Is There Any Harm in Asking Questions? (As Told Partly Through Austin Powers and Donald Trump)

Why are we afraid to ask questions?

We don’t fear asking ordinary questions. We’re talking about asking the so-called dumb questions.

People who call questions dumb typically either don’t want to consider the answer or don’t want to know the answer because they have another agenda.

It happened recently to … guess who … the President. He got “caught” asking two questions that sound bizarre on the surface but if no one asks these questions, we’ll never know the answer.

We just hope there’s no “tape” out there with Trump asking THAT question.

Afraid to Ask Questions?

Here’s what he really asked. Let’s look at the two questions in … question.

For real …

Is Greenland For Sale?

So, the first question dealt with buying Greenland. President Trump asked, “Can we buy Greenland?”

Trump was meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Prior to the two getting together, it leaked to the media that he’d inquire about the US buying Greenland.

OK, on the surface, it sounds pretty bizarre. But that’s because we’re not President and we don’t have to think about these things. Also, buying a country?

Pretty crazy sounding, yes. But this is not actually crazy at all.

In 1946, the US first asked Denmark to sell Greenland. We even offered up $100,000,000.

No, $100 million.

Doesn’t matter. They didn’t go for it, obviously.

And another reason it didn’t matter is because we just gave the President’s question more thought than Mrs. Frederiksen did. She called the President’s question “absurd”.

Or, as Trump says, “abzurd”.

In this clip on the White House lawn, he talks very loudly to reporters and dresses down the Danish Prime Minister, calling her reaction “abzurd”.

He’s right in saying her reaction was nasty. And because she reacted with these belittling remarks, Trump canceled the meeting with her, told her to go stuff it.

Even if the question seems a little off the radar, it’s not right to act as though it SHOULDN’T be asked. That’s truly abZurd.

If you’re meeting someone face-to-face for the first time, especially in negotiations, you’d like to get an idea of who or what you’re up against and what they’re open to talk about.

By getting laughed at for asking a question, Trump correctly felt the whole meeting with the Danes would be the same way.

If you’ll remember, initially the question was mocked by the mainstream media. However, if you look at the news today, you’ll see that some actually took some time to realize the question isn’t crazy in the least.

OK, so on to the second question …

We’ve totally lost our Austin Powers connection to this story so here’s a flashy Austin Powers transition montage:

Yeah, baby!

Can We Nuke Hurricane Dorian?

Trump says he never really asked if we could “nuke” a hurricane to stop it from hitting land.

If he did, he’d never admit to it. Again, it sounds a little out there. But when you see how people reacted to him asking about a legitimate land purchase, why go there? Even Trump didn’t want to have that fight with the media.

Now, the idea of dropping a nuclear bomb inside a hurricane sounds a little Dr. Evil diabolical but is it crazy?

Apparently it wasn’t crazy enough for others to ask long before Trump didn’t*.

Do a YouTube search for “nuke a hurricane” and you’ll see that it’s been asked before the President says he didn’t.

You’ll also see that the first people making fun of Trump for not asking* the question are his usual first detractors, the clown shows at The Young Turks, The Daily Show and CNN.

But the media isn’t letting it go. That’s the driving force behind them showing the latest from the Florida Man epic. This guy …

They’re trying to say Trump is about on the same level as this particular Florida Man, but you’ll see that The Daily Caller doesn’t fear asking the question: What if We Nuked a Hurricane?

Instead of laughing it off, they use it as a starting point. Surely, Trump isn’t the first person to ask this question and nuking a hurricane can’t be the only “crazy” idea ever dreamed up to stop a hurricane.

And really, is the idea of nuking a hurricane to weaken it any crazier than everyone buying an electric car or LED light bulbs to do it?

So Now You See Why We’re Afraid to Ask Questions

They’re all going to laugh at you if you ask a crazy or dumb question. But no question is dumb, truly.

The seemingly off-the-wall question could be the starting point to a real discovery.

Trump learned something from each of these encounters:

• With the Danish PM, he learned that he’d be negotiating with a pompous, close-minded person who already has pre-conceived notions of who he is. So, he canceled the trip and did something else with his time.
• And with the idea of nuking a hurricane, he probably did ask this question but figured it’s not worth the fight. Or maybe he didn’t but the last thing he’d do is consider it a dumb or crazy question.

Being afraid to ask questions leads to less questions getting asked. Then, less questions get asked about less things. Too many things are taken for granted or assumed — the “That’s the way it is” mentality — because everyone’s afraid to ask questions.

Now, here’s a question for you: How’s that working out for ya?

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