The Government is Shut Down? What Ever Shall We Do?

The biggest news of the week has been the shutdown of the Federal Government, at least the non-essential parts. This, of course, screams to have the question asked, “Why do we put up with any portion of our government being non-essential?” With a national debt into the trillions of dollars, why do we pay for things we can do without?

Of course, people have differing views on what is essential and what is not. This is usually divided along lines of personal priorities. Those visiting national parks believe that after months of planning and hundreds of miles of travel, it is essential that they view the wonders of God’s creation, although the Government seems to think that adoring  and basking in the glory of creation is non-essential.

And people are arguing over who is to blame for this shut down. Democrats are pointing the finger at Republicans, who in turn are retorting, “When you point a finger at me, there are three others pointing right back at you.”

To which the Democrat’s reply, “Well, you are a big doody head.”

From Facebook timeline, not sure who to attribute it to.

Then we turn our attention to the furloughed federal workers. These fine men and women insist that their jobs are quite essential if they are to feed their families. Still the entire federal government, from the President on down, points at each other and shouts, “It is HIS fault.”

While our esteemed legislators are reluctant to take responsibility for the mess we are in, they are eager to remind us that they are powerful and benevolent leaders, and the country would be in a mess without them, and that without their amazing leadership we would hardly be able to survive.

What is lost in all of this noise is the individual American. The furloughed worker, the grieving widow of a soldier waiting for her loved one’s casket, the harried mother separating fighting children and scolding them for calling each other doody heads. 

The key to America being great is not found in our government, it is in each individual American, getting up and treating the day as an opportunity to be productive, ignoring the TV and the lack of contact with reality that seems to come with living in Washington, and doing what it takes to survive, and provide, and be productive, despite the government’s best to stop all individual forward progress.

How the Government has Ruined Voting.

Tuesday was Election Day here in the United States, in case you missed it. This election was for president of the country, along with some other open posts in the Senate, House of Representatives, various Judges, and dog catcher. A few weeks ago I wrote about the presidential debates. Today, I want to explore voting.


Voting is the way that Americans can voice their choice in politics. Although some believe that the number of signs you have in your yard, or the number of posts to Facebook, or perhaps even the number of times you retweet your preferred candidates tweets constitutes voting; it does not.



In years gone by, the voters in New York actually used machines to vote with. These machines were behemoth booths with a curtain. You went inside, pulled a large lever and the curtain closed behind you. There was a certain comfort in shutting out the world outside knowing that what was done in that booth was kept private and secret.  Once that curtain was closed the voter was presented with a choice. He or she could select the candidates they felt were most qualified for the job, or they could break out singing an Italian operetta and take a shower. If the election inspector heard someone breaking out into song, they were instructed to immediately turn off the hot water to the booths, thereby cutting short any shower activity.



For those citizens who voted in these machines, they simply flipped a number of smaller levers corresponding to the names of the people for whom they wanted to vote. This physical act of flipping levers was both concrete and comforting. Once the voter finished selecting who was going to receive his votes, he pulled the large heavy lever back the other direction. This was a magical moment, for not only did the curtain open, releasing the voter to his native habitat, but all those levers that indicated which candidates were voted for, miraculously rose to their upright position. All of this occurred with reassuring clicks and clacks of gears and levers moving and the gentle swoosh of the curtain opening. As if some industrial wizard were reassuring the voter that indeed, his vote mattered.



Now, when I go to vote, the election inspector hands me a sheet of paper with fill-in-the-bubble spots for each candidate. This is a horrific predicament. As soon as I see those bubbles, nightmarish memories of past standardized tests rush through my brain. My heart races, palms get sweaty, and my stomach gets all knotted up. It is a moment of panic. I worry I am not going to select the right answers. I worry I am not going to correctly fill in the bubbles. I worry I am going to have to pee badly and the teacher won’t let me use the rest room for “security reasons.”



I finally finish filling in the right bubbles and walk up to the new-fangled voting machine; which is simply a black box. No curtain, no levers, no Italian operetta. I slide the paper into the black box. And, nothing. I stand there, aching for the familiar clack and swooshes. Still nothing. Finally, a small click. Thats all. Just a small click and I am done.



Somehow the government has been able to tax me to death, regulate me to being unable to do anything, and now they have sucked the joy out of voting too.