If Trump actually follows through and dumps a few hundred thousand do nothing drones off the payroll I’ll happily watch another episode of kabuki theater.
I was personally and deeply affected as as private citizen by the Government Shutdown! of 2013. I was in Hawaii on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, especially to visit volcanoes and other natural wonders in the National Parks . . . when Obama in his petulance shut down the National Parks as one of very few changes in the status quo ante. But for the 2025 shutdown I would pay good money to travel and stand in front of the farthest distance National Park from my home knowing the gates would be closed . . . as long as "non-essential" government personnel were fired instead of getting the paid vacation of past shutdowns.
They blocked the turnouts along the road in front of Mt. Rushmore, so you could not pull your car off the side of the road and take a picture. Exhibit A that government bureaucrats (and their Master Obama) are vindictive assholes that need to be fired forthwith.
Vindictive asshole is one of the best descriptions I have heard for the Kenyan poseur. I might modify it to radical vindictive asshole if it were my comment.
I suspect it took more personnel to shutdown some of the national parks than it took to keep them open. But Obama was hellbent on closing things normal people liked. I imagine he kept the government-run drag queen shows running, though.
Realistically the government shuts down every weekend and holiday and skiff of snow day to the extent the functions actually shut down. Try getting a bureaucrat on the phones those days. You can’t. Well you also can’t get a bureaucrat on the phone during the week either. They seem to operate by email which they ignore also or send out a canned response.
Thank you for noting the truth of the matter. Our SSA office is only open by appointment. We live in a town of only 15k. That way since the Wuhan Flu. I am hoping it will go away soon.
As it happened, I was a Typographical Union member when PATCO members went on strike, President Reagan TOLD THEM they would be fired. They struck. They were fired. A whole bunch of unions -- I had no idea there were that many! -- went to Washington, D.C. to march in protest of the firings. As an old-timey radical, I had been used to riding 24 hours or so from MN to D.C. on a rickety schoolbus. Not this time. We rode in comfort on Greyhounds with bathrooms! We got a meal allotment and didn't have to steal rock-hard pecan candy from Shoneys. Quite the contrast. President Reagan replaced all the Air Traffic Controllers when "everybody" said it couldn't be done without endangering air passengers. Everybody was wrong. Again.
I always get confused between Shoneys and Bob's Big Boy. Do they have the same mascot -- that kid with a cowlick holding a heaping platter of pork rinds, or something like that? Or is Shoneys an animal? Pudge the Possum?
In my youth, when we traveled the east coast from VA to FL for travel soccer tournaments, Shoneys was a popular destination for our crew of whooping, gluttonous buffet destroyers.
No wonder you are Joe Vass's personal "Wonder Woman"! If I outlive my wife (I am, as you know) 77 and you outlive the Great One, maybe we could hook up. No sex, just a last few years of hilarity! I have always loved Hillarity. Hell, another typo. No, autocorrect, I'm sure.
An excellent opportnity to get rid of all the "non-essential" government drones., 95% of whom vote for the Marxist/Dem party. Good. Get rid of them and let them cry to the Dems.
I would send a second income-tax payment to pay for that. Just kidding! I don't pay any federal income taxes (and very little state). Almost all of our income comes from tax-free state bonds for the state we live in and just enough corporate dividends to avoid their federal taxation too. I figured that out when I retired over 30 years ago after Billary took over 1/2 of what I made practicing tort law.
Steve, your take on the shutdown as overhyped “kabuki theater” is spot-on—most services keep humming, and feds get back pay, yet the media spins it like Armageddon. But don’t let Congress off the hook: both sides’ uniparty cronies—Dems and GOP—milk these stunts for insider trades and lobbyist cash, keeping 750K workers unpaid on Day 6 while debt balloons. It’s a rigged game, not just a show.Smash the system: term limits to boot careerist leeches, stock trading bans, lobbying blacklists, ranked-choice voting to bust the duopoly, and public funding to choke dark money. It’s the no-BS reform 80% of us want, cutting through the noise.More here: https://sleuthfox.substack.com/p/saving-the-republic If it clicks, subscribe for free! #EndTheShutdown #FixDC
So long as the FDA's northeast region Crumb Topping Compliance inspector remains on call to approve and release each truck laden with Entenmann's baked goods from the factory, there will be no issues.
If Trump actually follows through and dumps a few hundred thousand do nothing drones off the payroll I’ll happily watch another episode of kabuki theater.
Do I have to wear makeup to participate in the Kabuki?
No. You have to be naked, so I am told.
Same here .
I was personally and deeply affected as as private citizen by the Government Shutdown! of 2013. I was in Hawaii on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, especially to visit volcanoes and other natural wonders in the National Parks . . . when Obama in his petulance shut down the National Parks as one of very few changes in the status quo ante. But for the 2025 shutdown I would pay good money to travel and stand in front of the farthest distance National Park from my home knowing the gates would be closed . . . as long as "non-essential" government personnel were fired instead of getting the paid vacation of past shutdowns.
