moses forgets his camera

Going to Walmart in Bend without my camera is about as stupid as leaving the house without my pants.

Yesterday evening, I was wearing my pants, but I had forgotten my camera.  Even though I was in Walmart as a legitimate consumer, I know that something always manages to trigger my blogging instinct.

I was headed toward the rest room when a tattooed young man walking toward me caught my eye.  Well, not so much him as the slogan on his t-shirt.  "DAMM -- Drunks Against Mad Mothers."

The American cultural wars use every tool in their desire to seduce us -- including wit.  Admittedly, the use of "Mad" instead of "MADD" struck me as a lawyer-heavy cop-out.

But a quick look through the internet reveals that DAMM is not necessarily jaunty tricksters, despite their lilting t-shirt slogans.  Here is a dose of their political levity:

DAMM is an organization that was founded by a group of responsible citizens who were astonished to learn how legislators and other politicians have created an entire DUI Industry in their quest for easy votes and increased government revenues.

 Yikes!  That sentence is as leaden as anything Paul Krugman could write -- not to mention the subtext relating to how the authors came to their "astonishing" revelation.  I anticipated P.J. O'Rourke, and found Ross Perot.

Jamela, my legal secretary in private practice, was fond of saying: "Many a truth is said in jest."  Of course, she also let loose with such gems as: "Now, you're skating on dry ice."

But she had a point.  A lot of polemic is tarted up as wit.

And the moral of my little Walmart outing?  As long as I remain in Oregon, my camera is sticking with me wherever I go.

I am a stranger in a strange land.