Opinion: Issues from police funding to the pandemic are dominating political talk, meaning everybody is overlooking laundry baskets as a wedge issue.
Donald Trump. Joe Biden. Kamala Harris (how do you say her first name?) Kenosha. Black Lives Matter. Police funding. School funding. Cancel culture. Racism. Sexism. Coronavirus. The economy. Voting. Voter suppression. Mail-in voting. Voter registration drives.
How come no one is talking about the single most important issue of this campaign season?
Laundry baskets.
That’s right, laundry baskets.
Anyone who wants to Make America Great Again or Build Back Better would make sure to guarantee a laundry basket in every room of every home in the nation.
Baskets are practical, good for the soul
I raised this overlooked issue during a recent meeting of The Arizona Republic’s editorial board, saying it would provide immediate help to all working-class citizens. Phil Boas, Joanna Allhands, Abe Kwok and Elvia Diaz nearly laughed me off the call. But once they caught their breath, they let loose with a barrage of ideas from multiple points on the political spectrum.
I doubt any of them would agree that this is THE make-or-break wedge issue in races from the top of the ticket on down, but let’s not let that stop us!
Think of it, a pro-laundry basket platform would support strong families.
There would be no dirty clothes lying around, so parents would spend less time barking at their kids for leaving their socks or pajamas in the middle of the bathroom floor.
With this mini-crisis averted, families would have more time to bond, do homework, play Scrabble or just be calm.
Plus, kids love laundry baskets.
They’re endless hours of play. Ever a see a 3-year-old turn a laundry basket and a couple of old stuffed animals into a pet store? It’s pretty cute.
And who hasn’t hit an imaginary buzzer-beater on a laundry-basket-turned-basketball-goal?
We can’t all be Devin Booker against the Clippers in the Bubble, but we can ALL PRETEND to be Devin Booker against the Clippers in the Bubble if we have some balled up socks and an empty laundry basket.
Baskets offer dignity, put minds at ease
On a more serious note, not everyone has laundry baskets. They’re a luxury item in low-income households.
Providing them would give people a measure of dignity to be able to go to the laundromat with their dirty clothes neatly separated in easy-to-carry baskets, rather than stuffing everything into a garbage bag or whatever else they might have around.
Laundry baskets are also key to an economic resurgence.
Their production would boost job creation in every sector from tech to manufacturing. Think of it like a New New Deal or a Recovery Act Part 2. But the pandemic has suppressed the economy, and made-in-the-USA laundry baskets could lead the comeback.
Laundry baskets are also good for, you know, actually doing laundry.
Never again will a mom, dad or eldest sibling feel the frustration of being ready to fold a load of clean clothes only to find the laundry basket missing. (Probably ripped off by some bozo pretending to be Devin Booker or a crumb-snatcher pretending to run a pet shop!)
With a basket in every room, this frustration would be gone forever, leaving laundry folders with more brain space to focus on …
… Donald Trump. Joe Biden. Kamala Harris (how do you say her first name?) Kenosha. Black Lives Matter. Police funding. School funding. Democratic cities. Cancel culture. Racism. Sexism. Coronavirus. The economy. Voting. Voter suppression. Mail-in voting. Voter registration drives.
On second thought, keep the laundry baskets.
Some days, we need as much of a break from that stuff as we can get.
Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @WritingMoore.
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The Link LonkSeptember 05, 2020 at 09:01PM
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/greg-moore/2020/09/05/trump-and-biden-should-debate-real-issue-laundry-baskets/5695984002/
Why aren't Donald Trump and Joe Biden debating the real issue? Laundry baskets - The Arizona Republic
https://news.google.com/search?q=Laundry&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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