The Long-term View

Across from Declan, his wife laid down her portion of the morning newspapers. With a deep sigh, she raised her head, which he noticed from the corner of his eye though he chose not to look at her directly. After a protracted moment, she huffed and cracked the section of paper on her lap as she folded it back into place. Avoidance was not in the cards.

"Something wrong, love?"

"They're at it again," she nearly spat.

Cocking his head, he listened but heard nothing from the gaggle of teenagers asleep on the floor above them. Confounded, he turned to her. "Who's at it?"

"The bloody Americans. Who else?"

Who else, indeed. "At what? You seem to have me at a disadvantage. I've only made it through the football headlines."

She tapped the news section and ignored her cooling tea. He'd made it special for her, too. "Another one of their governors has signed a law disallowing school children's books to contain mention of evolution."

"Ah."

Her brows shot upward as she caught scent of him nearing her trap. "You do see then?"

"Of course, dear." There really was nothing else to say when one's wife was an eminent scientist.

"Fecking republicans." She reached for her tea and gulped, evidently content with its ambient temperature. "Were they half so clever as they think they are, they'd embrace evolutionary fact, for it is –"

"No theory, yes, I know."

"Don't mock me, Declan O'Leary. The sofa just there has plenty of sleeping life left in it."

Laying aside his own paper in defeat, Declan chuckled. "When do I ever mock you, Colina? I learnt long ago that I can't be certain just when you're carrying one of your bitty knives and when you're not."

"A lesson well remembered," she retorted, but she blew him a quick kiss.

"Now then, you were saying something about right wingers embracing evolution? I don't suppose you believe the world's coming to a premature end?"

"But that's just it. It is. At least for us, for humans that is. What do republicans despise as much as evolution? Republican politicians, I mean."

Declan thought for a moment. "Abortion?"

"Aye, well, of course that, but they've got no foothold there. What else?"

"Environmental concerns?"

"Exactly. Only by accepting evolution can they also embrace the idea that humans, as a species, are doomed. Ten thousand years at best, more like three to five."

Declan nodded and winked at her. "I see where you're going with this. We watched that BBC special a few months ago about what the planet'll do after humans finally go extinct. What'd that scientist predict, about a hundred years for complete planetary recovery?"

"About that."

"So, if the right wing gets on the evolution train, they can have a legitimate pulpit – no pun intended – from which to argue against environmental regulations."

"In a roundabout way, aye."

"Doesn't account for asthmatic children or the rising cost of fossil fuels."

His beautiful wife laughed. "No plan's perfect."