Editorial
Explaining the U.S. Government Shutdown
On October 1, 2013, the federal bureaucracy of the world’s richest economy was partially shut down. To many, this was, simply ridiculous. Cynics sat back and just scoffed at ‘those crazy Americans.’ It did not occur to them that they were not too far from the truth. Because the truth is that these Americans are, indeed, crazy.
Only a few individuals pushed for the shutdown of a powerful machinery using a reason many knew was stupid and self defeating. To put it plainly, even those pushing for the shutdown of the government to defund Barack Obama’s signature achievement knew that they would not succeed. They knew that they would be unpopular and that their future was actually in jeopardy.
But why did the Republicans in the House of Representatives still insist on cutting funding for vital government functions? After all, they knew, for a fact, that even if they shut the government down, affordable healthcare systems were still going to be implemented.
Well, apart from being crazy, many of these politicians – Conservatives, nonetheless – actually thought that the best way to prevent the law of the land from being implemented was to try and force the U.S. President to capitulate and negotiate on a few basic things. For instance, they gambled that if they shut the government down, Obama – who’s compassionate and keen on growing the country – would give in and delay health care implementation for a year. Instead, they found a man – Obama – who’d been calcified by Conservative games. Thus, the Republicans are right in saying that they really did not want the government to shut down. So sure were they that Obama would give in to their demands that they did not have a Plan B.
Once Obama refused to give in to their demands, they were, suddenly, lost. What were they supposed to do? They had umped themselves up for a confrontation, and when Obama did not give them the kind they wanted, everything went the way of the crow.
Are you confused yet? We still have not explained why the U.S. government shut down. The truth is that it comes back to these Americans being crazy! Yes – down to the major media houses. You should see how some conservative media outlets are covering the shut down. Many have no problem with complaining that the national parks are not open and will even castigate federal employees who are only there to ensure that no one does damage to federal property and lands. Lost on them is the irony that THEY are the ones who shut the government down – that is, the conservative politicians they bolster. And the media also aids and abets this lackadaisical custom. They never call each other crazy or stupid. No one will tell a conservative senator that his assumption that Obamacare is hurting people is unfounded. No one will ever call the other out on their BS.
And that is part of the story. Because these Americans are the craziest people in the world, they think that everyone should be given a chance to prove that they are stupid. Heck, they will even give this individual a seat in the people’s house and let them spew their rubbish – parochial and simple minded – until they, themselves, peter out. That is how crazy these Americans are.
They watched Senator Joseph McCarthy accuse his ‘enemies’ of being communists in the aftermath of the Cold War. Many politicians allowed their fellow Americans to be harassed because they did not want to break the decorum that comes with insanity. They gave McCarthy television and radio coverage. Many people believed that communists were amongst them, and that these needed to be exposed. What rubbish!
On September 24, a man from Texas took to the Senate floor and spoke for 21 hours. He was, basically, spewing rubbish of McCarthy proportions, with less than a McCarthy foot to stand on. But the U.S. media carried the story of Senator Ted Cruz, and even showed him read his two kids good night stories. Then, without asking him about health care for all those Americans who could benefit from affordable health insurance, America listened to Cruz give justification for a deadly program hurting millions of Americans, even if that program was not even fully functional. And no one – even those who knew it for a fact – told him that he was full of it. Instead, he was lauded. Put on a pedestal. Made to represent America the Crazy.
The Habari Network Editorial Board
October 21, 2013