Yes, I’m weary with it.  Most people are numb to it because it doesn’t affect them directly.  Government workers hate it, and business persons should be marching in the streets to demand that it stop being used as a political weapon.  I’m talking about the now frequent use of the government shutdown as a bludgeon to override democracy.  It started in the 70s after passage of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 in response to Nixon impounding funds (refusing to spend) funds appropriated by Congress.  The Congress reasserted its control over federal spending after Nixon (and other presidents) had sought greater autonomy over federal spending.  What this set up, though, was budget showdowns that pitted the Congress against the White House.

The shutdown-as-weapon started in 1976 under Ford when he vetoed a funding bill for the departments of education and labor that had just been established by splitting the old department.  It didn’t last long when Democrats overrode the veto.  The next 4 out of 5 shutdowns were over abortion funding under Carter.  Reagan was the one who started playing brinksmanship with the shutdown, furloughing hundreds of thousands of federal employees, mostly demanding deep spending cuts.  He shut down the government eight times, an average of once a year during his terms.  HW Bush shut down the government once in 1990 over deficit spending.

Then came Newt.  After taking the house and becoming speaker, Gingrich used the shutdown to assert control over the entire government.  His shutdowns in November of 1995 and again from December to January of 1996 shattered Americans’ confidence in government and the Republicans.  Clinton’s popularity soared, and he cruised to reelection that year.  Gingrich was hounded out of the speaker’s office not long after.

Gingrich’s stupidity weighed on the Republicans so heavily that they didn’t dare to shut the government down again until 2013, when Ted Cruz used the shutdown in an attempt to strip healthcare from over 20 million Americans who were finally getting it as a result of the Affordable Care Act.  That shutdown lasted 16 days after the Republicans finally caved, but not before costing the US economy an estimated $24 billion dollars.  In between these shutdown attempts, Republicans started playing brinksmanship with the debt limit until finally S&P downgraded the US federal debt rating citing the instability of congressional Republicans and their brinksmanship.

Immune to learning anything from history, Trump has stupidly used the government shutdown to please his base of mouth-breathers, who hate everyone not white and every program that might help them.  This is the third shutdown in a YEAR, and this time during Christmas because Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh demanded their stupid border wall that won’t work.  This one won’t end well for Trump and his merry band of cronies.  The Dems take the House on January 3, and will make Trump’s life a living hell, especially after he has blundered into what is likely his largest mistake (among a legion of mistakes) he’s made since infesting the White House in 2017.  Pelosi and Schumer are going to use this move to their greatest advantage, and will be happy to just sit there and stare at him until the pressure on him becomes so great that either his head explodes or he caves.

If this shutdown wasn’t so destructive it would be entertaining, but Trump’s stupidity will will cost tens of billions of dollars, thousands of jobs, and will wreck the holidays for millions of Americans.  I just hope it hurts more Trumpists than it does normal people.

During a congressional hearing yesterday, director of national intelligence Dan Coats testified that the “United States is under attack by the Russians to meddle in the 2018 elections after their successful meddling in the 2016 election.  The White House and congressional Republicans are silent on any action that could prevent (or at least disrupt) these efforts.  Why?  That’s easy.  The Russians are working to help the Republicans stay in power even though their voter base is shrinking.  You can be sure that if a foreign country, say Kenya, was conducting regular cyber attacks on the US to help Barack Obama stay in office, we would be bombing Nairobi right now.  Since this unprecedented attack on US sovereignty is helping them, Trump and Republicans are more than happy to allow it to continue.

That’s called, at the minimum gross negligence.  What it really is? Treason.

You just thought that the Amtrak train carrying congressional Republicans rammed a garbage truck killing one and injuring others.  That didn’t happen at all.  What REALLY happened was that a cement truck, a big KAMIKAZE cement truck, RAMMED the train to kill Paul Ryan and others on the train.  The reliable source for this blockbuster story?  That’s right, it’s Alex Jones of sending-children-to-Mars-to-enslave-them fame.  That’s right, within a few hours of the tragic accident, Jones had determined that it was an attack on conservatives.  Jesus, this guy needs more drugs.

In the richness of multiple metaphors, the train carrying congressional Republicans to their retreat in West Virginia hit a garbage truck this morning.  This is a breaking story; apparently injuries on the train are minor, but unknown so far is if anyone in the truck or surrounding area were injured.

I just find it ironic that the train wreck that is the congressional Republicans was in an actual train wreck today – with a garbage truck.  The symbolism is overwhelming.

Michael Wolff’s new book is dominating the airwaves and has all week.  Except on Fox Noise, of course.  The release date of the book was moved up to today, and Trumpland is doing everything it can do to increase sales, including threatening the author and his publisher as well as slandering everyone who spoke ill of Trump.  Steve Bannon, the Darth Vader of political strategy, has been renamed Sloppy Steve by His Orangeness.  Amongst all this firestorm, other news has been announced today, and the timing is just a little coinkydink:

The FBI has announced that it has reopened an investigation of the Clinton Foundation.  This comes after months of Trump screaming about “Crooked Hillary”, and demanding the FBI investigate what’s already been investigated ad nauseam. Word got out today of the investigation, apparently leaked by, you guessed it, congressional Republicans.  Second, Senate Republicans have made the very first criminal referral in connection to the Russia interference investigations against…wait for it…Christopher Steele, the retired British intelligence agent who wrote the famous dossier about Trump’s relationship with the Russians.  That’s right, folks…the VERY FIRST CRIMINAL REFERRAL from Republicans in the Trump-Russia investigation is against the guy trying to expose Trump’s collusion with the Russians.

The fact that these two announcements come on the same day as the release of Fire and Fury is, like I said already, purely a coninkydink.  Nothing to see here…move along.

Yesterday, Newsweek published a story accusing Bernie voters of tipping the 2016 election to Trump.  It uses data from the 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Survey, compiled by Political Wire, that showed that, indeed, 10% of Bernie primary voters went for Trump in the general. It then goes into a swing state analysis that showed that Trump’s winning margin was less than the Bernie’s voters who went for Trump.  The implication was clear – stubborn Bernie voters wrecked Hillary’s bid for the presidency.  How evil they were and inconsiderate of Hillary and all of her supporters.  Fair enough.

There was an interesting mention, though, of a few not insignificant details at the very end of the article…First, the 10% of Bernie voters that went for Trump paled in comparison to the TWENTY FIVE percent of Hillary voters who went for McCain in 2008 (hypocrisy, anyone?).  More important, and one that I hadn’t realized was so large, was that almost 30% of Bernie voters were actually self identified Republican or leaned Republican.  Conversely, Hillary only attracted about 6 or 7% of the same demographic.

So, was it Bernie and his evil bots who wrecked Hillary’s election, or was it actually the fact that Hillary failed to attract the same demographic that Bernie did?  Trump certainly attracted a wide demographic of support.  Bernie attracted a wide demographic of support.  Hillary simply did not.  So, should the headline of the Newsweek article have been BERNIE SANDERS VOTERS HELPED TRUMP WIN AND HERE’S PROOF,  or should it have been HILLARY CLINTON LOST BECAUSE SHE FAILED TO ATTRACT A WIDER DEMOGRAPHIC THAN TRUMP?

I know the answer, but Hillary’s supporters, and many in the party, still cling to the myth that Bernie wrecked her election.  The inconvenient truth is that the numbers are the numbers and they speak for themselves; this lesson must be learned by the Democratic party lest it have to re-learn it in 2020.

I’m not holding my breath.