I am ashamed of each and every one of our elected men and women in Washington, D.C. The only people who would play with 800,000 federal workers and their families while screwing over millions of American citizens in the process are fat, lazy, rich millionaires and even fatter billionaires. The only obligation you have while holding your powerful office is to keep the United States government operating. You should not be able to sleep each night in a warm cozy bed while ruining less fortunate and powerless American families.
Get back to ‘negotiating.’ Eat crow. Forget about a stupid 5th century, environmentally unsound 2,000-mile wall between the U.S. and Mexico border. For 200 years, our country has managed quite well without one. Drugs will always be with us. The need for drugs and the risk of addiction and overdose or addiction management will always be a part of the human condition. That’s how our nation should deal with our big drug problem, and the educational and psychological method takes generations of time and effort. Our drug crisis should be dealt with by our citizens, families, churches, schools and society rather than the government. But the complex international drug trade is not the real reason for a border wall with Mexico.
Back to the federal shutdown, all of our national leaders from Congress to the White House must learn how to practice the Art of Diplomacy. Government is not like running a business. It is far more important and involves the lives of tens of millions of tax-paying citizens. Businesses come and go. A smart business person knows most will not last more than 30 years. But a democrazy—excuse me—democracy must endure. It requires constant effort, hard work, difficult decisions, painful emotions, sleepless nights, concern for the greater good, selflessness and most importantly intelligence … as was phrased in our nation’s beginnings, common sense.
Enough with the cruelty trickling down from the very top of the U.S. power structure. Everything in life is about compromise. Poor people know how to do it every day. Families with one TV compromise on the shows they will watch. They compromise at the grocery store when deciding which is cheaper fresh fruit or canned, which is more important new towels or milk.
March of the penguins
Where are the chambers of commerce, bankers and the rest of the corporate suits taking to the streets demanding an end to another childish national government shutdown? They’re the ones who understand local economics: how every dollar spent in a community rolls over seven times, meaning seven businesses benefit from people with jobs.
Shutting down the government and ruining livelihoods should be illegal in the United States of America. We’re not a banana republic where a game of chicken is played by the powerful, the heartless and the gutless. Or are we? The strength of a leader is not measured in fear but character. The character of a leader is developed by having actually worked from the bottom up instead of growing up with a silver spoon in the mouth. A leader should reflect an exemplary moral life grounded in decency and empathy toward our fellow man, not brute force just to break the will of others.
Our national leaders have forgotten who they work for and who elected them. The American rich no doubt have the upper hand financially. But their tiny numbers are no match to the hundreds of millions of us who have to work to pay bills and actually want to work for self worth. We the People must remind our elected officials they work for us. In this country, pal, the People are in charge. Every elected official works for us and is paid by our sweat, physical or mental or both. You have no right to shutdown our federal government while expecting the most vital work still be done by employees without pay. It’s uncivilized, moronic, and unAmerican, and we will not tolerate it. Consider this a final warning, a come-to-Jesus meeting.
social commentary & political humor