THE EXTINCTION OF THE DINOSAURS - A POLITICAL HYPOTHESIS

[Robert Simon <dino_safaris@yahoo.com>]

A little dinosaur humor with a dash of politics:

THE EXTINCTION OF THE DINOSAURS - A POLITICAL HYPOTHESIS

Although the fossil record does not capture the following, there is no reason 
to believe this could not have happened:

The dinosaurs existed for over 100 million years on earth. During that time, 
they developed a great society and achieved many technological advancements and 
mental capabilities that were never preserved. Mid-way in the Cretaceous 
Period, the dinosaur scientists discovered an asteroid heading towards earth. 
The impact, which was not to occur for millions of years, would devastate the 
planet and lead to the end of their reign on earth. The dinosaurs, having 
evolved a sophisticated form of democracy, began making plans for their 
survival. 

The world government was divided into two classes ... the Saurischians and the 
Ornithischians. The Saurischians were relatively slow, and methodical in their 
methods and thought processes. They believed in taking care of all creatures, 
even the pesky mammals that were always underfoot.  They worried about the 
planet and thought a world government should be able to maintain the peace and 
well-being for all. The Ornithischians tended to be more  hot-blooded, disliked 
any form of large government and simply thought the best governing methodology 
was survival of the fittest and natural selection.

When the asteroid was detected, the Saurian Congress met in emergency session. 
At that time the Saurischians controlled both houses of Congress and the 
Supreme Saur was also a Saurischian. The Ornithischians, having just lost the 
majority in the Saurian Congress were more aggravated and ornery than normal 
and looking for a fight. This was 70 million years ago. Panels were convened, 
special committees were set up and town halls were initiated to determine the 
best way to proceed with this impending threat to their civilization. The 
Saurischians wanted to make sure that all life would survive so their plan 
included creating vast caverns deep within the earth for all fauna and flora to 
be housed until the effects of the asteroid impact had passed. Their plan was 
incredibly expensive and a million years to complete. The Ornithischians 
decided that the asteroid was an act of Rex (authors note: Rex was the deity 
worshipped by the majority of the dinosaurs).
 They believed the asteroid might miss the planet, and even if it did impact, 
their plan of smaller, step by step creation of protection bunkers for some of 
the populace would be sufficient.  In the eyes of the Ornithischians, change 
was bad, mobilizing resources on a global scale would be too much government 
control and increasing taxes to fund the Saurischian plan would only lead to 
larger deficits.

The battle within the Saurian Congress waged on for many years. Both sides 
firmly dug in their heels. Neither side would compromise, listen to one another 
or even stay in the same conference room.  The general dinosaur population 
became embittered with the Congress and was met with only talking points, media 
propaganda from both sides and an overall resignation that gridlock would 
continue.

Five  million years after the asteroid was detected in space, it crashed into 
the earth with cataclysmic force. The dinosaurs were wiped off the face of the 
planet. When the asteroid impacted, the Saurischians and Ornithischians were 
still in emergency session, battling over the plans to prevent the end of their 
civilization.

Some say history repeats itself, just in different forms and cause-effect 
scenarios. 

Bob Simon