Hell is empty and the devils are all here. Shakespeare
I bought sunglasses for the new year, hoping it would be brighter; but economic/political reality says it is deep and gloomy winter. Our Dear Leader has outdone himself this time.
The government is in the second longest ever Republican government shutdown and while basic government functions are continuing, cross your fingers you don’t need anything like a death certificate, license or passport.
The White House insists a wall is necessary to keep terrorists out of the country; but, DHS says that there have been no terrorist breaches on our southern border, but 4000 terrorist entry attempts have been made at airports.
Unpaid TSA airport screeners are calling in sick because they can’t afford gas to continue to work for no money. Trump’s demands for a border wall are making us less secure in the real world. The Air Line Pilots Association warns that this is putting our entire country at risk.
Grover Norquist must be delighted, though. He famously said that he wanted the government to be so small you could drown it in a bathtub. He almost has his wish. Republicans have raged against government since Barry Goldwater and derided its usefulness since Ronald Reagan, leaving ordinary Americans confused as they continue to rely on its very necessary services.
While Social Security checks will be sent out on time, many other government programs we rely on will go unfunded. SNAP is scheduled to run out of funds in February, heating help is gone, and government employees forced to work during the shutdown will not get paid again this week.
Republican senators have all lined up behind Trump to keep our government closed and ineffective in order to diminish the authority of the House of Representatives. (Really, could all of them have taken Russian money and are trying to escape accountability?)
They are failing their duty to us and the Constitution. I asked our senator Boozman’s office what he intended to do. And like that worthless company in the television commercial, our senator, John Boozman will simply “monitor the situation.”