I am waiting for the morning press conference to learn more about the shooting of the two National Guard members here in Washington yesterday. An obvious tragedy and, just as obvious, our insightful president is responding in the absolutely wrong way.

It seems that the attacker was an Afghan national who had worked for a considerable period of time with the United States during our military action in Afghanistan, was admitted to the United States during the Biden administration as part of a program to allow in Afghans who had worked with us and consequently would likely be targeted under Taliban rule and who, it has been said, had recently been granted permanent asylum under the Trump administration. What caused him to do what he did is, I believe, unknown at this time. But it seems that he clearly targeted his victims. And, moreover, he did not live in Washington, DC, but lived across the country in the State of Washington.

This means a couple of things. First, he is not part of any perceived (or real) DC crime problem. Second, it seems highly unlikely that he would have shot anyone had the National Guard not been patrolling our streets.

The National Guard currently assigned to Washington apparently number about 2,000. You see them now and then walking around, loitering at Metro Stations, talking to passers-by or on their cell phones, harming no one, but also not really adding anything to local security or the local scene. Some are armed, some are not, but they are limited in their authority. Most importantly, they are not seen as law enforcement officers, and they are not even permitted, as I understand it, to help local or federal police in apprehending criminals. Hence, as has been reported, they are sometimes assigned tasks (not necessarily unimportant, but…..) like picking up trash.

You would think that the reaction to a shooting such as the one which occurred yesterday would, in part, to analyze whether having the Guard patrol the streets is just putting the members of the National Guard in harm’s way, especially now that it is possible, if unlikely, that there will be copycat attacks. But, no, the reaction of the Trump administration is to call up more members of the National Guard and put another 500 on the DC streets, saying this is necessary as part of the plan to decrease DC crime. To me, it seems obvious that this has less possibility of decreasing crime on the streets than it does setting the stage for more crime. And, I point out again, that this shooting had nothing to do with “DC crime on the streets” at all; it was one person who lives 3000 miles away who decided to shoot two members of the National Guard and drove across the country to do it.

This, of course, was not the only perverse reaction of Mr. Trump. Again, from what I think I heard, this man was one of 75,000 Afghans allowed into the U.S. as part of the program directed to those who were allied with us during the fighting, and one of about 200,000 Afghans allowed into the country on various programs after the U.S. left the country. I haven’t seen anything even hinting that the Afghans allowed in have been participating in criminal activity at any abnormal level. But of course, this is irrelevant to our Immigration Enforcer in Chief, who has now said that there will be no more Afghans allowed in and that there will be some sort of investigation of those already here. ICE: one more disgusting task for you, it appears.

Well, he probably didn’t realize it, but the shooter did sort of spoil my birthday. It was a low key day, anyway. Our only scheduled activity was to pick up a turkey and deliver it to our daughter who is hosting today’s dinner. And that went off without a hitch. I still wonder how Moti’s Kosher Supermarket works. You tell them in advance that you want a turkey and give them a size, and tell them when you plan to get it. You go to the store at the appointed time, they don’t ask you your name, and they have a rafter of turkeys in the meat counter and, in effect, say “take what you want”.

I like a “rafter of turkeys”. AI tells me that is the correct term.

We did have two restaurant  meals  yesterday, something we normally do only when we are out of town. Both were excellent. Lunch was at the not-very-well-named restaurant, Hello, Vietnam!, on Veirs Mill Road in Rockville, and dinner at Le Chat Noir, just about a mile to our west. Le Chat Noir has become our go-to birthday restaurant, and we both had a delicious river trout dinner (along with soup, salad, dessert, and a glass of sparkling rose). Could not have been better.

I heard from many friends and relatives yesterday, and appreciated every one of them. They say that socialization is important as you age, and although I probably socialize more than most at 83, I would like to keep in contact with friends and relatives more often than once a year. It’s harder than you would think, though.

I also want to point out that a group of neuroscientists from the University of Cambridge yesterday published a study of brain aging. They said that brains do not change every day, but seem to have significant changes at particular times over a lifetime. The last change, what the study terms as “Late Aging”, occurs at age 83. Not that I understand the brief published description of what happens when you reach 83, but that it is a shift from “global to local” while “whole brain connectivity declines even further and it relies on certain regions as others fade”. Whatever that means, it probably is not good.

While writing, I have watched U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and FBI Director Kash Patel talk about yesterday’s attack. Their comments were totally misguided and disgusting. Pure and simple. Why? Because they both turned this tragedy into political speeches – it is all the result of the Biden administration’s disastrous departure from Afghanistan, and as a result of Biden letting all these Afghans in the country without vetting them at all. Of course, this is completely false and disgusting but, to some listeners (many listeners) undoubtedly convincing.