In watching the news yesterday, and scanning the newspaper and on-line news sources this morning, I’m struck how the press seems to be the point man in keeping our attention focused on the relatively unimportant stuff, and off the real serious issues of the day.   No wonder we and our leaders wander around aimlessly, without urgency to solve serious problems.  Let me be specific.  The issues that seem to occupy our interest today involve whether we should refurbish our old embassy in Havana or build a new one,  glee surrounding the removal of the Confederate flag from state houses and NASCAR races, the hindsight of the wisdom of sanctuary cities, whether Serena Williams is the best female athlete in history, Jared Fogel’s suspension as Subway Sandwich spokesman, how soon we should dig up Bill Cosby’s cement sidewalk star in Hollywood, computers running amok at United Airlines, whether 61 year old retired Greeks get their full pension checks, and how to protect Hillary from inquisitive people of all sorts.

Yes, these are interesting topics, but we all seem to push the important stuff down the road to the next President or to  the next generation.   Shouldn’t we focus more on the arms race about to unfold in the Middle East as the Emperor and his sidekick establish a legacy with the Iranian deal ?  Why are we willing to let ISIS spread like a cancer geographically and among the world’s youth ?  And for goodness sake, is Donald Trump’s poor public wording really more crucial than the fact that we truly have no Southern border ?  As Russia encroaches further into Eastern Europe in order to bolster Putin’s status at home, is anyone interested in forcefully standing up for the Baltic states that are desperately trying to emerge from decades of Communist influence ?   And why don’t we read daily, or hear from our elected officials daily, about the absurdity of running up a $20 trillion national debt by year-end ?

Let’s just all keep our heads in the sand.   Surely debating  the identity of the lucky suffragette who replaces Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill is a better use of our energies.        WHAT THE HECK !

Seldom do I encounter a proposal that is both common sensical, easy to execute, and solves a major societal problem.  But today is that day.   A long-time friend of mine, let’s call him JR, has proposed that gun ownership in America be limited to anything that shoots, as long as it is kept and discharged on your own property.   Discharge the weapon away from your property, and JR has suggested a 20 year federal prison vacation.  Fire it at home, for fun, for food, for protection, and everyone is happy, even possibly the NRA !                                                                   WHAT THE HECK !