We can be surprised about the consequences of climate change. We might just shrug with ignorance and say "what's wrong with having a milder winter? What's wrong with the temperature being a little warmer?"
That's a totally superficial assessment. Climate change is going to be bad news in many ways. Yes, government entities need to spend more on clearing roads when we have the historic type of Minnesota winter. Are you old enough to remember the kind of winters we had in the latter half of the 1960s? Snow poured from the heavens. Drifts burgeoned everywhere. Kids could stay home from school periodically. Do you think those kids ended up any less smart because they missed a little school? I laugh when I hear about how kids are legally mandated to have 'X' number of school days in a given year. As if a slight discrepancy would hurt them.
Remember the Chokio school bus rescue? Was that incident due to desperation to complete a school day in order to get state aid money? That would be unconscionable of course. There is a detailed website giving background and stories about the Chokio school bus rescue.
Have you stopped to realize how absolutely worthless this past winter has been? Look around. Have you seen people doing anything outside? People are just forced to stay indoors and try to find interesting things to do there. Outside? It has been just plain yucky outside. Maybe you can find happiness going on Facebook indoors. I'm not on Facebook. I do find fulfillment doing this online writing. I'm an old-fashioned long-form journalist. It's not the only way in which I'm old-fashioned. I like listening to old Paul Revere and the Raiders tunes.
Our recent winters in Minnesota have been like the familiar pattern in Iowa and Missouri. Historically we have actually felt pride in our Minnesota winter with its abundance of dry and crisp snow. Snowmobiles buzz around. Other winter recreational opportunities abound. The snow is a joy in many ways. Is it now gone forever due to climate change?
Political conservatives pooh-pooh all of this. "Conservatism" has become the default political position in America. Now we have the Trump budget which takes a dump on all the people who voted for him. It's a boon for rich people, but what really did we expect from Republicans?
Republicans are always trying to undo the New Deal. Republicans are probably at their best when they're the minority, when they can simply impose some healthy fiscal discipline now and then. Believe me, in 1980 we really needed Ronald Reagan.
Billy Carter - yes Billy and not Jimmy - was once the featured guest on "Hee Haw." Imagine a show like "Hee Haw" featuring someone with associations with the Democratic Party. "Hee Haw" appealed to the kind of people who today voted for Trump. These people seem almost allergic to Democrats. Mike McFeely, when he was with KFGO, said the attorney general of North Dakota didn't have to do anything because "he doesn't have to worry about being re-elected." He didn't have to do anything. Is this really how entrenched the Republican Party is?
Our Collin Peterson recently ruminated about how the Democratic Party has lost ground. He noted how the party has become associated with "Black Lives Matter." What's really wrong with "Black Lives Matter?" What's wrong with trying to ensure that black people aren't the subject for discrimination when it comes to police behavior? Don't we want to ensure law enforcement fairness for all? Is this really a turn-off for the "Hee Haw" audience, i.e. Trump voters?
Is it so important to you to vote Republican that you want to see Meals on Wheels eliminated, or millions thrown off their health insurance? Why has our society sunk this low? Look at the impression that Trump is making around the world. Have we no shame? This is a guy who gets much of his guidance from Fox News commentators. What happens when something really bad comes about as a result of Trump's tendencies? Will we really wake up? Or will we remain content in our ignorance?
Yes, the weather will improve over the next few months. But then we'll sink back into month after month of just plain "crap," just like we saw this past winter.
Click on the link below to read the post I recently wrote about Paul Revere and the Raiders.
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