Dear Editor:
Did you realize there have been 18 federal government shutdowns since 1976? Most only for a few days.
The 1995 shutdown was similar to the current shutdown as it was engineered by a partisan Republican group seeking concessions from a Democrat president. The alleged goal was to rein in government spending. The current shutdown is said to be saving Western civilization.
Context is everything. The current crybaby shutdown is actually different than any other. It's similar in the self-serving and mean-spirited nature of conservatives who care for only themselves and their rich mentors. But the current shutdown is not about gaining policy outcomes. It is about rolling back the 2012 elections.
George Bush famously said "... elections have consequences." He meant he could do what he wanted. Now that President Obama clearly won in 2012 by more than four million votes radical Republicans say it did not count. Why? Because they will threaten to defund America and blow the place up if Democrats will not do what they say. These House Republicans were elected by a rigged system. House Democrats gained one million more votes but a jerry-rigged system kept a Republican House in place.
Jon Stewart had a good analogy. The New York Giants lost 31-7 to the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday but were they cry babies? Did they threaten to bring down the NFL if they were not awarded 25 additional points? It's a silly point but exactly demonstrates what is happening.
And why are these Tea Party kamikaze politicians acting in such a reprehensible and irresponsible manner? Could it be for fundraising from gullible citizens who think their behavior is heroic? Are not Tea Party citizens being shorn of more money for a Ted Cruz run for president? I am flooded for email appeals for money every day now to stop the crazies. Such is politics in America.
Government shutdowns and ransom notes over the debt limit are actions of irresponsible elected officials. They are desperate measures. Here is civics lesson 101. When the U.S. House and Senate pass a bill and the president signs it then it becomes law. When the Supreme Court verifies its standing the only legal recourse is to win elections and change the law.
Otherwise, you stand for lawlessness. This is the sad state of conservatism.
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