The Countertop Chronicles

I grew up in Northern Jersey, right on the edge of the suburbs of New York City. My parents are New Yorkers. Dad’s from the Bronx, mom’s from Queens. Growing up I spent a significant portion of my time walking the streets of the city that never sleeps. This was in the dark ages of New Yorks history - the 70s and 80s - when the worst socialist, anti capitalist, anti war elements of the Democratic Party ruled the city.

It was, then, appropriately thought of as destitute. A failure. A city of crime and run away homicides. They tried many things but nothing worked. And then came Rudy Guiliani. Say what you will about him, he cleaned the city up by arresting criminals and panhandlers, eliminating (where he could) those bloated government programs and taxes and regulations that had driven the life from New York City. As much as I hate him, Michael Bloomberg has at least kept going the renaissance that Rudy launched. The result has been to the financial and cultural benefit of all New Yorkers, and indeed the entire nation.

I live in the D.C. area now, and while D.C. has its bad parts, the crime is largely limited to those out of the way places that neither tourists nor the commuting business professionals frequent. So, it came as a shock when I headed out this morning in the one party anti war socialist city of San Francisco. Where the freaks were absent on Sunday, they were out in droves come Monday.

I loved the city after my walk yesterday. I can’t wait to get home after seeing the amount of hideous scum and hucksters and scam artists and pick pockets and pimps and hookers and beggars and stealers out this morning.

Seriously, does no one even question a little bit the mental/physical/financial shape of the city’s stuck-in-the-60s-homeless-hippy population??