Take a nap every afternoon. *Effete European Soshulist!
- When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together. *Traffic should watch out for ME!
- Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. *Just gimme a billion more Styrofoam cups!
- Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we. *So why not kill them all right away, anyhoo?
- And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK. *Actually that term is now WATCH YOUTUBE!
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.
My reaction/observations on these learnings are bolded on the list.
Seriously.
A lot of people need to grow up.
You'll be able to tell who they are by the screeching about an column like this.
