On October 1, 2013, the United States federal government shut its doors over a stalemate so absurd that many Americans are hard pressed to explain it.
While the media continues to portray the gridlock in Washington as a fight between Democrats and Republicans the real story is actually more convoluted and more worrisome.
Democrats in Washington are in the peculiar position of watching a Civil War play out between the GOP and the far right, big-money-backed Tea Party. Although it is blatantly clear that the basis for the government shutdown is entirely bogus, the media is stuck in a keep it safe mode, seeking to tell both sides of the story.
The press has stopped reporting the news and continues to play the middleman between democrats and republicans at the expense of the general public as well as our international standing.
One can google breaking news on the government shutdown and get a generalized overall picture of what’s going on and what some of the short and long term affects might be. It requires a little bit more digging to get the understory.
Only a slightly wider search would indicate that this war is not between Democrats and Republicans, as it would seem on the surface. It is a war between the one percent, represented by The Tea Party, and the rest of our nation. This tiny percentage of anti government extremists has successfully infiltrated Washington through the veins of the GOP. As few as thirty house republicans are unwilling to support a clean bill funding the government and have shut the government down.
Tea party members have been consistent in vocalizing their opposition to the Affordable Health Care Act, or Obamacare as it is popularly known, the president’s health care plan that was signed into law in 2010. There have been many unsuccessful attempts to delay and/or repeal the law. This latest scheme – attaching Obamacare to a must-pass bill to fund the government – is a pathetic, anti American gesture that may wind up costing the Tea Party and the GOP puppets they’ve managed to wrangle a whole lot more than they anticipated.
Even though most Americans have a very limited understanding of what’s happening to our political structure right now, the average American would point the finger at the GOP for this particular mess in Washington.
As this shutdown progresses it will be interesting to observe how the fallout will affect not only those of us adversely affected by immediate tremors but also how this strategy of obstructionism, dishonesty and duplicity continues to change politics in America.
