Hi, there!
Dave-El here and this is my blog, I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You, now available in lavender, jasmine and sandalwood.
What's up with today's blog? Fair warning, I will babble on about things beyond my understanding.
Yeah, I know. That's every damn day.
But today:
- I blab about the US Government shutdown. (Fortunately my blabbing is not tied to federal funding.)
- I manage to work in a reference to Superman.
- I ponder the future of the American Dream. And no, I wasn't drunk when I wrote all that. But if it helps, picture a guy stumbling around slurring his words.
- I provide some BONUS bROkEN nEWs as we take a look at the wacky world of political brinkmanship.
- And we find something about the shutdown that really pisses me off.
So here we go!
So the U.S. Federal Government is in shutdown mode and as much as it would be a lot better if it was because of an invasion of world conquering alien monsters here to subvert the human population to the harsh and cruel will of alien overlords...no, that isn't it at all. Instead, the peril comes from within, a political body at war with itself over. I think we're supposed to be grateful our elected "leaders" in being strong and unyielding in their never-ending battle to destroy/help President Barack Obama or obstruct/stand up to the God-fearing/fear-mongering Republicans. Take your pick; there are enough political agendas going around.
Yet what does all this posturing gain for the American people? Are our best interest really at the core of this mess?
You know how in the Superman movie from this past summer, Man of Steel, when Jenny Olsen comes staggering out of the rubble of a nearly destroyed Metropolis with untold casualties all around, looks at Superman and says, “You saved us.”?
That’s your Congress at work.
At midnight, no deal was in place to keep funding the US government so the government shut down.
On the right, the hard right ideologues that run the Republican party are so proud of themselves for staring down the wicked Democrats and the sinister Barack Obama with his evil Obamacare that’s going to kill your grandmother and feed your children to bridge dwelling trolls.
On the left, the Democrats stare blinking amidst the smoking ruins, still not comprehending what they are up against. The inability of the Democrats to stoke up the passions of their rank and file has cost them as their opposition endlessly stokes the fires of their own base.
Each side says they do what they do for the benefit of the American people. A few of them may actually believe that. But the American people, stumbling through smoldering ruins of yet another power play between opposing political forces, probably don’t really see the benefit. All people can see are two groups of privileged politicians seeking to gather power for themselves while destroying the power of the other side. I imagine it’s hard for us to stand here amongst the debris of what’s left and say, “Thank you for saving us.”
I wonder sometimes if we are at the beginning of the end of the American Dream, the one that Abraham Lincoln was talking about when he famously said “that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” At the time of the Gettysburg Address, the nation was divided, at war with itself. North vs. South. Freedom vs. Slavery. We were split down the middle, brother against brother. The aftermath of the American Civil War was not without difficulties as we struggled to restore national unity while securing the rights of freed slaves. These struggles continued 100 years later as the Civil Rights Movement sought to finally deliver on the promises of this nation that freedom granted but history had denied.
But as deep and painful as the wounds were that we suffered in that time of division, we were torn in half. Today, we are torn in pieces, our divisions are more complex with conclaves of power distilled down to the most precise of demographics. It’s not really a Liberal/Conservative dynamic anymore. More than ever, it’s “what’s in it for me” that drives the battles on Capitol Hill. There’s no single line to reach across but lots of different lines that criss-cross and politicians are only concerned with whatever base of power they can cultivate to hold on to their elected positions. Your Congressman is not the Congressman of your district; he is the Congressman of the particular persons he can count on to get him re-elected in your district.
How can the American Dream survive when we’re being fractured and torn in many different directions by forces of ideology that are being used only as a means to an end? Surely, if we do not stand together, we will fall.
Normally, Friday is my day for doing bROkEN nEWs, my own little corner of (allegedly) humorous observations on news headlines. With the US Government shutdown topping everything, I decided to pounce on that topic today.
House moves bishop to knight’s four. Senate notes House is playing with checkers.
Like, the GOP was, you know, like, busy doing stuff ‘n’ junk, you know?
We certainly can’t tell if they’re drunk due to impaired judgment, now can we.
That’s ‘lemmings’, not ‘lemons’ but I think either one fits.
But furloughs are FUN, right? Like on MASH when Hawkeye would go on a furlough to Seoul!
If they didn’t get paid, Congress would be forced to stand on street corners with signs that read “Will propose dumb ass legislation for food”.
But the Koch Brothers are still down with them so the GOP figures they’re all right.
Someone’s underestimating the gullibility of the GOP base.
It’s bad when the headline in The Christian Scientist Monitor is “GOP, Are You Fucking Kidding Me?”
Long enough to give Fox News more time to come up with talking points and snazzy graphics showing Pres. Obama and Sen. Reid as Fascists! Or Socialists! Or both, even!
Also districts that are overwhelmingly armed.
And finally, is THIS the worst news to come out of the government shutdown?
National Zoo Panda Cam Will Be Turned Off, Along With Our Happiness, In Federal Government Shutdown
....I don't have a joke about this. Really, how can I make jokes when the fucking PANDA CAM IS TURNED OFF!!!
John Boehner, you and the rest of the Congressional GOP get your asses back to work and quit being douchebags! I don't care if Obamacare turns all into Robot Zombies....
I WANT PANDA CAM BACK!!!
This is pushing America too far!
This Dave-El saying good night and I'm so glad my suffering amuses you.
PANDAS!!!
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| Please come back, America. I'm so sad without you. |
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