Washington Opens for Business--For a While!

Early this morning (at 12.30 a.m. to be precise) Obama signed the much-contested legislation that re-opened the Government and raised the mythical debt limit.

Courtesy White House Blog

The Republicans tried to put a brave face on their humiliating defeat. "We fought the good fight but didn't win," said Boehner rather lamely.

Leaving aside the fact that this was a nasty, vicious fight that threw hundreds of thousands of people out of work and risked "economic catastrophe on a global scale,"it is hard to believe just how monumentally stupid and short-sighted the Republicans have been.

Our Rachel
Courtesy: www.biography.com

To get a full idea of their folly, you MUST watch this video of Rachel Maddow who was on MSNBC last night calmly laying out the facts about the catastrophe that the Republicans had visited upon themselves.  Please go to:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/17/rachel-maddow-shutdown-republican-chart_n_4114662.html

Hard to believe their list of demands
Courtesy Huffington Post

The sad thing is that after all this sound and fury, the Tea Party and their financial backers are threatening to do it all over again next year when the legislative deadlines run out.  Frankly, I think if they do try to shut down government again and use debt default as a bargaining chip, the country might just rise up and smite them.  Even Fox News and Grover Norquist seem to be getting the idea that these guys are plain crazy.

Courtesy: www.freakingnews.com

 Of course, Rush Limbaugh (in his bomb-proof basement studio) continues to rant and rave about the betrayal of "those heroes" Ted Cruz and Mike Lee by "establishment Republicans".  Poor Rush and the Tea Baggers live in an alternative universe.  Unfortunately, they occasionally find the portal into our world and, Thor-like, wreak havoc.

God bless (and save) America.

P.S.  There is a very thoughtful article in the New York Times today (October 18) on how we receive our "news" from various media outlets.  In essence, it is saying that both politics and media are being gerrymandered.  I think there is some truth in that.  Yes, I listen to Rachel but tend to feel that she has more wattage upstairs than Rush!!  Have a look at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/business/media/when-our-news-is-gerrymandered-too.html?src=recg