Sunday, August 7, 2011

Why Congress Needs to Watch More Dora the Explorer

The five year old's in Congress would be well-advised to get their shit together and start working with each other to solve our nation's issues or they'll find themselves without a job, er, but with a nice pension and cadillac insurance for life. How's that for irony? Jack the country up, get fired and live comfortably!

I do follow politics, or at least what I can garner from the nightly news, internet and magazine articles. I can tell you how many branches of government we have and name them, I know who the president, Speaker of the House and Senate Majority leader are; I know the main differences between the two main parties and I know what's going down now. I try to stay informed on current issues that affect not only my life and my families, but also our community and our country. I am an American and love this country and despite everything our government is doing wrong, I still believe that we are the greatest nation in the world. That's why I have a few suggestions for those who are trying to run this country. Let's call it my little contribution to our members of Congress.

It involves watching more Dora the Explorer. In the beginning, I tried to steer my 3 year old away from the show, not because I don't like Dora. She's adventurous, self-sufficient, bilingual and makes friends easily. It's just that I remember the mind numbing song from Barney who was popular with kids some ten years ago and I didn't want my daughter to be scarred for life with another "in" cartoon. But like most parents, I caved and now Dora rules my DVR and my dinner prep time. I've learned more Spanish by osmosis than I ever did in High School. Oh, wait, I took German. Anyway, I digress...

If any of you are unfamiliar with Dora, let me give you the gist...Dora is a young girl who loves exploring the world around her. She has a backpack that could hold an elephant, an umbrella, a life raft, a tube of super glue, duct tape and just about anything else you can imagine. AND it doesn't weigh you down! I want a backpack like that, I NEED a backpack like that. She has a monkey sidekick named Boots who follows her around on her adventures,because everyone needs a sidekick. Look at the Lone Ranger? Anyway, I digress again... Dora also carries around a cool ass map that gives her directions to anywhere she needs to go. I need one of those too even though my phone does a pretty good job of directing me around! So with a map, a monkey and a kick ass backpack Dora explores her world solving problems. All in 30 minutes! Congress NEEDS her efficiency!

So let's review...

Dora is a nine year old(I'm guessing)who knows right from wrong
She helps people and critters without any self serving purpose
She uses the tools she is given to solve problems
She uses her time wisely
She thinks things through before she does something
She can add and subtract
She gets along with people
She explains things well and in simple, matter-of-fact terms
She never makes fun of Swiper or calls him names even though he makes her life hell

So Congress, break out your DVR's, gather your buddies/gal pals and some pizza and brew and watch a couple of Dora episodes. Maybe it'll give you a new perspective on how to NOT run our country into the ground.

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