What matters?

                                                                                

Which of these stories matters the most to you?
* Hope Hicks, Communication Director leaves Trump's White House
* Jared Kushner loses Top Secret security status
* Barbra Streisand cloned her dog
* Arctic temperatures surge-- in the dead of winter

You can probably guess which one got my attention. Read these three paragraphs from The Guardian:

Arctic warming: scientists alarmed by ‘crazy’ temperature rise

by: Jonathan Watts Global environment editor

Tue 27 Feb 2018 10.15 EST

An alarming heatwave in the sunless winter Arctic is causing blizzards in Europe and forcing scientists to reconsider even their most pessimistic forecasts of climate change.

Although it could yet prove to be a freak event, the primary concern is that global warming is eroding the polar vortex, the powerful winds that once insulated the frozen north.

The north pole gets no sunlight until March, but an influx of warm air has pushed temperatures in Siberia up by as much as 35C above historical averages this month. Greenland has already experienced 61 hours above freezing in 2018 - more than three times as many hours as in any previous year.

Back to the blog…

You have got to admit there is cause for concern. Each of the three paragraphs tells an amazing story—more interesting, alarming and cause-for-concern than all the Jared Kushners… Hope Hicks and Barbra Streisand puppies combined.

We gravitate to the mundane, the minutiae, the Trumpian drama, the politics and gossip of the moment while our world crumbles, or melts, around us.

There is a psychological condition to explain this behavior, no doubt Call it “denial” or call it “rationalization” … but don’t call it late for dinner. That’s a little humor.

The Parkland, Florida horror deserved our attention. Even if nothing changes.

Or maybe the young people can make a dent in reality—and will influence the debate. Their protests will have to match Vietnam-era revolutionary action to have a chance to budge the corrupt congressmen and senators. I’m not sure the AR-15, scary as it is, threatens young people the way Vietnam threatened the health and well being of that generation.

Trump is an attention-grabber, maybe the best in the biz. But this Arctic story posed no threat to Trump. Because nobody cared. Nobody asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders about Arctic temperatures. She would tell us something along the lines about some days are hotter than others. Maybe add “Just like in Arkansas.”

We’re not in Arkansas anymore.