Well folks, we’re there.  Let’s just let it happen.  Republicans are now the party of fascism and stupidity, and they’re showing it in spades with this latest assault on the US government.  Yes, they’ve been hostage takers for the last quarter century, holding a gun to the heads of the economy, everyone not white, veterans, active duty military, children, Dream kids, LGBT identified, and everyone else who happens to disagree with them.  Until TFG took over, though, we all knew that most of it was Kabuki play, threatening to wreck everyone’s lives to gain some kind of political gain which was almost always either destructive or pointless.  The unspoken feature of that hostage taking was they weren’t really serious.  They knew that adults in the room would win out, pull us off of the brink and extract some political ransom for doing so.

Watching the catastrophe of today makes the recent past look quaint.  Today’s Republicans, now controlled by a small group of political terrorists, have thrown out that historical tactic.  Led by idiots like Matt Gaetz, Paul Gaza, MTG, and Lauren Gropert, all those rules are out the window.  The Insurrectionist Wing of the GOP really do want to wreck the government to impose their will on 330 Americans whether they want it or not.  They’ve been elected to lead our constitutional democracy when their goal is to destroy it.  Kevin McCarthy, who’s proven to be a shithead in all things, really doesn’t want to destroy the government, but he sold his soul to the Insurrectionists just so he could fondle the Speaker’s gavel if just for a minute.  We’re less than 40 hours from a government shutdown, and the terrorists have also stated their goal to next defund the government by refusing to raise the debt limit their favorite hostage.

After years of worry and stress over this constant barrage of political and economic attacks, I say let’s let them do it.  Shut down the government; throw the economy into chaos; destroy hundreds of billions of dollars of Americans’ value.  Hell, while we’re at it, defund the US government and default on the debt.  The destruction, which is indescribable, will hopefully be enough to jolt US voters out of their collective coma to relegate these fascists to the dustbin of history, at least for another 5 or 6 decades.

Nothing else has worked or will work until these ignoramuses get what they want.  They won’t like it when they do, and it will hurt millions of people, but I have concluded that the only way we rid ourselves of these goons is to let them destroy themselves, then get them replaced with more normal people, and then our laws and regulations strengthened to make it harder to do this the next time they want to try it.  We’ll have to pick up the pieces, rebuild, and then move forward.

The solution to this relentless siege on our democracy will only happen by taking back local, state, and federal governments, arresting, charging, and jailing all insurrectionists and passing laws to keep other terrorists away from the levers of power when they crawl out from under their rock and try it again.

So, let’s do it.

Besides the decades long morphing of the GOP into the “Stupid and Proud of It Party,” Republicans have also become known for the mobster tactic of hostage taking.  The latest example is Moscow Mitch’s cynical filibustering of Democratic efforts to raise the debt limit to pay for Trump’s $7.8 TRILLION spending spree during his 4 year infestation of the WH.  While smirking and speaking with the weight of a law school professor while peddling manure to an eager press, McConnell has said that the Democrats must solve the debt ceiling crisis by themselves while preventing from just that by filibustering their efforts.  Of course, because it can’t be put on a bumper sticker, the press is unable to explain to the public exactly what McConnell is doing, so they report that the Dems are “split”, “in disarray”, and “bear the responsibility” for the problems that were created exclusively by Trump, McConnell, and the lockstep marching GOP caucus in the Congress.

This is not the first time this has happened, and won’t be the last until the idiotic “debt ceiling” fabrication is killed, dead and buried.  In 2011, 2013, and 2015 McConnell, with the aid of our own Ted Cruz, threatened the good faith and credit of the United States by taking the economy hostage with debt ceiling battles and government shutdowns to blackmail the Obama administration to stop Obamacare and other programs that actually help people.  The 2011 shenanigans caused S&P to downgrade the credit rating of US debt for the first time in history.  Since then, they’ve taken immigrants, women, racial minorities, children, the aged, and the environment hostage every single time that a Democrat dared tried to do something positive for the American people.

McConnell and his enablers are no better than petty mobsters playing confidence games with small neighborhood business people by threatening to destroy their businesses unless they pay up.  “Nice economy you have there; it would be a shame if something bad happened to it.”

Remember that back in June, Trump caved on his cruel and illegal policy of separating children from their parents on the border.  Even though many kids remain separated , the stated strategy of tearing families apart was reversed.  Well, just now, Trump caved again, agreeing to a short term continuing resolution to reopen the government, and it doesn’t include money for his idiotic wall.  What changed?  Public opinion really did start turning as television reports of weeping federal employees hit the air waves.  Then Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, spoke out to all of his employees about how angry he is over the shutdown; the commandant of the Coast Guard spoke out publicly in opposition, and then, the FAA ordered a ground stop this morning at La Guardia airport in New York citing a shortage of controllers to safely move aircraft through our airspace.  Apparently, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and the tsunami of opposition to his shutdown FINALLY got through the orange ferret sitting on his head.  And he caved.

Trump is now right back to where he was two weeks before Christmas except that millions of Americans have been injured from his folly and his poll numbers are lower if that was even possible.  Oh, and he lied about how so many federal employees wanted him to keep going on the shutdown which is outrageous.  His “deal” to reopen government is only for 3 weeks.  We’ll see what the Dems do.

