The title of this entry is a proverb* of unknown origin, and it perfectly sums up my feelings right now. If I was a resident of some far away land, monitoring the U.S. from afar, I'd find this whole government shutdown fascinating and humorous, and I'd be genuinely intrigued by where it was headed next. Instead I'm in the U.S., in the nation's capital, as it is, and I find it only frustrating and sad. OK, and a bit humorous, but mostly those other two.
I had a masterful political rant chambered in my brain, and the plan was to lay it all out in this entry, but for reasons not related to a shutdown of any sort, government or otherwise (they're more of the work and parenting variety), I'm short on time and energy this weekend. I'll just give you the gist:
SCREW THE REPUBLICANS!
SCREW THE TEA PARTY!
This is entirely their doing. They can try to spin it as "Obama won't negotiate" (a line of bullshit their "fans" are all too happy to gobble up, and worse, that many independents use to justify an "it's both parties' fault" cop-out stance), but it's obvious to any objective observer with a half dozen active brain cells that the Reps don't want to "negotiate". What they want is to use a government shutdown and default (much worse than a shutdown, they say) as leverage to extract things that they cannot get through proper government processes. This is the antithesis of democracy, and it's what President Obama and the Senate Democrats aren't budging on. Rightfully so. But now we all suffer. Awesome.
Anyway...
I'm going to wrap up this post now, but I'll give you a few links I found interesting/helpful.
Ezra Klein: The Shutdown is a Republican Civil War (My fear is that it's not a civil war and what's really going on is that the Republicans are in the incipient stages of morphing completely into the Tea Party.)
Jonathan Chait: Why the Shutdown Is Leading to Debt Default; or, What Happens When You Take Hostages Without a Plan (A good account of how the Reps convinced themselves Obama would cave if they held the government hostage. Remember these are the same people who legitimately thought the polls said Romeny would win the election. Also, many of them aren't too big on science.)
Paul Krugman: What They Say Versus What They Mean (Paul Krugman on the real -- and really transparent -- motives of the Republicans.)
John Ydstie: Part-Time Workers Search New Exchanges For Health Insurance (Short article, or audio story, on the likely effect of Obamacare on some part-time workers.)
Elizabeth Warren: A video of her speaking on the senate floor (Forget Hillary. If you want a badass chick in the 2016 presidential race, you should go for Senator Warren.)
Until next time...
*Thanks to my friend RT for bringing it to my attention in a text.
[A minor effect of the shutdown in our neighborhood]
I had a masterful political rant chambered in my brain, and the plan was to lay it all out in this entry, but for reasons not related to a shutdown of any sort, government or otherwise (they're more of the work and parenting variety), I'm short on time and energy this weekend. I'll just give you the gist:
SCREW THE REPUBLICANS!
SCREW THE TEA PARTY!
This is entirely their doing. They can try to spin it as "Obama won't negotiate" (a line of bullshit their "fans" are all too happy to gobble up, and worse, that many independents use to justify an "it's both parties' fault" cop-out stance), but it's obvious to any objective observer with a half dozen active brain cells that the Reps don't want to "negotiate". What they want is to use a government shutdown and default (much worse than a shutdown, they say) as leverage to extract things that they cannot get through proper government processes. This is the antithesis of democracy, and it's what President Obama and the Senate Democrats aren't budging on. Rightfully so. But now we all suffer. Awesome.
[The whole Willy Wonka thing was tired about 20 memes ago, but this is too spot on to not post.]
Anyway...
I'm going to wrap up this post now, but I'll give you a few links I found interesting/helpful.
Ezra Klein: The Shutdown is a Republican Civil War (My fear is that it's not a civil war and what's really going on is that the Republicans are in the incipient stages of morphing completely into the Tea Party.)
Jonathan Chait: Why the Shutdown Is Leading to Debt Default; or, What Happens When You Take Hostages Without a Plan (A good account of how the Reps convinced themselves Obama would cave if they held the government hostage. Remember these are the same people who legitimately thought the polls said Romeny would win the election. Also, many of them aren't too big on science.)
Paul Krugman: What They Say Versus What They Mean (Paul Krugman on the real -- and really transparent -- motives of the Republicans.)
John Ydstie: Part-Time Workers Search New Exchanges For Health Insurance (Short article, or audio story, on the likely effect of Obamacare on some part-time workers.)
Elizabeth Warren: A video of her speaking on the senate floor (Forget Hillary. If you want a badass chick in the 2016 presidential race, you should go for Senator Warren.)
Until next time...
*Thanks to my friend RT for bringing it to my attention in a text.
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