"Meeting" is a strange tale of illusion and conflicting, often shattering realities, set largely in our nation's capital.
The real world of Washington D.C. -- real as we can make out -- seems little better of late. Of course, the recent government shut-down wasn't the first in our nation's history, and sadly, almost certainly not the last. It was by no means irreparable, but it most certainly did harm to the nation as a whole, to the tune of approximately $20 billion. It wasn't just a rope around Old Faithful, or a handful of ruined vacations to national landmarks. To thousands of government contract workers (hardworking middle class people, people with families) it was considerably more than an inconvenience. It was, in effect a punitive lay-off which they did not deserve to have suffered. It was also a slow-down in the economy, a delay in a lot of rent payments, a delay in food shipments. The effects, both subtle and gross, go on and on.
Congress, of course, suffered no loss of pay. The Republicans who arbitrarily decided they simply wouldn't do the jobs We The People pay them to do, got paid for doing nothing. We essentially paid them to go on strike. No, actually, they robbed us at gunpoint while going on strike. Talk about taxation without representation! So, what justification does the GOP give for shutting down the government simply because two votes, an election and a Supreme Court decision failed to go their way? No justification needed. They had the power to commit a legal form of terrorism, to hold a national economy hostage until they got their way, so they did it. They didn't get their way, of course. Obamacare is still on its way, and the GOP has never been more hated by the public. But, don't worry: They'll do it again.
So, why did they do it, even knowing full well they couldn't possibly win? Why did their leader (or, figurehead?) John Boehner, who once spoke out against the idea of a shutdown, change course and condone this ludicrous and extremely costly spectacle? Simple: He caved to political pressure from the vocal, radicalized minority within the GOP. The so-called Tea Party. Yesterday's counter-revolution still trying to throw sand into the wheels of national progress. They'll stop this country from moving forward, or destroy it in the attempt. That's their only defining manifesto. And, why did Ted Cruz, the ambitious young GOP pol lead the charge, even though the bulk of his own party opposed him? Again, simple: Personal gain and political ambition. It didn't matter that he couldn't win. He just wanted to be remembered by his hard-core right-wing base as the David who stood up to Goliath, as the right-wing firebrand who fought tooth and nail against Obamacare, which these reactionary TP (love that acronym) yahoos have chosen as the symbol of evil.
And, here lies a fundamental weakness in our system of government that will doubtless do more harm before we find the strength of will to change it. Politicians who are charged with defending the rights and needs of the nation as a whole seldom do. They're too busy looking after their own constituencies and districts--after themselves, in short -- to care about the nation as a whole. E Pluribus Unum? E Pluribus You're screwed! It's everybody for himself. Divided times breed divided government. And, sometimes, apparently, no government at all. The common good and the general welfare take a back seat to self serving politicians and their rich, deep-pocketed backers. Treason? Nope. Just business as usual.
The question is, how much more of this can our democracy stand? Do the legislative process or the rule of law actually mean anything if a party that can't get its way through either can simply shut it all down in a form of legal blackmail? Each time they do, that many more government programs for the poor and needy are damaged that much more, and the poorest workers suffer the most. (Not that that matters in the slightest to a party like the GOP which cares only about the rich, and would love to destroy many if not all social programs and regulatory agencies.) So, is democracy in America to suffer the death of a thousand cuts?
Or, are we as a people going to stop impotently wining about government ineffectiveness, and actually do something about it? How about passing laws of governance that prevent this sort of outrageous, if not treasonous behavior by our elected officials? How about recalling those who won't go along? How about passing serious campaign finance reform to keep special interest money out of politics. (We passed that in Massachusetts, and the conservative pols simply refused to fund it!) The right wing wind-bags keep screaming about taking America back. Yeah...let's take it back. From them. How about we rise up as a nation and bury them under an avalanche of votes? How about we create rules that actually make votes and laws count for something, and make the obligations of elected office sacred, as we have a right to expect?
This government can't just be an instrument used to bludgeon the nation for the selfish gain of those we elected. Reality is supposed to be shaped by our collective will and principles. Not by those we pay to uphold them.
