You know what you never see anymore?  Civil war buffs.  What happened to all of them?  Did they die?  Or have they gone underground, forming some kind of secret society where men in trench coats sit around and analyze the Battle of Shiloh.  Hard to say.  But I know civil war buffs has become as rare as good network television.  At least we have cable.  Anyway, it is something that strikes me as odd.  Once, there was a civil war buff on every corner.  You could sit on a bar stool and some guy would immediately strike up a conversation with you revolving around the futility of the Rebel cause in the face of the industrial might of the North.  And I am talking about guys who didn’t know a damned thing about anything else.  It was an age of enlightenment.

But that is gone now.  Along with decent cartoons.  All they do in today’s cartoons is act stupid and scream a lot.  It is a long way from an Acme anvil dropping on the coyote’s head.

Speaking of war, I watched a documentary on Vietnam the other night.  Not to be a spoiler, but the Viet Cong win.  It is kind of like the Mighty Ducks movie, except the coach is Ho Chi Minh.  Emilio Estevez could probably play Ho Chi Minh.   He is much shorter than average.  The North won that war, too.  I am starting to see a pattern here.  The next time there is a Civil War, bet on the north side.  I’m sure there is somebody somewhere taking odds.  Gambling is universal.  And well loved.  Even Jesus condones it.  Have you seen how many church bingo nights there are?

Maybe the civil war buffs are playing bingo.  It seems like a natural progression.  But then I might be completely misreading the situation.  Some things in life remain inscrutable.