"Defining Deviancy Down"

So stated Daniel P. Moynihan back about 20 years ago.  We have lowered our standards of what is acceptable. 

Walter Williams, long one of my favorite columnists, noted last weekend that television newscaster gave this account, "Two gentlemen were taken into custody for raping, sodomizing, and then murdering an 80-year old woman."  "Two gentlemen??????"  You must be kidding.  What do people have to do to be called "monsters?"

When I walked in from class the other night, Dancing with the Stars was not yet quite over, much to my great disappointment.  As I put down my briefcase and took off my shoes, I noted the very skimpy clothes one of the dancers was wearing.  A very derogatory word came to my mind, a four-letter one that begins with an "s" and ends with a "t."  "She's dressed like a...," I thought.  Yet, at the end, the show concluded with a recap of the night's efforts.  One dance looked like a sex escapade with clothes on.  I wondered, "Is this close to pornography--on prime time television?"  No doubt, though, my thoughts make me a prude, thoroughly out of date....

Perhaps not quite the same, but still a sign that the Apocalypse might be near....  A college professor noted that some of his students admitted that they had not yet bought the book for his course.  Therefore, I assume they were behind and not doing well.  But, they explained, they were waiting for their federal financial aid money--their "free money"-- to come.  Oh, OK...except they had spent the money they had on "tattoos, body-piercing, and cell phones."  Again, perhaps it's just me and my antiquated principles, but there seems to be something seriously wrong with this.

And, I see, another child in Detroit has been murdered.  Oddly, along with the tears that brought, I wondered how many other murders of children go unreported.  That is, nobody knows that the kids have been killed.  I don't know, but am just wondering.  I am reading a novel right now, whose author is worthy of Hannibal Lecter-stuff.  Her plot opens with the murder of several children and I was moved to visible tears.  I stopped reading for the night.  It was far to close to home/reality.  Some time soon, we must do more than say we are "outraged" and realize we are doing something wrong.

Thirty years ago, 18% of all children were born out of wedlock.  Today, that number is approaching 50%!  Half of all kids are born to mothers who aren't married??????  Now, tell me, what chance do these kids have?