More Bananas, Please!

We were told the Sequester would be so bad, with cuts so deep, nobody in Congress would allow themselves to reach an impasse and implement the Sequester.  We heard the same frightening stories about the shutdown--if it happens we will surely see our country fall back into a deep recession, or even trigger a depression.

For those of us who do not rely on a government paycheck or handout, both events were hardly detectable, except when you tune into your favorite news channel.  If the press was full of knowledgeable souls, perhaps we would have not heard things would be so bad.  Instead, the press is composed of mostly liberal masters of dogma, only capable of parroting their favorite politician or political operative.there is only one certainty: the press is incapable of providing an honest, neutral view based on fact, or at least knowledgeable sources.  Perhaps it is not possible to find people capable of offering a more educated viewpoint, but I suspect the press just finds it beneficial to report more controversial views because the truth is simply not so sensational.

But that is the point.  The Sequester and Shutdowns simply did not produce the destructive result promised by our many newspapers and television shows.  For journalism is no longer the pursuit of a story as much as it is pursuit of interested followers.  The truth about the Sequester and Shutdown are far less interesting than the ticking clock countdown until our country falls off the face of the earth.  In order to support the sensationalist story, the White House blocked off open air memorials, parks and sidewalks.  Yes, sidewalks.  While Mount Vernon is not a federally-funded attraction, the sidewalk from the street to the home of our first President is on federal land and the administration made sure to erect barricades to make Mount Vernon appear closed.  No doubt it took more effort and more dollars to erect the many barricades to parks, monuments and buildings than if they did nothing.

We all know the closures and barricades were there to make a point, but it came off a lot more like the poor sport who picked up his ball, the game ball, and went home because he didn't get to play his chosen position and if he didn't get his way, the game ball is going home with him and nobody gets to play.  I know it sounds childish, but that is exactly how I view our President during this debate.

As for Congress, I find it easy to side with the Republicans because I know we need to reduce Federal spending, and the Sequester and Shutdown are proof positive we can survive with a much smaller government.  However, I cannot say the Republicans entered this fight prepared, with a plan of action.  It seems they gave up on a delay of ObamaCare early on and changed the objective to budget cuts.  Their objective might be just, but they have not demonstrated they are ready or capable of taking the reins of this country's government; instead giving the Democrats plenty of arguments to point out their lack of planning and failure to stay on message.  The fact is, they all look like a bunch of monkeys in need of bananas because they are not fooling anyone into believing we have a leader ready to take over the White House when the eight year plague ends.