Sinking to the lowest common denominator

What bothers me about all this business with the black Harvard professor, and about the race situation in the US in general, is that many of what SHOULD be the better, more educated elements of the black community have decided that their 'identity' is defined by adopting the habits and demeanor of the lowest elements of black society.
I recall the elegance and grace of men like Duke Ellington, and compare that with Al Sharpton. There is no comparison.
While most whites of my acquaintance would be intensely embarrassed to be represented by the redneck jerks in our racial demographic, and most of them wouldn't adopt their mannerisms other than to growl 'git-r-done' or some other comic slogan, the black community has decided in their leap to the left that the worst of them have to be embraced in toto, as a statement of solidarity against "the man".
So while black America was once represented in the public mind by some amazing people, people with style and manners and quality, now they're content to let Ice Cube or Snoop Dog be their public face. I grant you that standards have slipped a lot across the board, and whites are too content to let Britney Spears be the face of white America, but not to the degree that black America seems to have fallen.
For a college professor to sink to a phrase like "yo mama" in dealing with a police officer, aping the style and words of a ghetto thug, is proof that they really do need to 're-calibrate' their thinking. He could have and should have tried to impress the officer with erudite phrasing and quality of behavior, but he was conditioned to act like a moron by his own doctrine of resentment.
I was raised to be embarrassed by such conduct. There was a time when black America was as well, but it's slipping away with the rise of the race pimps and the entitlement generation.

Where's Bloggo?

When even the bloodhounds can't find him, you know it's serious!

So what's going on? Well, I'm working a lot in the hospital and staying busy with that. I've been corresponding on the Gunsite alumni email list with the amazingly well-informed folks in that group, and have been spending a lot of time with the dog pack at home. I've even been putting in some time for the Kentucky Coalition to Carry Concealed, the personal rights group I helped to found back in 1995, the outfit that got concealed carry passed into law here in Kentucky in 1996.
This is also the season that I make a kind of attempt at doing a little gardening, and with the usual maintenance chores that go into keeping up a house that dates back to about 1850 it's enough to keep me busy.
But I also have been spending a lot of time just watching things happen. I keep up with the news and try to spend a good bit of time online, running down current events.
With the Obamanation working overtime to run this nation into the ground and impoverish us while reducing us all to the same level of misery in the time-tested socialist fashion, there's a lot for me to follow.
I didn't start this blog to spew out my own take on every damn thing that happens in the world, and I'm not compelled to write each and every day. For those of you who enjoy the work of really good writers, see the links at the left of the page to Frank James blog "Corn, Beans, Spent Brass, etc.", and to Brigid's "Home on the Range". Both of them can write. Both of them LIKE to write!
I write when I see something I really want to talk about, even if it's only a blurb, or to point to a photo that I like. Unlike some who inhabit the blogosphere, I'm not compelled to natter on about every minor item that crosses my mind. For one thing, I'm still a pretty private person. There are things that routinely end up on some blogs that you will NEVER see on this page. I might share some thoughts and opinions with close friends, but this blog is not a confessional.
I spend a lot of time just thinking about things, and absorbing information. I read voraciously about subjects that interest me, just for the joy of reading and learning and seeing what's out there. I have no illusions that I'm some kind of genius who will lead you to the light about every damn topic that crops up. Ain't gonna happen, and I'll be the first to tell you that.
I started this blog to be part of the 2nd Amendment Bloggers Bash at the NRA convention in Louisville in 2008, and to have fun with writing about guns and dogs and people. I did NOT start it to make a living at it. I don't have ads on here. While I'd like to test more gear and get more notice for that, it doesn't compel me. I'm taking my own sweet time on the Para LTC test, but it will be a GOOD and complete test when it's done, not something whizzed out for a deadline. I also have a lot of political news to keep up with, and things to do in support of KC3 which occupy my time. There are some here in Kentucky who still haven't gotten the word about our rights and our freedoms, and we have to keep reminding them, keep them off our backs and out of our way.
With all the new Tea Party groups and more being done to take back our rights at the personal and state level, there's always something more and something new to take up my time, things that can't be ignored and that require diligence on the part of every citizen.
I used to draw a lot when I was younger, and a lot of people encouraged me to become a commercial artist. I never gave it serious consideration. One, I knew that I didn't have that special spark that I see in the best work of the best artists, and didn't want to turn out mediocre work.
Two, I was doing if for myself. It was to help me get through a long string of difficult years while I was growing up and I did it for expression and for an outlet for my emotions and my growing pains. I refused to put myself on a deadline, and to have to work to the demands of a third party to do something that I loved and needed to do.
This blog is like that. When it starts to feel like work, when I have to sit down and force myself to post items to it, I balk and withdraw. I read for days, and scan news online, and spend time with the dogs. I will not do this blog as a chore any more than I would sell my art work, or my photographs.
I will continue to post here, and hope to have several items to put up this weekend. Sorry if I've disappointed anyone, and hope that you keep checking back and that you'll find something here that piques your interest and stirs your soul.
Yr obdnt srvnt - Bloggo.