It’s the end of the world and the GOP feels fine 

“You don't need a weathervane to know which way the wind blows.” So said Bob Dylan. Folks have been talking about the weather forever. But these days, Republicans need more than a weathervane, so they get their forecasts from conservative pundits and politicians.

And the good news is the icecaps are not melting and the heatwaves and wildfires are just flukes of nature. Rising sea levels? Nah. Then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott barred officials in Florida from using the phrases “climate change” and “global warming.” Problem solved.

Of course, this has nothing to do with Big Oil and other extractive industries pouring billions into conservative think tanks and the campaign coffers of right-wing lawmakers. Their efforts paid off: Only 35% of Republicans say climate change is a major factor in extremely hot days compared to 85% of Democrats, according to a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll. Similar results were found for severe storms, flooding, droughts and wildfires.

That's a pretty good bang for their buck. In fact, the House GOP Energy, Climate and Conservation Task Force has unofficially adopted for its theme song the R.E.M.'s standard, “It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine).”

Praise Be to the Hoberman!
The resurrection is here. We are, of course, talking about the magical centerpiece of the Medals Plaza from Salt Lake City's 2002 Olympic Winter Games—the Hoberman Arch. Like the Phoenix, it has risen, not from ashes but from a mysterious dark place where icons and legacies go to die. (Cue the Biblical music, Wilson.)

Remember the glory days in February 2002 when the world's eyes were trained on Salt Lake City and the 31,000-pound aluminum web—36 feet high and 72 feet wide—that opens and closes like the iris of an eye; even more dazzling when colored lights play across it at night? But alas, in 2003 it was planted at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where it could not be opened and stood as a disconcerting symbol of our so-called Olympic legacy.

Then in August 2015, it was schlepped down to Salt Lake City's impound lot at 2150 W. 500 South, where it sat like so much scrap until some of its 4,000 pieces were stolen. Embarrassed city officials hauled the rest of it to a secret location—out of sight, out of mind.

Why, after all these years, is it reappearing at Salt Lake City International Airport, no less, where visitors can't miss its wonderment? It couldn't have anything to do with the new push to bring the Games back to Utah. That's just cynical thinking. Our Olympic boosters just aren't like that—unless they have to be.

Raise Your Hand if You Support Fascism!
Wow, did you see Nikki Haley in the Republican debate? So smart. And that dude Vivek Ramaswamy was quick on his feet and cool. Mike Pence stood his ground and actually looked presidential.

Seriously? The moderator asked them to raise their hands if they would support Donald Trump if he were the party's nominee. Six of the eight did. Only Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson wouldn't go with the guy indicted on felonies in four jurisdictions.

Looks like those spoilsports aren't good Republicans, after all. Just because Trump has been charged in both federal and state courts with attempting to thwart the 2020 election and stop the peaceful transfer of power—effectively throwing democracy out the window—is no excuse not to back him. Those good patriots (Haley, Ramaswamy, Pence, Tim Scott, Ron DeSantis and Doug Burgum) would vote for Trump anyway, because ... he's honest, trustworthy, never sexually assaults women and always pays his lawyers.

This Republican Party is dedicated to Monseigneur Trump, the mob boss who would be king. It sounds like a twisted take on a Greta Gerwig dark comedy—sans the comedy. Alas, Nikki Haley ain't no Barbie and Vivek Ramaswamy ain't no Ken, although he probably looks good in pink.

Postscript—That's gunna to do it for another thrilling week here at Smart Bomb, where we keep track of driverless cars so you don't have to. WATCH OUT! Life is even more dicey in San Francisco since the California Public Utilities Commission approved driverless taxis in that city.

The day after the vote, 10 autonomous taxis jammed up traffic on a busy street in a North Beach neighborhood when they simply stopped functioning. Those vehicles are owned by Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors.

A couple of days later, a Cruise taxi drove into a paving project and got stuck in newly poured concrete. One also collided with a firetruck. The hits just keep on coming. Welcome to the future—it's only a matter of time before driverless cars are everywhere. Imagine an autonomous taxi attempting to get through Sugar House. No way—unless it had wings. YIKES!

According to experts, AI will soon make your bed, brush your teeth and have sex for you. Well, yes, Wilson, it could also have sex with you. And yes, he or she will probably have a Kama Sutra setting. Like it or not, the future is coming and there's not a damn thing we can do about it, except maybe hide where there is no cell service—someplace like Wyoming, where they've passed a law banning anything new.

Well, here we are in familiar territory, going to hell in a handbasket. The term comes from the French Revolution, when severed heads from the guillotine were caught in a wicker container. But we digress.

We're sailing into an environmental black hole—say nothing of AI—and the conservatives keep saying, “let them eat cake.” So wake up the band, Wilson, and take us out with something for our insightful climate-denying friends:

That's great! It starts with an earthquake
Birds and snakes, an aeroplane
and Lenny Bruce is not afraid

It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine
“It's The End Of The World”—R.E.M.