Thoughts from the ammo line

Ammo Grrrll knows there’s no harm in asking: ARE PEOPLE REALLY JUST MORE STUPID THAN THEY USED TO BE? She writes:

Decades ago I saw a comprehensive test from the late 19th century meant for 8th graders. I believe it came from Kansas, or some other square-ish state in Flyover Land. It covered mathematics, English grammar, and the History not only of the United States, but detailed history of whatever state it really was. And an impressive test it was! I definitely could not have passed it without the opportunity to study up for it.

But here’s a secret that evidently the current crop of green-haired, pierced, obese gender-fluid teachers are failing to pass on to their hostages, excuse me, students: studying really works! Give me the ANSWERS to those questions or even where to look them up and a week later I will pass that 8th grade test with flying colors! Even at my advanced age.

Eighth grade for many of our grandparents and even parents was a watershed year in their educational lives. Going on to high school was a very big deal and one that MANY families could not afford. Not because high school cost money, but because the earnings of that 13- or 14-year old were needed to help support the large families people had back then.

Eighth grade graduates had to work in their fathers’ hardware store, pharmacy, bar, or, God forbid, join their dads in the mines in West Virginia or Pennsylvania. And, of course, farmers’ kids of every conceivable gender had been called into service on the farms all along.

But these generations of Americans whose formal educations were truncated could DO things. They survived two World Wars with a decade-long Depression in between for a nice change of pace. They knew MANY practical things and honed useful skills. In short, they were SMART.

What made me wonder about whether the gene pool is getting shallow enough that our IQs are sprinting south at an unsustainable clip was Sunny Hostin’s statement about January 6th. Maybe she started out smart and has just been leaking brain cells from being forced to converse with Whoopi, Joy Behar, and Ana Navarro on The View.

Here is an attractive woman, born the year I should have graduated college, had I not got married at the end of my junior year. Mrs. Hostin is alleged to have not only a Bachelor’s Degree, but also a Juris Doctor from Notre Dame Law School! And yet, when she was not busy being forced to read Legal Disclaimers, she weighed in on the January 6th Capitol Demonstration turned Trespassing Near People More Important Than You.

Sunny Hostin said aloud in front of God and everyone that the January 6th unarmed “insurrection” (nobody killed except two peaceful demonstrators) will be remembered as equivalent not only to The Holocaust (6+ million murdered), World War Two (70-85 million deaths counting combat, civilian deaths, starvation and disease), but also SLAVERY. Yeah, that latter comparison in particular, caught me off guard, too!

Today’s vocabulary word, Sunny, is “perspective.” Get a grip!

She cannot possibly believe that 250 YEARS of holding humans as chattel property, some 50 million African human beings perishing in the slave ships of the Middle Journey, would be remembered the same as a one-day demonstration that got out of hand. Especially since there are many unanswered questions about the role of the FBI and provocateurs. Added to Nancy Pelosi’s refusal to honor President Trump’s request to have the National Guard standing by.

Hostin is only five years older than my own child, so she probably saw The Electric Company where Morgan Freeman taught “three of these things are kind of the same but one of these things is not like the other.” Sad.

Moving on to the horrific Los Angeles fire. First of all, has there ever been a more appropriate use for the old SNL “Bass-O-Matic”? Mayor Bass is horrendous, but Deputy Fire Chief Kristine Larson has distinguished herself in a tough field of certifiable mush-brains. Commenting on the skepticism surrounding her ability to evacuate fire victims when she is a morbidly obese female, she said this: “People say ‘can you carry my husband to safety in the event of a fire?’ And I say, ‘What’s he doing in a place where there’s a fire?’” This person who checks every known DEI box is paid $400,000 a year. And doesn’t understand the job description.

I would invite her to name situations – apart from the obvious one of smoking in bed — in which the victim of a fire was not deemed worthy of rescue. A bunch of children trapped upstairs in their beds when the Christmas tree catches on fire? A fire-trap dance club where the back door is locked? A gay man in an apartment on the fourth floor whose smoke alarm was not in working order? Tell us, oh Zaftig Zeus-ette, who deserves to die here?

She also bleats out the MOST inaccurate trope ever though it is popular to spout: “When someone responds to an emergency at your house, you want to see someone who looks like you.” WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. And deeply offensive. What you WANT to see is someone who can DO THE BLEEPING JOB!!

A small but relevant aside: I have complained bitterly about hearing otherwise talented young black women comedians complain that they would be doing so much better if only “someone looked like me”. No. You would be doing so much better if you spent your time writing comedy instead of whining about mostly nonexistent sexism and racism.

I learned comedy from almost nobody who looked like me. I learned timing from the late, great Bob Newhart, the Smothers Brothers, and the extremely late, extremely great Jack Benny. My female favorites were Minnie Pearl and Joan Rivers. True, they were female, but neither lady looked “like me.” And their acts were nothing like the one I developed.

When I got my early break as a regular at the Dudley Riggs Theatre in Minneapolis, I was working with four very funny young fellas with more experience. They were my comedy college. After I opened the shows, I watched every one of their sets for over 100 shows.

Back to the topic at hand. My husband had a very serious medical emergency in 2020. When the ambulance and EMTs arrived, was I praying the people coming to care for him and take him to the ER were short, elderly, weak, heterosexual Jewish women? Good grief, no. I hoped they were exactly what they turned out to be: great big strong, trained, manly men of various skin tones and one calm yet substantial woman in charge. They were a bit preoccupied saving my husband’s life, so they failed to answer any of my all-important questions about their pronouns or sexual preferences – (maximum sarc!).

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses