Molly I & I are not really back yet; we are very grateful for all the kind words about my mom, humbled, even.
In times like these, time is short, but here is something that came across the transom despite all interdictions. It's to do with Glenn Beck's insane 100-Year-Plan goobery flim-flam nonsense, and it's something that pisses me off incredibly, and has done for a while, so here we are:
When we refuse to allow our children to receive a trophy for participation, we are on the road to restoring the meaning of merit in our Republic.
The idea that The Fatherland Is Weak because too many kids are getting undeserved trophies is authoritarian horseshit of the sort beloved by jerks who don't volunteer to coach or help run kids' sports leagues.
My daughter is five. She got a trophy for playing soccer this year. Did her team beat all the other five-year-old teams in the area? No. Was she the best player? No. Did she, like all the other kids, run around and act silly more often than not? Yes! So, under the Strict Rules of Competition, she should be Shamed... but yet, she got a trophy. Horrors.
Maybe that trophy means a lot to her, the poor little simp, even though it's worthless because she didn't beat out another five-year-old for it. WHAT-ever. She should have it stripped from her by Fox Security at gunpoint.
Flerg. The point of kids' sports leagues, at their best, is to encourage kids to be active, to have fun, to run around and enjoy themselves. If you really give a shit about the trophies, you know, win or lose, that's just bullshit you tell your kids, that trophies matter, anyhow.
The point is, if you intervene to keep your kid from getting a trophy -- "when we refuse to allow our children to receive a trophy for participation, we are on the road to restoring the meaning of merit in our Republic" -- that's a good sign you're an absolute douche. "IN THE NAME OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, I FEEL MY SON DOES NOT DESERVE THIS 'GREAT JOB' TROPHY FOR 8-YEAR-OLD REC LEAGUE SOCCER, AS I KNOW FOR A FACT HE SUCKS. BLESS ME, O! RONALD REAGAN."
I mean really.