When we hear of shootings like those in Texas and Ohio last week, we wonder what has happened to our culture. The gun grabbers seized on the moment to blame President Trump for the senseless acts of barbarism after giving lip service to thoughts of consideration for the victims and their families. Read columnist Michelle Malkin’s thoughts at the right side of this page, which provide a reasonable response to the left’s spastic reaction to the events. For some reason we thought of Patti Page’s hit song of 1953,” How Much Is that Doggie in the Window?” and how that era was so much different. Quite a difference from the songs popular today and played on the radio without qualms – glorifying murder, ravaging females and denigrating police. That last comment is sheer speculation. We actually can’t understand what the “artists” are saying, or singing. We have to rely on what others tell us or what we read. By the way: There were no mass shootings in America in 1953 when Miss Page’s novelty song was the hit. We still remember the opening lines: How much is that doggie in the window, the one with the waggely tail; how much is that doggie in the window, I do hope that doggie’s for sale.” Wikipedia recalled about “Doggie:”

Background

“Doggie” was one in a series of successful novelty songs since the 1930s, following on the success of songs such as Bing Crosby’s “Pistol Packin’ Mama” and Merv Griffin’s “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts”. ... The original Page recording included the sounds of dogs barking, credited on the label as “Barks by Joe and Mac” (her arranger, Joe Reisman, and a violinist). ... On April 4, 1953, singer Patti Page’s rendition of “The Doggie in the Window” went to No. 1 in the US Billboard magazine chart, staying at that top spot for eight weeks. The song was wildly popular across a wide demographic. The song had school children “yipping;” Mercury Records was besieged with requests for free puppies; and the American Kennel Club’s annual registrations spiked up by 8 percent. In all, Page’s record sold over 2 million copies.

• • • Pistol Packin’ Mama, might have been considered a risqué song for its time. Our favorite memory of that one was encouraging a tongue-tied boy on our school bus to sing it as we rode to school. He was happy to do it although he couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket and joined in with everyone’s howls of laughter after singing the last line – “and now I’m on the run.” Neither tune would likely be a hit today. It was a calmer and simpler time then. The idea of putting police officers in schools to maintain order would have been unthinkable. The principals and occasionally a teacher would mete out punishment as necessary to keep the learning process going. We can’t recall a single student in our class who wasn’t a proficient reader when we graduated from high school. The federal programs to end poverty and improve education appear to have been unmitigated failures that may have paved the way to tragic mass shootings and unlistenable music. (Programs that incentivize no fathers in homes seem to do that.) But then we’re probably not “woke” enough to understand what our betters have planned for us. For those nostalgic seniors who quite remember “Doggie in the Window,” we looked up the second verse and it goes like this: I must take a trip to California And leave my poor sweetheart alone If he has a dog he won’t be lonesome And the doggie will have a good home.

• • • Now, isn’t that better than shooting police?

• • • We couldn’t help smiling a little when Democrat presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke (and other leftists) leaped on the shooting at El Paso – his town – to blame it on President Trump, calling him a racist. Okay, we know nobody under 30 will agree with us about the music, but the culture of a society does affect the actions of its members. President Trump said of the shooting: “Today’s shooting in El Paso, Texas, was not only tragic, it was an act of cowardice. I know that I stand with everyone in this country to condemn today’s hateful act. There are no reasons or excuses that will ever justify killing innocent people.” The president is probably not likely to convince a single leftist that he is not “racist.” That’s the left’s story and they’re sticking with it. Columnist Dennis Prager has a test to demonstrate putting the lie to all claims that Trump, or conservatives, are racist: 1). Do you have more in common with, and are you personally more comfortable in the company of, a white leftist or a black conservative? 2). Would you rather have nine white leftists or nine black conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court?

3). Would you rather your child marry a black Christian conservative or a white non-Christian liberal?

A white racist would prefer the whites in each case.

Prager continues about his racism test:

“I have asked these questions of thousands of Trump supporters at lectures and on my radio show.

“Not once has a white Trump-supporting conservative said he or she would be more comfortable in the presence of a white leftist than a black conservative, or would prefer an all-white liberal Supreme Court to an all-black conservative Supreme Court.

“Not once has a white Christian conservative said he or she would prefer his or her child marry a white non-Christian liberal rather than a black Christian conservative.

“If you’re an honest leftist, this should present a powerful challenge to your belief that all white conservatives are racist.

“But it won’t.”

Congressman Steve Scalise, who was the victim of a politically-motivated shooting, probably puts the response to the latest shootings from the left in the correct perspective:

“These events are tragedies. Reducing them to talking points and name-calling in support of narrow political agendas only further divides our country.”