National Explainer

The idea for National Explainer grew out of a story told by a great friend of mine. She has a co-worker--let's call her Laura-- at a reasonably successful family real estate business who--on paper--appears to be a well-qualified member of society and participant in the economy. Laura went to prestigious private elementary, middle, high schools and University, was raised in the best communities in the area, and was endowed with extensive family connections.

The trouble arose when Laura tried to make sense of current events. Following a day of particularly grisly violence and worried about someone currently abroad, she asked my friend if Iraq and Germany were close to each other. When presented with a map showing the relatively large distance between Germany and Iraq, she furrowed her brow.

"But where's Israel? That was a big thing about Iraq, right, because it was a threat to Israel?"

My friend showed her Israel, squeezed between Iraq's neighbors--Jordan and Syria--and the Mediterranean.

"But why would Germany mess with the Jews if they were all the way over there?!"

* blink * * blink * Excuse me?

It's not that Laura isn't capable of learning facts and understanding their significance, it's that she hasn't. My friend and I joked that what this country needed was a National Explain Day when everyone was required to sit and watch a day's worth of pertinent educational matter to catch them up with the state of world.

Something like An Inconvenient Truth (props to Al and company's success last night at the Oscars!) about a handful of very important topics: world geography, middle eastern culture, the American political system, et al.

Now, I'm not going to pretend that I would know anywhere near the appropriate amount to educate our nation on any topic. I will, however, try to back myself up with people that do. You know, experts.

I also have a full-throated and unabashed liberal bias and refuse to pretend otherwise. The horrific state of affairs domestically and on the international scene has been enabled by an electorate that likely did not fully understand much of what was happening in the wider world around them. We need to change that.

Being biased, however, does not make one untrustworthy nor necessarily partisan. I will give the Democrats my full support unless and until the Republicans offer a better alternative. That said, the modern GOP coalition of American Taliban theocrats and Grover Norquist "government in a bathtub" plutocrats is a non-starter. I will continue to criticize Democratic policies and proposals when they mess up, which is more frequently than I would hope.

I'm not going to get preachy with you or talk down to you. Hopefully. If I do, call me out. I can also understand what it's like to have a short attention span, so I'll try to keep it all as concise and interesting as possible.

That might be tough when I get to explaining Medicare part D...