Resist, but have a beer, too ...

I've been looking this morning at some memes --- and cartoons --- related to to the current political situation and found this one from "Tiny Buddha," one of those web sites that I've "liked" at some point within the Facebook scheme of things.

Tiny Buddha is rarely political and this isn't explicitly so, but there are those among us who do look upon the current administrations, both in Washington, D.C., and Des Moines, as akin to those painful crystals.

Don't be fooled by the meme, however. While it's good practice to work toward inner calm in any situation, even Zen practitioners, when afflicted by kidney stones, generally seek medical assistance from physicians, even in the emergency room. That form of resistance is known as "engaged" Buddhism. 

A long-ago neighbor of mine, subject to frequent and painful kidney stone attacks, ended up in Mason City hospitals periodically. I drove him there in the local ambulance now and then. One minor compensation, once there, was the therapeutic administering of beer, an effective diuretic.

Too much beer becomes a hazard, but some studies suggest that up to a beer a day can reduce the probability that kidney stones will develop.

I bring this up because the Republican majority at the Statehouse in Des Moines has been up to all sorts of mischief lately, most notably at the moment union-busting efforts that involve stripping public employees of most collective bargaining rights as well as measures to prevent local governments from instituting local initiatives that set higher minimum minium wage levels, fight discrimination against poor folks and others, that sort of thing.

The message from Tiny Buddha is to remain calm,  resist --- and have a beer, too. I'm not sure that regular application of beer will assist in restoring balance at the Capitol, but along with resistance it certainly can't hurt --- in moderation of course.