At the time I'm writing this entry, the US government shutdown is 10 days old. We have a president who is threatening to target the firing of federal workers in opposition party cities and states, to deny paying furloughed federal workers when the shutdown ends, and is willing to destroy the healthcare of Americans because he hated the person who set up the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare). His lackeys on the GOP seem to be afraid to do anything to keep him in check, as if the Orange Snowflake is the Antichrist himself.
The only people who have been able to put a crimp in the snowflake's plans seem to be the Democrats in the US Senate. Due to the Senate's filibuster rule, 45 Democrats have prevented the GOP (and the snowflake) from adopting a budget which kills off Obamacare. As a result, our federal government has shut down, with minimal civilian functions and the military required to work without pay. And many of these essential employees have been calling in sick - no pay, no work. I feel sorry for the understaffed air traffic controllers who work mandatory overtime, as they are being pushed to the brink of exhaustion. I also feel sorry for many military families who have to make do without the paychecks of their breadwinning service member's paycheck. And I feel sorry for all of those federal workers who are going without pay and have entered the gig economy (doordash, Uber, etc.) to help make ends meet. (I'll bet that some essential workers are calling in sick to work gig jobs just to earn the cash needed to buy groceries.) Yet, as much as I feel sorry for these people, they are collateral damage in the war against tyranny, just as the civilian lives that were lost because they lived too close to a munitions plant being bombed in WW2.
With all the pain suffered by these essential workers, they are pawns in a winner take all game of politics. If the snowflake wins, there will never again be a challenge to his power. So, it is essential that the Democrats stand firm against the snowflake. I figure that after 3 months, the system will crack. Essential employees will start to quit, so that they can pay their bills working other jobs (if they can be found). Service members may not re-up their enlistments, and look to find work in the civilian economy. And, if the transportation secretary starts firing workers in the already understaffed air traffic control system, the American skies will be empty - civilian air transit will be at a standstill. Going 3 months without pay will make this a very bleak Thanksgiving and Christmas for the affected workers, and I can't wait for things to break down. Only then will the snowflake's support among his supporters start to crack. And I hope this happens soon.
I'm already starting to think of what will happen if this shutdown lasts much longer than I hope and expect. I have a cruise scheduled for next year that sails out of Southampton, UK. How would I get there if civilian air traffic in the US is shut down? I could either cancel the cruise if the shutdown lasts into April OR consider buying airfare from Toronto to London, UK and going into Canada by land. In my opinion, we all must start planning for a long shutdown, as I believe that the Democrats need to go "all in" on this issue.
Keep your eyes open on what happens in the House. As I write this, the House is being kept artificially closed for 2 reasons: (1) to prevent a budget bill acceptable to the Democrats being voted on, and (2) to keep a new Democratic member from Arizona from being sworn in, and triggering a vote to release the Epstein Files. Why is number 2 important? Well, if there is one thing that the snowflake fears is the release of these files, as they potentially implicate him in Epstein's crimes against underaged girls. To me, the snowflake fears this more, as he is unable to control enough of the GOP to prevent their release.
