Doing the Opposite, and Finding Our Way Out

IT IS TO BE HOPED that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, even those who don't celebrate it. If possible, a quick dose of reality and some exercise wouldn't hurt before jumping right back into our American holiday fantasy. Five pounds gained, five more to go, before the big diet/fitness program starts on January first, 2016, and ends about January fifteenth, and we return to the never ending swamp of the Presidential campaign, and the freak show fun house quality entertainment American culture never fails to provide. Some folks in the public limelight, like Ben Carson, are particularly entertaining. Dr. Carson found out too late that Thomas Jefferson did not write the U.S. constitution, had virtually nothing to do with it, and didn't even like it very much. He thought we would need a new constitution about once every generation, to keep it up to date. He turned out to be right, whether or not we wish to admit it. Jefferson, of course, was a radical, revolutionary liberal, the kind who want to change things for the better. Conservatives like Carson, on the other hand, tend to think that the U.S. Constitution is perfect and sacrosanct as is, like the Bible. Even more frightening about Carson and his conservative is is their stubborn denial of climate change. That's an extraordinary accomplishment for someone with a background in chemistry and science. Can you even remotely imagine electing someone to the office of President of the United States, in the far futuristic year of twenty sixteen, who doesn't believe in climate change? What would he or she do? Suspend all environmental projects, all effort to save the planet, and instead give American corporate capitalism and the fossil fuel industry free reign? Would President Ben Carson ignore the rising sea levels, the violent weather, and the climbing temperatures while encouraging the burning of fossil fuels? Evidently. Goodness, how frightening, how absurd. Davy Crockett once said that if you're lost in the woods, figure out what direction you think is best, and go in the exact opposite direction, and you'll find your way out nine out of ten times. sound advice, and it applies here. Whatever a right wing conservative says, do the opposite. If they say that primitive documents like the constitution and the bible are sacred, you know better. They deny climate change, you know better. Don't vote for extreme right wingers. Works every time.