The Sacred Texts
I am a HUGE Star Wars fan and for those of you who also love the iconic George Lucas franchise, you will remember the scene from The Last Jedi in which Luke Skywalker attempts to burn the sacred Jedi texts (the books Luke curated that contain the wisdom and knowledge of the Jedi way).
Listening to today’s excellent interview by Axios reporter Jonathan Swan with President Trump made me think of “the sacred texts”. Mr. Swan asked our President “When can you commit, by what date, that every American will have access to the same-day testing that you get here in the White House?”, and although the President never provided an answer to the question, here is how the exchange proceeded:
President Trump: “…there are those that say you can test too much, you do know that?”
Mr. Swan: “Who says that?”
President Trump: “Read the manuals, read the books.”
Mr. Swan: “What manuals?”
President Trump: “Read the books.”
Mr. Swan: “What books?”
President Trump: “Well, let me explain…”
Of course, the President never does explain what books or manuals that he’s referring to or, for that matter, what date we will have testing. No, none of those things exist anymore than do the sacred Jedi texts.
But, the point of all of this is not related to the President, the interview, or even Star Wars, but that the facts matter. That science matters. That the sooner we embrace science and move away from politics and being lied to, the sooner we can solve this problem and others like it, including our climate crisis.
If the facts matter to you like they do to me, and if there is any hope that we will be able to save places like South Florida from our climate crisis, please vote.