Chicken sandwiches and Walter Mondale

43 galons of paint later ...

well, maybe not 43, but damn near close.

First, kudos to Titus for trying to keep this thing (our site, the brothers bund) going despite my needed absence as of late, and Jambo's almost sociopathic objection to posting (although he reads everything, as he's assured me in the past). By the way Jambo, yes I will be heading to the coast at some point in the not so distant future. My ex-wife and current "girlfriend" (I'll explain that one when I figure it out, and off the public record) has an aunt down there she also intends on visiting, so plan on my bunking over one night. I'll call days in advance to shore up dates, you needn't worry.

Before I get to the "news" of the day, something that shouldn't be news to anyone - I am NOT a handyman. I am a man. I am handy with certain facts, figures, the occasion historical recitation, and arguments regarding anything under the sun, but put anything more complicated than a paint brush in my hand and you'll see me sweat like an insurgent on the wrong end of a SEAL sniper rifle. If you don't already know - my mother has given me (and my family) usage, for free, of a 3 bedroom, 2 bath cabin like domicile on her property... deep, DEEP in the woods for as long as it takes me to get a graduate level degree. However, as gracious as that is, it comes with a slight catch - the entire place must be renovated from the walls, to the floors, to the kitchen sink (literally). I've inherited a post-apocalyptic shelter (Zombie, nuclear, take your pick). The problem is, people in my life keep forgetting they're talking to ME, F.Ryan. See, I drive a pick-up truck. I own a dog, I lift weights, I wear a ball cap with a bent bill, and so it is assumed I can lay flooring and cut molding (or is it lay molding and cut flooring?) with the best of my brothers, of which I have FIVE, all of whom could build a house from scratch with little more than a hammer and some Elmer's Glue! They're very helpful, they get me started, give me some pointers, remind me to do this and that, but the problem is I need someone to get me started, come in at the middle, and rescue me at the finish. One of the windows needed a window sill... around the entire window. My step-dad came up, cut and put in place this sill out of some 2x4's. He then told me I could use a router to design the wood of the sill to match the other window's design. Oh yeah, my router. It's right next to my freisenberg above the doohiggy in my non existent shed of imaginary tools. Boys, we all have our strengths, and right now I need a Hail Mary (or other poem of your choice) for about every can of paint stacked in the living room. An apartment lease is looking more attractive by the day.

This theater shooting ... it defies rationale. I had a detailed discussion with my sons (and a brother or two as I watched them sodder  (sp?) something I needed for wi-fi use). I start with the basics - blaming the gun for these deaths is like blaming the fork for obesity. I add that laws, by definition, affect only those willing to abide by them. And for those inclined to blame the 2nd Amendment based on loose rationale, let me ask you a simple timeline question - the 2nd has been around for what, 221 years? Yet these style shootings (from Columbine to Batman) have cropped up only in the last 30 or so years. During those 30 years the gun laws have become MORE restrictive, not less. Can you say the same about movies? About the glorification of senseless violence in movies? I don't blame batman, don't get me wrong. But if the Left wants to open up this can of worms regarding causality, I'd say the discerning investigator would find Hollywood's coarsening of our culture a much more useful time line for measuring violent crime in our society, than say the .357 I keep near my bed.

And what's worse, this trend (until recent court victories) towards more restrictive gun laws, take away the single best defense against this sort of tragedy. No law is ever taking away all the nut-jobs. Nor all the .22's out there. The single best defense against a maniac committing mass murder in a public place is other, sane citizens, in that public place intervening with their own weapon - PERIOD! That is your only chance. Just today another scare in another Batman movie theater occurred. A man jumped up from his seat and started running through the aisles screaming, "It's happening! It's happening!" He was quickly wrestled to the ground by three other moviegoers and subdued until the police arrived. It turned out he had no weapon, but in a dark theater how would these three guys know that? The same happened at the New York, New York casino in Vegas a couple years ago. Guy pulled a gun, started firing, and two cops on vacation from Florida, both packing personal heat for personal safety, drew their weapons and subdued this nut - nobody was killed. Consider the most famous act of citizen intervention in our life time - Flight 93. The list goes on and on. We can't put a cop in every theater, on every plane, at every casino. Our only chance is regular guys with what I think is a common American sense of duty to their fellow man, stepping in and doing what's needed, what is right. And the ONLY thing more restrictive gun laws do is limit that regular guy's ability to help.

One other bit in the news today - Obama and Chick-File (did I spell that right?). It turns out that Dan Gracy, the CEO of this family owned chain (which closes on Sundays nationwide, at every chain, in accordance to their Baptist beliefs) said in an interview recently that he opposes any changes in the definition of marriage. It's one man, one woman, period. Well that set off a firestorm of Leftist mayors, like Rham Emanuel of Chicago (formerly Obama's chief of staff), screaming that they intend on running "hate chicken" out of their cities (I mean, do these guys ever listen to themselves - hate chicken?). Today, in response, millions of consumers whom support the chicken sandwich king's stance lined up and purchased a combo meal to show their solidarity. Lines looped around the street, twice, at some drive thru's. It took 90 minutes in Texas to get an order of waffle fries. This does not boad well for the president. I think this is an indication of the election now 97 days away. Those that oppose the PoTUS, and his ideology, are itching, chomping at the bit as it were to get involved. But they're not screaming about hate, boycotts or making public statements... they're showing up. They're voting with their feet. I think we're talking landslide ... the waffle fry sees all.