Since I am a Department of Defense contractor, examining military recruits. I expected that we would not be called to come in after Monday but I worked Tuesday and was told they expect no slowdown. Of course, maybe they won’t pay us but that is still in the future.
UPDATE: Today is the 8th and I have been called again for tomorrow.
So far, the shutdown seems to be working with the assistance of Democrat verbal and active mistakes. I always thought Gingrich fumbled the ball in 1995. This time, the GOP strategy of passing small directed bills to fund popular programs, seems to be working. Certainly the Democrats like Harry Reid and the National Park Service are helping all they can.
Washington politicians may have the time to debate how to fund the government, now that their pig-headedness has shut it down, but the nation’s World War II veterans don’t.
“World War II veterans are dying by the hundreds every day,” says Fred Yanow, of Northbrook, Ill., who spent 1942-45 in the Pacific theater as an Army private. “It’s a shame that they don’t care about World War II veterans when so many of them are dying off.” The 16 million men and women who wore their nation’s uniform in the so-called “Good War,” from 1941 to 1945, are leaving for eternal R&R at the rate of 650 a day.
Which Washington politicians ?
Claire McCaskill had some clever comments.
McCaskill also made it clear that she felt some members of Congress at the memorial were only because they had “nothing to do” but try to score political points.
“There’s people here that have nothing to do – they’re just trying to score political points,” McCaskill told MRCTV’s Dan Joseph.
Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Ann Wagner (R-Missouri) had different takes on the situation. Rep. Gohmert disagreed with the senator, and thinks that those who bring that point up are usually the ones guilty politicization of it in the first place:
She is doing what she can to show who is responsible for this stalemate. Congratulations.
The DoD canceled the military academies sports programs, including the Army Navy game which is sold out.
Update: According to statements released by the schools, the Department of Defense has suspended intercollegiate athletics and these games have been tentatively canceled. We’ll find out by noon ET Thursday if these games will go on.
Update 2: CBS says it’s working on alternate programming in the event Air Force-Navy is canceled.
This site is generally not the right site for discussing the government shutdown, just as Politics-Right-Here-USA.com or whatever is probably not the place you should go for breaking college football news. But every so often, our worlds collide, and such is what we’ve got here, with Saturday’s Air Force-Navy and Army-Boston College games suddenly imperiled by the bozos in Washington.
We repeat: Air Force-Navy might get canceled. Because of the government.
Then we hear they may have backed down.
The Democrats’ message is not very consistent. Still, among the Koolaid squad, there seems to be little dissension. HuffPo is in full hysteria mode. Whether the Republicans can withstand this pressure is a serious question. With all the assets of the press against them, and with the instincts of would-be members of the the ruling class, I see no good outcome. I am sorry to be so pessimistic but I have never before felt that the USA was doomed.
I think a lot of these closures are just pissing people off – we went to Knight’s Ferry with my car club – wanted to see the covered bridge from the 1850s – the US Army Corps of Engineers closed the parking lot and there was no other place to park – it is obvious the Administration is trying to get people angry – I guess that is working – but we are getting angry at them.
I hadn’t previously heard that the service academy football games would be cancelled, but this sounds like an added bit of irony to this whole sorry ordeal.
College football is a feudalistic institution that operates with a degree of hegemony that rivals the federal government. The best thing the NFL could ever do is establish a minor league in order to abolish the NCAA and the system of serfdom it imposes on its “students”.
The only teams that have any real business playing are the service academies. At least those players are paid (officially and overtly) for their service and can look forward to a meaningful career in service to their country. They should be a model for university programs, but instead they are being shut down.
Real shame.
They Democrats somehow found it themselves to open the National Mall today for an immigration rally. Even Nancy Pelosi showed up to speak.
Not to worry, tomorrow Sen McCaskill will be sure to comment that Nancy Pelosi “had nothing to do but try to score political points.”
Can these people get any more revolting?
http://video.foxnews.com/v/2730897641001/a-perfect-storm-is-brewing-in-america/?playlist_id=928378949001
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/08/freezing-death-benefits-boneheaded-and-breaks-trust-rep-says/
Didn’t I read that the Great Dictator somehow found several hundred million dollars to transfer to his voters in Detroit? Isn’t that illegal? Doesn’t the US House have to authorize spending?
