Watch Your Step, Daddy

Note: "It's American Exceptionalism, dude" will be concluded shortly.

Lying in repose on my chaise longue in an attitude befitting a dad on Fathers Day, I pause to reflect. Thankful as I am for the slew of children in my life, I wonder what the future holds for them. The malaise and uncertainty of the zeitgeist affects them all. Many young adults yearn for a second adolescence, another chance to gather rosebuds. The crushing economy has sent them back to their parents' basements or spare bedrooms. They look incredulous when they hear stories of the 60's boom and the jobs to be had. Then their brows furrow and they slowly nod when they hear grayski say that because of the Downturn and his ill-conceived retirement plans that he plans to work till he drops. Grayski is not regarding his job clinging as calcifying the labor pool. Rather, he sees it as a sacrifice he'll make for his kids or some rubbish. Of course, he was just watching his stocks grow in the 90's to care that many entry level jobs were disappearing. Now, many laid off workers are scrambling for the crumbs of what's left.

With this in mind on this Father's Day, I must argue for a strengthening of the patricide laws. Older societies realized that ordinary homicide taboos weren't enough of a deterrent for hard-wired Oedipal crimes. While winning dear old Mom may not be Junior's intent, he or she will soon be agitated beyond a political remedy. They sense things are stacked against them by an entrenched generation which will be around for a long time. Witness what's happening in Italy and Greece. The "youth" live with their parents into middle age as the birth rate plummets since marriage is not economically feasible. Tired of internships and low end jobs, they've frequently rioted in frustration. This scenario is sounding familiar.

Grayski Boomers, hear my appeal. Let's be proactive just this once. AARP is no safe haven. We need direct political action on a generational basis. Partisan politics be damned: Give me a life preserver! Make patricide a torturable and capital offense. Oh, and Happy Fathers'Day.

It's American Exceptionalism, dude

This will not be a rant. There is enough foamy mad dog ranting going on in the "sphere" to poison any chance for actual debate. I'll merely comment on what's either stated or understood in the rhetoric of today's American politicians striving for a message that resonates with an aging electorate. That message: WE ARE EXCEPTIONAL. You will hear Obama allude to this in his understated, professorial way. In his Libya speech he said that " other nations might turn a blind eye" to the impending massacre but " the United States is different." Gingrich puts his view on a DVD all about the "shining city on a hill" myth. Glen Beck, though not a politician, feels strongly that Barack Obama just doesn't get A.E., that he just can't feel it, man.