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David McElroy

making sense of a dysfunctional culture

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Loving father’s pride in daughter easily bridges our language gap

By David McElroy · June 6, 2018

When I pulled into my driveway this evening, I had to be careful to avoid getting in the way of a softball. The man next door was outside with his daughter again. The little girl is around 8 or 9 years old and he was throwing balls high into the air for her to practice catching fly balls.

“Great catch!” I called to her as she got to a difficult ball just in time. Then I asked her dad — jokingly — if she’s going to be a softball star.

“She already is,” he said as he beamed with pride. “She plays on the community team and they’ve been winning tournaments. They won in Tuscaloosa next weekend. If they win one more, they go to the state tournament.”

I don’t know this family well, but we always wave and say hello. They’re originally from somewhere in Latin America and the parents’ accented English is sometimes difficult for me to understand.

This evening, though, I didn’t have any trouble understanding. He was a loving father whose pride in his little girl was unmistakable. His love for his daughter transcended our language gap.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: daughter, family, father, parenting, softball, sports

If ‘bigots’ can lose their rights, will your rights be next to go?

By David McElroy · June 5, 2018

In a free world, nobody would be forced to associate with someone else against his will. In a free world, nobody would be forced to buy from someone against his will. In a free world, nobody would be forced to sell to someone — or hire someone — against his will.

In a free world, all associations are voluntary. In other words, if any transaction is forced — for either party — that is not a transaction between free people.

Free people have liberty to make their own decisions — whether I agree with their decisions or not. Free people can be kind and loving if they choose. Free people can be open-minded and decent. But free people can also be hateful and mean-spirited if they choose. Free people can be greedy if they choose.

If human beings are not free to make their own decisions about their associations, they are not free people. Whoever dictates what their decisions must be has taken away their natural right to live as free men and women.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: freedom, gay marriage, politics, rights, supreme court

Desperate need to be special drives me to try to matter to those I love

By David McElroy · June 1, 2018

The box of detergent weighed as much as I did. Maybe more. But I wanted to help bring the groceries from the car, so I picked the biggest box.

I wanted to help. I wanted for my parents to praise me. I wanted to be special.

The memory is hazy. I had never helped bring groceries in — I was maybe 2 or 3 — but I decided I was ready. I don’t think I even told either of my parents. I just started trying to drag that big box toward the house.

After I dragged it a little way — and realized it was too heavy — I went to get my wagon. I was struggling to get it into the wagon when my parents found me (and Mother made this picture).

I didn’t understand my motivations at that age. I was acting purely on instinct. But as I look at my life — my patterns of the past and my inner desires today — I’m faced with the inescapable conclusion that I’ve always been desperate to be special to someone.

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Donald Trump has figured out who to blame for the Donald Trump has figured out who to blame for the the D.C. Reflecting Pool turning green. The dastardly deed was carried out by a specially trained squad of Antifa cats trained by the Far Left. It’s not his fault. Arrest all the cats! #satire #parody
This was the sunset that faced me as I left Walmar This was the sunset that faced me as I left Walmart near my house just a few minutes ago. It was a beautiful light show for just a few minutes.
Here’s proof that reality and satire are indisting Here’s proof that reality and satire are indistinguishable these days.
This was the sunset I saw from the parking lot out This was the sunset I saw from the parking lot outside of the Walmart near my house just after the sun went down Friday evening.
This little parody was inspired by my trip to buy This little parody was inspired by my trip to buy gas a little while ago. Even at a no-name brand, the price was $4.09. If I remember correctly, it was $2.29 a gallon at the same station on the day the war started. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of winning. 🤣
For the best and most sophisticated in lawn care, For the best and most sophisticated in lawn care, check out the sponsor of one of my upcoming YouTube video episodes. 🙃 #parody #threestooges
Have you felt as though you’re living through Grou Have you felt as though you’re living through Groundhog Day lately? Me, too. Here’s a quick-and-dirty political satire I made this evening for fun and stress relief.
About three minutes before sunrise, vibrant color About three minutes before sunrise, vibrant color is poking through the skies to the east of my back yard.
The lights and color might have been more spectacu The lights and color might have been more spectacular a couple of minutes before this, but this was the best view I had of the Monday afternoon sunset from a bridge over I-20 in Moody, Ala.
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Sam was lying in an office window at sunset and ha Sam was lying in an office window at sunset and had already become a silhouette, but then Oliver jumped into the window with him, so we have competing silhouettes framed against the fading color of the sunset sky.
Oliver jumped into my arms as soon as I came home Oliver jumped into my arms as soon as I came home and sat down. My arm is on the blue armrest of the chair and he has himself draped over me. He’s purring his heart out, of course.
Early Thursday afternoon, Alex is sitting on an of Early Thursday afternoon, Alex is sitting on an office window ledge stalking Oliver as he innocently meandered into the office. Just a moment after this, Alex pounced and the chase was on.
It was impossible for me to get a decent picture w It was impossible for me to get a decent picture with Sam for a long time, but then he finally started letting pick him up for brief photos. It’s a new thing for him to casually hang out in this way so I can get a video with him. It’s a wonderful thing to slowly earn the trust of a formerly feral cat.
Alex was waiting on his castle when I got home fro Alex was waiting on his castle when I got home from work, keeping watch like this when I came into the office. Either he missed me — possible, I suppose — or he has developed an incredibly accurate internal dinner clock.
A furry antidepressant is often the very best kind A furry antidepressant is often the very best kind.
Alex woke up from a nap, spent a few minutes chasi Alex woke up from a nap, spent a few minutes chasing a toy mouse, and then exhausted himself to the point that another nap became necessary. It’s important to pace yourself.
Sam settled into a front office window Tuesday eve Sam settled into a front office window Tuesday evening to keep an eye on things. Nobody knows exactly what things he’s keeping an eye on, but he’s taking the responsibility very seriously.
Alex slowly opened one eye and then the other. He Alex slowly opened one eye and then the other. He evaluated the situation in the office late Tuesday afternoon and concluded that being awake remains overrated.
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It turns out that the radical far left has been training “Antifa cats” to sabotage anything important to Donald Trump. Everything he did was perfect. Honest. It was all the cats’ fault. Arrest all the cats! This is the latest of my ridiculous satirical shorts. Please go watch it. Then “like” it and subscribe. Please. I’m begging you. (Too much?) Although a couple of the previous videos have had views in the hundreds, most have still been seen by fewer than 20 people. So I seem to be having trouble letting people know that page exists.