Obama, Reid and the rest of their ilk are exhibiting the spoiled brat syndrome: if you don’t play by my rules, I’ll take my bat and ball and go home.
Bill…”it is obvious the Administration is trying to get people angry – I guess that is working – but we are getting angry at them”
Some are…others are getting angry (angrier) at the Republicans…many are adopting the position “a plague on both their houses, all politicians suck.” While understandable, I think this is very dangerous: it has the potential to lead to the belief that democracy has failed and that America needs an authoritarian ruler. The examples of Germany and Italy in the 1920s and 1930s are very relevant.
In the way the government lead by President BO has handled the shutdown, we have seen the face of tyranny. Do what we want or you will be punished in ways that are petty and designed to hurt the citizens of this country. Give us your money, yield your liberties to the government or we will cause you harm.
The greatest outrage is this:
Obviously the administration has great discretion in determining what is essential and not essential as demonstrated by the immigration protest on the Mall yesterday. But in making such mean and spiteful cuts to hurt commmon citizens whose loved ones have made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation, the government is revealing itself to be a tyrannic master, not a humble servant. And it is demonstrating how incapable it is of dealing with the very real problems we face.
I am not worried at all about authoritarian rule. Things are far from as bad as they were in 1932 and we did not come close to European authoritarianism then. But the solution we implemented then is breaking down of its own weight. Those at the controls of America 2.0, of both parties, are doing whatever they can to retain their power and control and each would act exactly as the other is were the roles reversed. But they cannot retain power and control, because the old model is broken. America 3.0 seems a more likely new model, but no one knows for sure and absolutely no one knows how we get there.
We have the fortune to live in interesting times. Wash your hair and get ready for the buzzcut.
This is the best brief analysis of Barry’s thoughts, actions and words I’ve seen yet. Keeping in mind the Rules for Radicals (Alinsky), the parallels to Germany, Italy and Russia during their decent into tyranny certainly seem relevant to these times. On the other hand, there is finally a staunch opposition here that never really manifested itself in those three instances. That may lead to several outcomes, but at least it should not be seen as a single determinant course of descent into tyranny.
http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/obama-as-chaos/?print=1
I see Barry rapidly burning up his good will with the casually engaged. Will the opposition sustain their will? Don’t know, but it can’t hurt to encourage them.
Mike
Mrs Davis…”I am not worried at all about authoritarian rule. Things are far from as bad as they were in 1932 and we did not come close to European authoritarianism then.”
The population mix is very different from what it was in 1932. Their are proportionally fewer farmers, small businesspeople, and factory workers, and a lot more teachers, professors, entertainers, “nonprofit” employees and executives, advertising types, consultants, etc…not to mention actual direct government employees. Many of these professions contain disproportionate numbers of people who are overly impressed with their own (assumed) brilliance and the need to provide “guidance” to lesser individuals.
Also, for the last few decades immigrants have been steered away from assimilation and into ethnic identification and rage, much of the steering being done by people in the categories above.
David,
We’ll not know until after the event, but I’m a lot more concerned about civil dislocation after the haircut by certain affected groups than I am by the majority or even a sufficient minority rising to install an authoritarian. Obama is already revealing his authoritarian proclivities and his popularity is declining. If any do rise up, they will be swiftly put down, at least in states that have not implemented gun control.
Instead, the government will consistently demonstrate its incompetence and overreach with fiascoes like ObamaCare and the CATASTROPHE of not extending the debt ceiling, which will have little more impact than the sequester.
This is all democracy in action.
Pres. Obama’s Speech yesterday has put Speaker John Boehner in a “zero sum game position” with regard to the national debt.
If the Speaker caves, he loses his speakership to a ‘Tea Party positive’ Republican Representative.
So it is now in Boehner’s immediate survival interest as House Speaker to do nothing as we all go off the national debt cliff.
This is very much a case of “Don’t threaten someone else’s vital interests unless you are willing to risk your own.”
They’ve collectively stumbled into a political “Gettysburg,” and now we’ll see who wins.
Obama believes, correctly, that no matter what happens, all the blame will fall on the GOP. The risk of a major economic crisis may, on the upside, annihilate the GOP and give him Democrat majorities in both houses for his last two years. From his perspective, there is zero downside. Why not play for the big win?
