We have a crisis on our hands in America, people. We need to rise up together and make things right.
Everywhere I look, I see people arguing about all sorts of things. No one can agree on health care or national defense or how to deal with our economic problems. Everyone thinks they have the solution, but they don’t want to even think about listening to someone else’s ideas.

Far too often, we turn a blind eye to the many things that can unite us instead of tear us apart. One of those opportunities is staring us right in the face.

The NCAA Basketball Tournament starts on Thursday.

Our government gives us so many opportunities to honor our past. We get off for Independence Day and Memorial Day and Labor Day.

I don’t think we need to stop celebrating those days, but I wish we could find a way to focus on the future. Like giving everyone off on the first two afternoons of the big tournament.

Face it, we are getting bombarded by stories about how much businesses will lose in productivity on the two weekdays when games take place during work hours. With all the games available online, many fans have had a harder time staying focused on work.

So let’s give the people what they want and just shut everything down at noon on Thursday. We can all get back together on Friday morning, but when the first game tips off, we need to pat each other on the back and head to the nearest television to do our civic duty.

Some people might say that this flies in the face of the work ethic which built America. But what about the ease of distraction which sustains America? Sure, our fathers and grandfathers worked hard. We’re better known for debating Kate Gosselin’s hair instead of the dirt under our fingernails.

Other people might say that our precarious economic position makes it impossible to stop working for something as trivial as a basketball tournament. I say we need to use one situation to better the other.

Let’s have one massive bracket pool with some of the proceeds going to improving our economic condition. Lots of people need work, so let’s hire them to run this big pool.

Using gambling to bolster the economy will certainly offend the sensibilities of some, but this can be a one-shot deal. Three weeks of filling out brackets, circling winners and crossing out losers. That’s the most patriotic solution to our problems I can think of.

Just think, instead of arguing over health care legislation, we will debate whether Gonzaga deserved such a good seed after choking in their conference championship. The battles over the wisdom of stimulus funding will be replaced by in-depth discussion of the RPI formula used by the seeding committee. The mid-term elections will disappear from our minds as we evaluate what bubble teams lost out.

With so much division in our land, we need something to really bring us together. March Madness can do that. Plus, we all get to share how much we hate Duke. That’s got to do something for our national morale.