Keeping kids safe

Sometimes us media types get into this pack mentality that can be problematic. It comes from an innate desire to sound like we know what we're talking about, which is understandable and reasonable, if occasionally elusive. So we borrow the stances and opinions of national scribes and tip top talking heads, whom we assume know what they're talking about.

But there's a mechanism involved in the process that is somewhat detestable. A mechanism of accumulative assumption. I mean, the first step for Hilary to win the Democratic nomination is for everyone to assume that she's going to win. I've been getting sucked into this slipstream lately, and I've stepped back, re-assessed, and decided I'm not ready to jump off the Good Ship Sanders. Not yet.

Yes, Hill had a great autumn, highlighted by her cool calm performance in front of that Benghazi lynch mob. But we all know that momentum shifts happen suddenly and even furiously in the bonzai modern mania of our Twitter-tainted politics, and I'm not quite ready to assume that Hill is Da Pick. We're two months away from Iowa and New Hampshire, and that's a lot of time for something to happen, something to swing the pendulum back towards The Berninator. Frequently, in the rush to sound like you know what you're talking about, you might just get it wrong.

So I ain't bailin' on Bernie. He's the first candidate in a long time who didn't feel like a “lesser of two evils” kind of guy. Socialist, schmocialist—I don't give a flaming doughnut. If ever a country could use a redistribution of wealth, a bit of material tweaking, it's us. If the guy wants to stick it to Wall Street and keep the suits there from running amok, all I can say is right on and I'm feeling the Bern. And I do think he would be a champion of the beleaguered middle class.

•

Speaking of football, I wonder if you've noticed how often players are carted out of the stadium. This is certainly nothing new, I don't think. But are we getting kinda numb to this grisly spectacle? If a guy isn't carted off, he's being helped off with a freshly mangled leg, knee or ankle. I'll try to be accurate with my estimate here, which is more gut feeling than university research, but I would guess that, while it's not every game we see a player get either carted or helped off the field, it's pretty doggone close. With such a rate of attrition as an undeniable and stark reality of our national sport, I can completely understand why modern parents would decline to sign off on junior's participation. I'm guessing that nowadays, dads aren't anywhere near as concerned about their boy signing up for Theater Arts as in decades past, when such a move would brings scowls of hetero concern. I also won't be surprised to see badminton make a comeback. Well, wait. I take that back.