As the federal government’s partial shutdown extends into another week, I am reminded again of the importance of leadership and governing. I realize that both parties are engaged in a game of chicken, and while I understand the context for both sides (though I am only sympathetic to the Democrats), I worry that the daring experiment that is American government may be damaged in the continued face-off.
I do not wish to spend 5 billion dollars of tax payer money on a racist and unnecessary wall at our southern border. I appreciate and agree with the Democratic leadership’s position against the wall. I am horrified at the Republican party’s insistence that the government be shut down until they get their way.
I am increasingly troubled by the sheer number of government employees expected to live (and sometimes work) without pay. I think that labor is sacred and that workers should be compensated for it. I love my job but I’m not there for community service; a paycheck is an affirmation and in our money economy, a requirement of life. For workers to face the prospect of hungry families and homelessness in service of the giant ego of an ignorant and mean-spirited man is unthinkable and immoral.
I guess that is my point: Trump makes all of us look bad. His very presence in political office makes a nation of Americans complicit in his spiteful, venal ways. I find this profoundly sad.
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