Confucius said, "The way out is through the door. Why will no
one use it?"  Congress should take a hike. And we should go with
them. This could get some things moving around the country --
humans, for instance.  As the year winds down, it seems clear
that Americans are still in stuck mode. Congress is paralyzed.
Trickle-down economics is a stalactite. Nobody can budge to
restore crumbling infrastructure. Climate action remains
deactivated.  But we do have lots of babble! Our multibillion-
dollar free-speech industry is going gangbusters.  All this
expensive speech often deters lawmakers from taking any
independent stand -- much less one step across the aisle to
forward the common good. Best keep one's seat.  "Well maybe
during recess, they could walk," I think hopefully before
holidays.  As a land-of-the-free fan, I'd want legislators to
have some nonverbal exposure to the actual mountains, rivers,
forest and shorelines whose fate they direct from indoors. It
would be good for the heart -- and the place.  If t