We aren’t going to go off a debt cliff. At worst the federal govt will have to make hasty cuts in discretionary spending. Obama can bluff the rubes and maybe the Republican leadership but not the financial markets. If the debt ceiling is left unchanged and there is no market debacle, and if the main consequences of a prolonged govt shutdown are selectively shutoff parks and veterans’ services and other programs, then increasingly voters may blame Obama for crying wolf. The fact that his approval numbers in polls have been declining supports this hypothesis.
Lex,
Obama isn’t in Chicago anymore, he does not understand the complete freedom being in that position give your opponents.
When you place someone in a ‘nothing to lose position’ in order to win big, there is always a down side.
Kamikaze’s play by different rules.
The odds are against Democrats winning the House even if economic catastrophe strikes.
Presidential incumbents have never gained the House in midterm elections, and
when the economy weakens the president always takes the blame not congress.
The GOP has nothing to lose.
“Obama believes, correctly, that no matter what happens, all the blame will fall on the GOP.”
I wouldn’t bet the farm on that. There’s a lot of folks watching and thinking for a change. I think things are going to get worse for the Left much faster than the GOP. The GOP is holding a reasonable position and offering to negotiate. You can see for yourself what the Great Dictator has done, however the media tries to spin it. People are noticing.
It’s pretty clear that the debt ceiling hysteria is overblown. There are tax receipts coming in every month to pay interest 10 times over. Obama may try to say he has no legal authority to authorize such payments but his actions in other areas, such as the delay in employer mandate and the immigration executive orders suggests the opposite, or at least his ignoring legal niceties. I don’t know how this will end. I was not enthusiastic about the shutdown over the Obamacare funding but that is about to be absorbed by the debt limit matter.
Even the Wash Post sees we are in the Zero-sum game.
What they pretend not to see is whether Boehner’s job and those of RINO Republicans depends on surviving the Tea Party in their next _Republican Primary_, before the next General Election.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/10/08/president-obama-takes-out-the-rhetorical-knives/
Annoyed or not, however, Republicans are now faced with a blunt reality: Obama can’t walk back what he said on Tuesday in the space of the next week. To do so would be an act of political suicide. Making such a bold series of public statements means Obama is sticking to the “no negotiations” position.
.
That gives Boehner and Republicans a few not-so-great options:
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1. Fold. Pass a clean continuing resolution and a debt-ceiling increase and hope Obama makes good on his pledge to “talk about anything” once the immediate crisis has passed.
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2. Hope he bends. The closer we get to default, the more pressure Obama will feel to do something to avoid what he has described as a disastrous outcome for the American economy and world markets. If Republicans continue to hold the line, they could hope that pressure forces Obama to bend — providing them enough wiggle room (maybe a short-term debt increase) to declare victory.
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3. Let default happen. A political and policy risk of VAST proportions.
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How Boehner chooses could well have major implications for the political prospects of both parties, not just in the 2014 midterms but also the 2016 presidential election. And he has nine days to make up his mind.
Of course, the Washington Post also pretends that Obama’s Syrian attack back down, which was suicidal for American Foreign Policy credibility, didn’t happen either.
Grrr….that should have been —
Of course, the Washington Post also pretends that Obama’s Syrian attack back down, which was suicidal for American Foreign Policy credibility, didn’t happen either.
Another possibility is that Obama’s approval rating drops below 35%. The man lives for approval. It’s at 37% today.
Obama acts the way he does because that is the way Presidents act in the land of his fathers, the country that was his homeland, the country that taught him right from wrong. He doesn’t like America.
In the land of his fathers, Presidents have unlimited power.
With the O’Bummer clowns acting as they are doing right now, with WW2 veterans being denied their right to say a last farewell on a site which normally has no guards, barriers or red-tinged notices stopping public entrance, how many are going to join the MillionVetMarch?
As an expression of the dislike which this Administration is starting to generate, it couldn’t be a better time to go for a little walk!
Erick Erickson over at Red State says that Speaker John Boehner just blinked and is trying to arrange an orderly surrender.
See:
http://www.redstate.com/2013/10/10/house-gop-preparing-to-give-up/
This pretty much covers it —
Hugh Hewitt @hughhewitt
POTUS preemptively rejects preemptive GOP surrender, demands additional surrendering before agreeing to unconditional surrender. GOP huddles
Wonderful. No one does entertainment like America.
Real democracy, with the really stupid getting their say just like the smart people.
Leading the way ….. ROTFLMFAO