Spoiler alert: this is a bully pulpit post.
I've been holed up with kids and grands for more than a week but am back on the road, headed to my next volunteer gig at Andersonville National Historic Site in Georgia after short visits in Kentucky with my sister and brother. Headed to Andersonville if, that is, Congress collectively grows a spine, quits its self-serving, posturing malfeasance, and puts this country back to work.
I've been a federal employee, was married to a federal employee, have lived paycheck to paycheck, and grew up in a strong union town, Detroit, so I know what effect this nationwide strike (that's been imposed on everyone by 535 people, by the way) is having on people all across the country. The games Congress has been playing for almost three weeks now are unconscionable, but (and here's where I'm going to make some people mad) I believe it should be an all-or-nothing proposition: no one but absolutely essential personnel and services should be allowed to work or be open, which rules out Congressional staffers, its lunchroom, barbershop, and gym, no Social Security or Medicare, and no federal retiree and VA disability checks. Because these last two categories affect me I'm willing to include myself in the drastic and painful belt-tightening that's affecting hundreds of thousands of people and businesses around the country. Don't even get me started on foreign aid.
What's prompted this rant, although I've been ticked off since the shutdown began, was reading about national parks that have reopened due to special deals their states have negotiated with the National Park Service. I can't blame them, and during my five months at Petrified Forest, when I also had the privilege of visiting many other parks, monuments, and historic sites, I developed a really soft spot for our parks and the people who work there. But until the festering impasse being played out in Washington is resolved, until all federal employees are working, until all services are restored, I think it's a good idea for every possible American to feel the kick this shutdown is administering and when they tire of it, tell Congress to grow up and put this country back on its feet.
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Thought of the day:
The buck stops here. (Harry S Truman, and where is he when we need him?)
