Deadline Tonight in Washington

I heard somewhere that to be truly happy, you have to remove yourself from the world, on some level. You have to find detachment (although it is certainly not easy), and forget about the news stories and such that are constantly coming out.

In the last few weeks, I have tried to do that. Right now, if you are like me, you are probably fed up with manufactured crises, one after the other, in Washington. You are surely tired of election season, and the "he said, she said" spirit of petty politics and mudslinging that seems to pass as serious debate in this country presently.

But that said, I should here acknowledge that the deadline for a deal to avert the disaster of a credit downgrading for the United States is all too near, now. It is tonight, at midnight.

Maybe there will be some last minute deal. Or, maybe not.

One way or the other, as I understand it, negative ramifications are already guaranteed.

And what pisses me off about it, personally, is that it is a small, truly tiny contingent of extremists that are essentially blocking efforts at bipartisan cooperation to avoid the worst case scenario.

It bears repeating that the deadline is tonight. Midnight. Less than sixteen hours from the time of my writing this! Still, no deal, although many are expressing optimism that a last-minute deal will be struck. Is there optimism for real?

Maybe. All I know is that almost everyone that I see and hear from is sick and tired of the Washington dysfunction, which has been so systemic in these last years (and really, decades), that it feels like it is simply the new way of doing things there. Push the government to the brink of irrelevance, then act shocked by the results. This from people (and their supporters) who express extreme cynicism over the government.

And of course, that cynicism is not entirely unjustified. But here's the thing: it is quite convenient to those who stand to benefit by a weakened government: the very wealthiest, and the big, huge corporations, almost exclusively multinationals.

The central issue is Obamacare, and thee opponents to it are growing increasingly desperate, having lost every major battle that they waged against it. So, this is nothing more, really, than down to the wire, last ditch effort at stopping, defunding, or at least delaying it. Are they scared that, once it is implemented, people will actually like it? They will see that all the horror stories surrounding it were greatly exaggerated and, for once, this President actually did something that truly helped the American people at large?

Now, I found this picture of some political buttons a few days ago on Facebook (Democracy for America's page), and thought it was so true, relevant, and indicative of the lock step, systematic, knee jerk opposition to all efforts at making reform to a broken healthcare system more accessible to the people at large, that I thought it would be best to share it here and now. Take a look:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151986418997502&set=a.10150142288812502.327922.20566782501&type=1&theater



When I was growing up, it seemed that there was some lasting legacy from days gone by, when this country was truly at it's peak, and elected officials actually tried to do something far greater and far more noble than simple to advance their narrow self-interests and/or promote their own political ambitions. It is a different era now, and the greatness of the United States, as well as clearly visible signs of wisdom and restraint by prominent politicians, is largely going out the window, if it isn't already there. Today, we can reflect on the examples of leaders during my own parent's youthful days, with prominent leaders in Washington like Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. Those days perhaps have never felt so long ago and inaccessible as they do today.

I think Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont who has a reputation for telling it as it is, summed it up best, regarding the Tea Party advocates who are forcing this government shutdown, perhaps by now, as a matter of pride. Or, perhaps, because their corporate sponsors are pulling the strings behind the scenes. One way or the other, this time, it seems more extreme then ever before, and here is that great quote that reveals just how absurd this whole government shutdown and battle over the debt ceiling really is:

"Let's be clear: Obamacare passed the House, the Senate, and was signed into law. The president won re-election by 5 million votes. Democrats picked up two seats in the Senate and more in the House. The Republicans challenged Obamacare in the conservative Supreme Court and they lost. Now they are trying to blackmail the President and hijack the government until they get their way."