(As this is damn near completely off-topic for the purposes of the site, I'm going to refrain from front-paging this and instead will simply post it to my personal blog) 

Since my wife and I just moved to Alexandria last week, I haven't really had a chance to explore the DC-area social scene.  Last night, she and I changed that at the Potomac Yard theater at 11:59.

Yes, we're total "Harry Potter" nerds, and we freely admit it.

I think I've been to the midnight premiers of all five of the movies so far, including "Chamber of Secrets," which came out while I was doing a stint in rural Michigan and had to drive over an hour and a half through the snow to get to the theater.

Actually, it was my second movie of the day--my wife had an interview in Georgetown, so I had spent about an hour and a quarter watching "Transformers" at the Loew's Theater on K Street at 31st (I had little trouble walking out when she called to tell me her interview was over, though the fight scenes were cool enough, I suppose).

For decades, Tipper Gore has told parents how to raise their children. In her book Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society, she shamed parents who dare allow their children access to youth culture. She insisted that following her example of selecting your children’s music and TV programs for them, of chaperoning your teenaged children at concerts, etc. was the only way to ensure children would grow up right and become adults who make the right choices.

We recently saw the results of Tipper Gore-style parenting. The son Tipper Gore raised, Al Gore III, was caught endangering people’s lives by driving 100 mph on a public highway. When police pulled him over, they found in his car several illegal drugs. This was not Al Gore III’s first such experience, of course. In 2003, he was stopped for driving at night with his headlights off and police found drugs then, too. Not only has Tipper Gore raised a junkie who endangers other people’s lives, but she has raised a son who can’t even figure out that when you have a stash in your car, you don’t drive 100 mph.

Now that we’ve seen the results of Tipper Gore parenting, hopefully parents will stop emulating her example. Because Al Gore III is not the only victim.