Astronomers are jumping up and down for joy. They’re ecstatic! They’ve got solid confirmation now that there is a black hole at the center of the galaxy. Hey, great.
A black hole is a stellar object that has become so dense that nothing in its path can escape its gravitational pull. Not heat, not light, not anything. That’s why they call it a black hole … it is just a lightless abyss. And, for that reason, very hard to detect from far away. Because of all the closely packed matter you’d expect in pretty much any galactic core, astronomers have long assumed there must be such a black hole in the middle of our own Milky Way. But now they can actually detect it. A NASA satellite observatory happened to be looking in the right direction when an intense x‑ray flare erupted, the kind that would be produced when a black hole is chewing something up. As I say, the astronomers are dancing in the streets over this. Well, I’m happy for them, I guess.
But, is this really such a big deal? I mean, it’s not as if there’s never been a black hole sighting before. These guys gotta get out more. I’ve seen this phenomenon many times. Maybe not in its astronomical form but certainly in the political one. It’s called the ego of the career politician. It’s called the U.S. Capitol. It’s called Washington, D.C. What it is, is a huge and lightless void that sucks up the wallets and hopes of humble citizens, at a ravenous pace. And, there’s no hope of ever escaping. Or at least, that’s what they’d like you to think.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.