And another thing. . .
Here we are. Day 9 of the 2013 Federal Government Shutdown. No end in sight. Well, . . .there is. I just don’t want to look at it.
It’s like we’re all in this small boat on a river approaching the crest of a Niagara Falls-sized waterfall, with some piss ant crewman maniacally holding onto the steering wheel while the captain frantically kicks at him, missing a real body blow so they both remain at the wheel, preventing the other from steering the boat either left or right toward one of the shores. Instead, we all putter along straight to the abyss. From afar, it looks perfectly serene but on board, up close, it’s wildly frantic.
I’ve been strangely removed emotionally from this passion play now unfolding. Usually, I have a whoosh of emotions – usually anger – reacting to the daily antics of our Washington Wastrels. But this time, not. Instead, I seem to have taken an oddly fatalistic view of the disaster that looms before us. It’s not my fight. Not that I don’t care, but I can’t worry about something over which I have absolutely no control. I have enough on my plate over which I DO control that there isn’t room for this “Noise” over my head.
I don’t view the raging battle now going on as something between “them” and “me.” President Obama was reelected to implement the Affordable Care Act. No one I know of or can think of voted for him to repeal it on the first day of implementation. It passed through Congress and withstood the challenge in the Supreme Court. It is Law.
The radical fringe of the Republican Party (I’m a registered Republican, by the way) decided to take the ACA hostage and hold a gun to the world’s economic head as they race toward the flames of righteousness to jump through the fiery ring to reach redemption on the “other side.”
In my own mind, I wonder, “Other side of what?”
This style of confrontational politics has usually been reserved for the visceral enmity that flows from our racially divided history. And when put in those terms, this all now begins to make sense. Down deep, I believe the Tea Party faction would not so abhor the concept of “Big Government” if it didn’t have the face of this particular president championing it. They might not exist at all as a political entity without the racial undertone that supports its cause. There would be push-back, of course, but not on this scale. This is no “worse” than Medicare in 1965. It’s the “face,” I’m convinced.
And placing this fight in that historical context, my fatalism takes over. There is absolutely nothing the president can do to change the color of his skin. I think he believes, probably correctly, that he is handcuffed from removing his ACA legislation he was elected to implement. So without a controlling influence, the Tea Party wing will, with its “Rah-Rah!” spirit, eagerly take the world through that ring of fire to redemption and into the economic abyss.
No, the fight isn’t between the Democrats and the Republicans any more. It’s all centered within the confines of the Republican Party. I believe the braking effect, if there’s one to be had, will have to come from the business-backed moderates of the Party.
As the days pass in this drama. the spotlight is crossing the stage to fall squarely on Rep. John Boehner. I believe he is about to have a “Profile in Courage” moment when he realizes that, in order to save the republic, he will have to sacrifice his personal and professional accomplishments to squelch the rebellion from within. And I’m frankly not so sure his “Aha” moment will result in the republic’s salvation. I have no idea which side he will choose when his feet finally reach the fire.
But now, having read what I just wrote, I suspect that the crystal clarity with which I’ve just outlined the issues is simply bunk. Without my tarot deck in front of me, I will be surprised like everybody else when the president tells the world, “OK, you win. Take the ACA apart and let the insurance companies do whatever they choose.” Maybe he’ll resign now to sweeten the pot.
Whatever happens, at least I haven’t invested a lot of emotion to pin my hopes on a “win” by one side or the other. The boat can turn to either shore, or disappear over the falls and I’ll look with interest to see what remains of the boat and its occupants below. Fatalism has its upside!
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