The funny thing? Trump did get his wall, and her name is Nancy Pelosi.

It’s starting to happen.  The air traffic control system is breaking down because of Trump’s shutdown for nothing.  LaGuardia was ground stopped completely due to shortage of controllers, and Newark, JFK, and Philadelphia are experiencing significant delays.

I predict the government shutdown will be over this weekend, a huge loss for Trump and his supporters.

Dear John and Ted,

I know you won’t actually read this entire letter (if at all) so I’ll put the demand to each of you up front:

GET OFF YOU ASS AND DO YOUR GODDAM JOB.

Let’s be perfectly clear: Donald Trump promised the American people that he would build a “big beautiful wall” along the entire US/Mexico border and that Mexico would pay for it. First, the notion of a 5th century solution to a 21st century problem is idiotic on the face, and everyone, except for mindless sycophants, knew that.  Second, the promise that Mexico would pay for this farce was bullshit, and everyone, except for the same mindless sycophants, knew that, too.  If each you had just a moment of frank honesty, each of you would concede that even the concept of Trump’s wall is stupid.

Now that we’ve established the idiocy of this notion, let’s talk about the greater idiocy of shutting down the federal government for politics.  ALLOWING the president to do it is worse, and each of you are complicit.  Let’s be more specific – the fact that 800,000 federal employees are not being paid is outrageous.  Requiring almost HALF of those employees to continue working without pay is unimaginable by normal people.  The fact that each of you have defended this negligence and criminality is also unimaginable.

The risk to the US economy is clear to anyone who understands basic arithmetic; every day this catastrophe is allowed to continue, billions of dollars get flushed down the toilet.  Unseen, though, is the risk to millions of Americans caused by this shutdown.  The federal air traffic system is at great threat;  air traffic controllers, who are working unpaid in a high stress job also now have unpaid overtime forced on them due to high absence rate, presumably because many controllers are having to work other jobs to put food on the table. It’s only a matter of time when one of these overworked and overstressed controllers makes a mistake; the results of that mistake can be catastrophic.  Like controllers, TSA agents are working without pay.  The front line of our security system is weakened by overwork and the stress of not getting paid.  The Coast Guard, who has responsibility for protecting our ocean fronts and maritime shipping, is unpaid.  The FBI is now seriously hamstrung in protecting us from terrorists to other criminals because of this shutdown. It goes on and on, and the fact that you are allowing this kind of flagrant risk taking is unconscionable.

Ignoring fact that Trump is singularly unqualified from holding any public office, much less the presidency, YOUR  job is to protect the Constitution, our country, and our state from him.  Let me remind each of you about the oath that you took when you assumed your positions:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

“…I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”  Sorry, guys, you are failing miserably at keeping this part of the oath.  You are both neglecting your jobs for politics.  I can only assume that keeping power for yourselves and your party is more important than protecting Texans, and indeed all Americans.  Ted, Michael Bennet certainly put you in your place after you stood in the Senate yesterday and lied (again) about who’s at fault here.  Just like during your shutdown in 2013, you are again lying to the American people about this shutdown.  John, you regularly peddle absolute bullshit with the weight of a college professor as you neglect your job.  One of your most despicable lies fed the Benghazi “investigation” which ultimately found nothing.  To prostitute yourselves to this president is shameful, and I think, deep down, both of you know that.

The train wreck simply has to stop. NOW.  Trump lost the battle over his wall before he ever started it because it was based on a lie.  Rudy Giuliani has destroyed his reputation because of his lying for the president.  Each of you are destroying what’s left of your integrity by lying for this president, and by neglecting your responsibility to act as a check on the executive branch.  You can fix that, though, and you can do it today.  All you have to do is stand up on your hind feet and do your goddam job.

Open the government.  Period.  A single page resolution would do that.  But that is not enough; it’s time to outlaw the use of debt ceiling brinksmanship and government shutdowns as political bludgeons to extract concessions from the other side.  There’s no reason for it, and it must be stopped. NOW.

Enough of this nonsense is enough.  Stop helping Trump take hostages.  Stop demagoguing immigrants and Democrats.  Stop letting your own cynical politics dominate your presence in Washington.  It’s your job.  Do it.

In probably one of the most shocking examples of absolute tone deafness (since Donald Trump last opened his yap), billionaire and bottom fisherman Wilbur Ross put on full display the problem within the current infestation of the White House – complete and abject lack of understanding or empathy towards American workers, especially those who happen to be on the federal payroll.

Today, in a jaw dropping moment, Ross, who’s made his money Hoovering up distressed companies and firing people for profit, remarked on CNBC that he didn’t understand why federal employees who’ve been furloughed are going to food banks and homeless shelters.  He said they should just be able to go get a loan since it is “essentially a government guaranteed loan”.  To add insult to injury, Ross dismissed the crisis, saying that “it’s only 800,000 people who only make up .3% of GDP.”  He completely ignores the multiplier effect of those people having no money to spend and the huge risks they’re taking in everything from air transportation to food safety.  What an ass.  Here it is, but you’ll have to hold your nose to listen.