Shut down or shut up
Listen to this articleYou can’t break the American spirit. When we are forced to face adversity, somehow, we find a way to come together and rise above it. It might be a flood, tornado, fire, or earthquake; nothing will break the backs of Americans. This might explain why most of us didn’t pay attention when our government shut down over a political game of chicken.
Am I the only one who notices these shut downs happen on the weekend and are resolved before rush hour hits on Monday? How many of us were really inconvenienced by it? Okay, maybe the military was when it looked like they might lose their feed allowing them to watch the NFL playoffs. That’s not quite as challenging as trying to figure out how to survive while storming a beach or plodding through a jungle in search of a faceless enemy.
Was our president forced to send his Secret Service detail home and cancel his golf for the weekend? Was he made to call Domino’s and order pizza delivered to him because no one was around to go pick up a happy meal for him? Was he forced to see if NBC was interested in hiring him again for another round of The Apprentice just to make ends meet?
And what about the brats in Congress who refused to play nicely with one another, you know, the ones who decided to take their ball and go home and shut things down? They actually had to cancel their weekend trips and remain close to work in case a deal was worked out to vote on. I believe this is what most of us call work, the kind of stuff we expect them to do even though they get paid handsomely to stand around and make pointless speeches inside empty chambers. If you are going to take your balls home and refuse to play then at least have the balls to really shut down government, otherwise, shut up.
Women all across the nation marched for actual progress while a few hundred elected turds refused to do their jobs. I wished women had marched in and taken over Congress. Maybe then a deal would get done that showed the rest of us it is possible to find a group of people who have the greater good of others in mind over their own personal interests.
Maybe we can get Amy Schumer to sit down with Ivanka Trump and work out a deal that gives women equal pay for equal work. While they are at it, maybe they can create a real affordable health care plan, get our troops brought home for good, and ensure livable wages for the working class and Social Security’s future.
We do not need to worry about the existence of fake news nearly as much as we should be concerned over the fake leadership that is guiding this country right off a cliff. Bi-partisanship is laughed at by hard liners on both sides of the political spectrum. No deal is better than a deal that moderate thinkers can agree on. Holding the salaries of all the hard working government employees makes more sense to a bunch of ass hats who live the life of luxury because they have no idea what life is like for the average American.
Our leaders do not care who they sacrifice to make a political point because they know it won’t ever affect them. At worst, it cost them re-election and they are forced to go work for a lobbyist where they make more money, remain in DC, and continue to screw the average taxpayer.
Am I the only person out there who has watched the show Designated Survivor and thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice if this really happened and we were forced to start all over again?” I am talking about the blowing up of government and recreating it under the same guidelines that are in place. I have to think that based on our past ability to overcome real hardships, many the end result of poor leadership, we can rebuild a better government if we had to.
Okay, maybe blowing up Washington DC is a bit extreme, and most of those in power are cockroaches who find a way to survive any disaster, so we will just be left with the same turds floating inside the political toilet bowl that is turning this nation into a joke. Still, a guy can dream, can’t he?
Top photo is a YouTube screenshot of the U.S. Senate approving the Continuing Resolution
Jim is a life long resident of California and retired school teacher with 30 years in public education. Jim earned his BA in History from CSU Chico in 1981 and his MA in Education from Azusa Pacific University in 1994. He is also the author of Teaching The Teacher: Lessons Learned From Teaching. Jim considers himself an equal opportunity pain in the ass to any political party, group, or individual who looks to profit off of hypocrisy. When he is not pointing out the conflicting words and actions of our leaders, the NFL commissioner, or humans in general, he can be found riding his bike for hours on end while pondering his next article. Jim recently moved to Camarillo, CA after being convinced to join the witness protection program.