The show “Whose Line is it Anyway?” was never a big hit, but it was entertaining.  It was all improv, driven by the audience and (in the US) host Drew Carey (who turns 50 today).  The fun was set up like a contest where Carey would award “points” to each performance – but no one ever added them up at the end of the show.

These are the rules of the playground, a place where points don’t have to be added up because everyone is too busy having a lot of fun.  That is, until the bullies show up and worry a lot more about the points even though they still aren’t added up at the end.

That’s what “politics” has become, sadly.  It’s an improv show without entertainment, the playground without the fun, all the rules without even a squishy red rubber ball.  But, like a bunch of kids on a lazy summer’s green field, no one has to get anything done.

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“I have this nagging suspicion that our manufacturing problems are not really problems at all, but rather a symptom of a dysfunctional relationship with dirt.”

That may not seem like something worthy of testimony before Congress, especially coming from a professional teevee show host.  But these are no ordinary times, and an ordinary (if really good looking) guy like Mike Rowe is extraordinary for stating what might be the most stunning statement of the obvious:

“…The bulk of our output (is) tied to clean jobs. What do we have to show for it? Record unemployment, a looming skills gap, a crumbling infrastructure, and a dearth of manufacturing.”

The conclusion?  America needs to get dirty again.  Simple – yet brilliant.

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