How To Create A Conservative

I remember as an older teen hanging around with a girl who was adamant in her refusal to smoke marijuana (and while that may not sound unusual now, it was back in the day). Didn't understand it, until I met her dad - a cheerful, smiling guy, prone to wearing his shirt buttoned half-way down, better to expose his chest hair and...his necklace, from which hung a 14 karat gold "joint"....

If a dope-smoking dad can turn you off to the chronic, what is this mom turning her son into, as she forces him to participate in a children's version of a cash for guns program run out of Providence, RI?

For seven years, Providence municipal and law enforcement officials have organized the event around Christmastime as a way to raise awareness of the dangers of playing with guns, real or fake.

Malik Hall, a round-eyed second-grader, looked apprehensive as he stood in line with his favorite toy, a thick, blue gun with plastic sword underneath the muzzle. The 8-year-old was furious when his mother, Amanda, told him he would have to give it up. Yesterday morning, he tried to hide it under his pillow, she said.

“I’m worried,’’ she said. “He might cry.’’

But when it was his turn, Malik strode dry-eyed and with quiet dignity to the Bash-O-Matic and fed it the gun. When his mother approached, he said nothing.

“You don’t want to talk to me?’’ Hall asked. He looked at her stonily and left to retrieve his gift.
Did she save him from a gangster's life? Or will he rebel and become something worse (in the eyes of a Rhode Islander): a 2nd Amendment supporting, Republican-voting, PC-loathing conservative?

Thanks, Malik's mom, for helping to get the next generation on the "right" track. As for me, personally, I'd love a gun with a removal sword - always have to be ready for the ammo to run out...

Hat to to James Taranto's Best of the Web...