Happy Leap Day, sort of…

Today, in honor of Super Tuesday, I’m going to talk about Super Monday, as Monday was February 29. And while February 29 really isn’t so awesome, it is rare. It’s one of the few moments when the entire planet, regardless of political ideology or favorite boy band, agrees that something’s not right and something should be done about it.

It’s miraculous, in fact. That one day, science triumphs over politics. Math sets the agenda. Physics, actual physics, forces greeting card companies into action! It’s exciting. February 29 shouldn’t be called Leap Day, it should be called “The international holiday of careful observation, reasonable thought, and decisive action.”

I admit, it’s no where near as catchy as “Flag Day” or “Cinco de Mayo,” but without it, eventually we’d be celebrating the Fourth of July during the winter olympics. And as most Canadians know, fireworks and curling don’t mix.

So, in the spirit of Super Leap Day Monday, I’d like to talk Trump and Super Tuesday, in a reasonable and careful manner.

Let’s begin with the victorious Trump’s slogan, “Let’s make America great, again.” The first reasonable questions I have for their campaign’s PR guy are these, “When was America great? When did it lose its greatness?” Keep in mind, I’m not into inciting many riots, but they’re legitimate questions, both thoughtful and reasonable ones. Here’s some more that might help frame the answers for the two prior ones.

Was America great prior to the establishment of our representative democracy? Was it great prior to slavery being abolished? Was it great when women couldn’t vote or when children died of diseases long since cured? Was it great during the decades citizens fought to have their inalienable rights recognized? Was it great prior to birth control and public schools? Was it ever great to everyone that lived here at one time?

The answer to the last one, for me, is pretty obvious, “No.” America wasn’t great to the poor in the early 20th century. It was to the rich. It wasn’t great to the children of Flint just this decade. Historically, it’s been great to some people, at some times, in some places, particularly to Hugh Hefner. If Trump and his advisors can admit that, there’s hope that they are reasonable and can make decisions and policies based on facts and not inflammatory catch phrases.

However, the concept and completion of a wall between the U.S. and Mexico seems as arbitrary as adding an additional day in February. Targeting minorities and muslims in campaign speeches appears capricious, and arguably irrational, like extending the calendar year every fourth year.

Except, there’s a logical, real reason for the extra day during a leap year. That reason is based in math and physics — both fields of knowledge acquired through careful thought and deliberate observation. Trump’s campaign rhetoric seems to originate from neither. Please, citizen, voter, American, after Super Tuesday’s results, let’s agree not to make a mistake we’ll have to wait until next February 29th to fix.