Here’s the latest of my ridiculous parody shorts. It crossed my mind Tuesday to wonder what a slick and fast-talking car dealer might do right now to try to turn the high price of gasoline to his advantage. So I conceived of a fat and lovable character who tried to sell cars that don’t use any fuel — and then I started wondering if it would be funnier if all the characters were felines. Designing the King Cashpaw character took about four hours, but the rest took only another four hours, so this was a relatively quick piece that virtually wrote itself. I know it’s almost impossible for these parody videos to find a larger audience, but at least they amuse me — and there are 19 of them on my YouTube page now. The first few were very limited, but they’re getting more complex.

The Republican Party is dead. It still exists in name, of course, but it’s nothing but a shell. All that’s left are idiots and stooges and con men of the MAGA party. When Donald Trump is gone — which won’t be long — those populist idiots and pragmatic fools will have no one to follow. Democrats will thrive. They will take more power than ever and they will push the federal government further to the radical far left than ever. When that happens, don’t just blame Trump if you’re a conservative. Blame every person who has claimed to be a conservative and has given up on principles, character and everything else that Republicans once claimed to stand for. As someone who worked as a GOP political consultant for many years, this is disgusting and disturbing to me. Those who have enabled Trump to have almost unchecked power are going to be shocked when they see what they will unleash in the long run. It’s been plain all along what this narcissistic con man is. It’s your fault that you chose to pretend not to see what he really is.

We are ruled by the dumbest and most incompetent people among us — and we have a system which allows stupid and irresponsible people to force the costs of their idiocy onto smarter and wiser people. Can we get away with that? Yes, for quite some time. But we eventually reach a point at which the dumbest of the dumb — who are habitual liars and mentally ill fools — lead us to the disasters and destruction that some of us have seen coming for years. We are approaching that point. And yet most of the idiots around us still wave their rhetorical banners of support for the evil people who are leading us to ruin — and all of them point their fingers at someone else, never noticing that their own enthusiastic support of evil is to blame. When things finally fall apart, blame yourself for your blindness to the evil, not whoever happens to be in power when it happens.

I’ve been making some changes to the site lately and there are more changes coming in the days ahead, so don’t be surprised if you some small differences. This is not a wholesale redesign, but rather the addition of some features. Since they’re smarter than I am, I’ve put Oliver and Alex in charge of the technical work, which you can see in this action photo from the control room of our media complex. I recently added a series of landing pages for readers who randomly discover the site from an Internet search. I’ve also changed the YouTube link at the top of the page to go to the new YouTube channel for video essays that reflect things I’ve already published here. (Here’s a little bit about both of the YouTube channels I’m working on.) In addition, I’m trying to move away from using Instagram, so I’m experimenting with photo plug-ins that will eventually allow me to host the pictures — cats, dogs, sunsets, whatever — that I often take. So don’t be surprised to see more changes. Thanks for your patience. Let’s hope Alex and Oliver know what they’re doing.

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