Kickass at the public Library
Kickass, the doorstop dog, says that because it is such a crowded field, he joins the keeper in refraining from comment on the narcissistic idiot who bamboozled enough of the citizenry to get into the White House, even as he becomes an international laughing stock and is too stupid to recognize as much.
But it does not take a dog’s nose to detect the stench of rot that has set in at some of the more respected traditional venues of our national identity—simple protection of natural resources from greedy plunderers, education of the kids as a for profit venture and on and on. Most recently there was a proposed reduction in the funding of public libraries.
If there is any hope for fixing “stupid” in the cultural character, the seeds for it have the best chance in the libraries. During his many years of stumbling about the landscape to avoid honest labor and to collect stories, the keeper had a home in every town he visited. It was the public library, of course, warm and welcoming and staffed by wonderful, helpful people. Maybe it helps that his mother was a librarian for a time. In any case, among the countless things to be rescued and restored when the White House is finally vacated and fumigated, put the libraries on top of the list.