They blocked the turnouts along the road in front of Mt. Rushmore, so you could not pull your car off the side of the road and take a picture. Exhibit A that government bureaucrats (and their Master Obama) are vindictive assholes that need to be fired forthwith.
Vindictive asshole is one of the best descriptions I have heard for the Kenyan poseur. I might modify it to radical vindictive asshole if it were my comment.
I suspect it took more personnel to shutdown some of the national parks than it took to keep them open. But Obama was hellbent on closing things normal people liked. I imagine he kept the government-run drag queen shows running, though.
Realistically the government shuts down every weekend and holiday and skiff of snow day to the extent the functions actually shut down. Try getting a bureaucrat on the phones those days. You can’t. Well you also can’t get a bureaucrat on the phone during the week either. They seem to operate by email which they ignore also or send out a canned response.
Shut it down. Fire them. And don’t look back
Thank you for noting the truth of the matter. Our SSA office is only open by appointment. We live in a town of only 15k. That way since the Wuhan Flu. I am hoping it will go away soon.
I think that will be the twelfth of never
And that's a long, long time...
It is scheduled to end Friday the 13th, 20 something.
I like the way you think!
Barack Hussein Obama, now there's a guy who knew how to shut down.
WWII vet in his wheelchair? Came to DC to see the WWII Memorial, that's just going to be standing there gleaming in the sun regardless?
Too bad - keep moving, old man! Like Nigel Tufnel's guitar, don't even look at it.
As it happened, I was a Typographical Union member when PATCO members went on strike, President Reagan TOLD THEM they would be fired. They struck. They were fired. A whole bunch of unions -- I had no idea there were that many! -- went to Washington, D.C. to march in protest of the firings. As an old-timey radical, I had been used to riding 24 hours or so from MN to D.C. on a rickety schoolbus. Not this time. We rode in comfort on Greyhounds with bathrooms! We got a meal allotment and didn't have to steal rock-hard pecan candy from Shoneys. Quite the contrast. President Reagan replaced all the Air Traffic Controllers when "everybody" said it couldn't be done without endangering air passengers. Everybody was wrong. Again.
I always get confused between Shoneys and Bob's Big Boy. Do they have the same mascot -- that kid with a cowlick holding a heaping platter of pork rinds, or something like that? Or is Shoneys an animal? Pudge the Possum?
In my youth, when we traveled the east coast from VA to FL for travel soccer tournaments, Shoneys was a popular destination for our crew of whooping, gluttonous buffet destroyers.
No wonder you are Joe Vass's personal "Wonder Woman"! If I outlive my wife (I am, as you know) 77 and you outlive the Great One, maybe we could hook up. No sex, just a last few years of hilarity! I have always loved Hillarity. Hell, another typo. No, autocorrect, I'm sure.
Let's have FY2026 be the year of the shutdown!
Lord, please make it so. The the ensuing years as well. Amen!🙏🏼
An excellent opportnity to get rid of all the "non-essential" government drones., 95% of whom vote for the Marxist/Dem party. Good. Get rid of them and let them cry to the Dems.
"If the government gets shut down, they won't be able to help us."
"Relax. You had me at 'gridlock'."
Democrats in Congress need a very long paid vacation in Venezuela or Cuba.
I would send a second income-tax payment to pay for that. Just kidding! I don't pay any federal income taxes (and very little state). Almost all of our income comes from tax-free state bonds for the state we live in and just enough corporate dividends to avoid their federal taxation too. I figured that out when I retired over 30 years ago after Billary took over 1/2 of what I made practicing tort law.
These two countries were civilized before the commies ruined them, in the name of the people of course.
You are right. Fun fact: at one time in the past, Argentina was the richest country per capita in the world. Maybe Millei will make MAGA.
Fire everyone who is nonessential
Akshully, gridlock is probably better than constitutional government. A boy can dream!
Who would know? We haven't had constitutional government for over a century.
Steve, your take on the shutdown as overhyped “kabuki theater” is spot-on—most services keep humming, and feds get back pay, yet the media spins it like Armageddon. But don’t let Congress off the hook: both sides’ uniparty cronies—Dems and GOP—milk these stunts for insider trades and lobbyist cash, keeping 750K workers unpaid on Day 6 while debt balloons. It’s a rigged game, not just a show.Smash the system: term limits to boot careerist leeches, stock trading bans, lobbying blacklists, ranked-choice voting to bust the duopoly, and public funding to choke dark money. It’s the no-BS reform 80% of us want, cutting through the noise.More here: https://sleuthfox.substack.com/p/saving-the-republic If it clicks, subscribe for free! #EndTheShutdown #FixDC
👀
So long as the FDA's northeast region Crumb Topping Compliance inspector remains on call to approve and release each truck laden with Entenmann's baked goods from the factory, there will be no issues.
A whole lot of swamp denizens won't get paid. As if that were a tragedy.
I use your "gridlock is good—it’s the next best thing to having constitutional government." often.