Patriotically, Pridefully Competing.

NOT ONLY DOTH PRIDE GOETH before a fall, it goeth well with bad decision making, low self esteem, and, at times, unmitigated insanity. When Thomas Jefferson was in France, he visited a Parisian chess club, since he loved the game, fancied himself accomplished at it, and was respected as a player by his American opponents, including James Madison, with whom he bragged he had engaged in "four hour games". He didn't last long among the French. With every endeavor, there are different levels, as we must all learn at length. One game against a real European player was all it took to wound his pride, and send him back to his pressing duties in his home-away-from-home flower garden. A single disastrously ego deflating defeat was sufficient to drive him out of action, and much later his grand daughter mused that if he had only humbled himself to the possibility for self improvement, and stayed with it, he might have become one of the best players among the highly skilled French - with but a bit more experience. Low self esteem. Now, for some insanity. In a very "small" town, in a small state, in a great and monstrously large nation, two zealous men are currently engaged in a contest, which began on April Fool's Day, unless by now the matter has been settled. This is really happening, for real. They are engaged in a contest to determine which of them is the more patriotic, and can display their patriotism more publicly and ostentatiously. No one knows for sure how it started. Something to do with borrowed Christmas lights, or yard signs. The theory has it that it began as a Cruz Trump thing, which is about as serious as it gets. Perhaps a campaign yard sign went up, facing the wrong way. One neighbor put a small American flag on his mailbox. The other neighbor put a slightly larger American flag on his car's windshield. Then, they started painting. First, the fences, then the front porches, all red, white, and blue. At this point, the neighborhood started becoming a bit annoyed, and not a bit alarmed. The flags have become enormous, and expensive. Unless local law enforcement has stepped in, it may still be going on. Nobody seems to know the actual depth of antipathy and competitive zeal; it is suspected that the whole affair is quite serious, and unfriendly. This is because, at last report, one of the men has been seen dressed up like Uncle Sam, standing erect in front of a huge national ensign, saluting, far into the night. Come to think of it, since the republican national convention is still a couple months off, this thing may go on for awhile.