I apologize in advance if you were expecting a nice, feel-good read for your Saturday morning.
Because this is a rant.
Well, at least Lisa Gerber should be happy.
Until midnight last night (or this morning), we didn’t know if the federal government would be shutting down.
And I was tired of it before it even had a chance to begin.
I think it is absolutely ludicrous, preposterous, nefarious and odiferous that things reached this stage.
In business, and in PR, we’re taught to try to find common ground.
We’re taught to work within a budget, to objectives, and within a time frame.
If we don’t, we lose business.
We lose clients.
Heck, sometimes we meet those time frames, budgets and objectives and we still lose business and/or clients.
Does that hold true for our politicians?
Oh, noooooo.
In fact, as more then 2 million federal workers’ livelihoods were put in jeopardy (including that of my husband), not to mention their families’ sanity, our erstwhile lawmakers would still have gotten paid.
Let me get this straight.
Civil servants, most of whom, I believe, are sincere in their desire to serve the public good (I can tell you my husband sure is), would have to suck it up.
Not to mention bear the ire of every Tom, Dick and Harry who rails against “the government,” little realizing that what they really mean is “the politicians.”
Their families (like me, and I suspect like some of you), would have to suck it up.
Government service providers would have to suck it up.
Residents of the District would have to suck it up, and hold their noses while they’re at it.
Small businesses whose customer base is largely federal””like my pet-sitter””would have to suck it up.
The rest of us would have to suck it up, while the people responsible for this mess in the first place just suck.
Unbelievable.
Let’s not get into a political debate about who’s right, who’s wrong, blah blah.
For the most part, I’m not interested in politics, and I don’t play politics here at WUL.
But there is something very wrong about a system that lets the “elected representatives of the people” get away with what is, essentially, murder.
And you know what the worst part of it is?
I don’t think it will ever change.
When Congress is dominated by one party””regardless of which one it is””they ride roughshod over the other and, by doing so, the opinions of the people who elected them.
When the two major parties each dominate a House, they can’t get along.
And no one likes them.
So much for “public” relations.
Man.
And now, having struck a “historic” deal, they’re strutting around like roosters at the break of dawn, expecting kudos for doing at the nth minute what should have been done a long time ago.
These people just suck.
Image: Judy and Jam via Flickr, CC 2.0
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[…] been a busy week, both online and offline, and the entire budget debacle was also a bit […]
@RonGardner “Pet-sitter? Really?” Yes. Really. The point I was trying to make was that people think federal workers are the only ones impacted. They’re not.
And I’m not sure why a rant – which by its nature is subjective – couldn’t include anything it wanted to. Particularly when it’s my rant on my blog.
By the way, I’m originally from India. Living and working in America, and becoming a citizen, none of these have changed the way I think or react. But you’ll have to take my word for it.
@mdbarber@dorman264
I completely agree @Shonali . What I find so distressing, and it is what @dorman264 was referencing is the lack of desire to collaborate and even listen to each other. We will never get anywhere if there aren’t more people willing to get in the sandbox and play…together.
In the meantime, we all need to take a more active role in the political process. If there’s an issue you want your congressman to know about, for goodness sakes call him/her. If you don’t like your congressman, work to find a better candidate and then volunteer to get them elected. Too many of us sit in the background and talk about how bad it is without actually stepping up and out.
Finally, I also just can’t imagine being a politician today. Every move you make, every single thing you say is reviewed and re-purposed. Those who we think are doing a good job need to be commended and thanked even if we don’t agree with them ALL the time.
Only in America would you see a rant about government that would include both of these lines:
“We’re taught to work within a budget, … if we don’t, we lose business.”
AND
“Small businesses whose customer base is largely federal””like my pet-sitter””would have to suck it up.”
Pet-sitter? Really?
@bdorman264 Me too, my friend, me too.
@mdbarber I think what you and the team did for Senator Murkowski was absolutely amazing. And yes, I’m guilty of generalizing here, but that’s inevitable, isn’t it?
I find it really hard to believe that the loud voices (what do they say about empty vessels?) really believe that they are doing the will of the people. They may say they’re doing that, and maybe they thought they’d be doing that once elected to office, but it just seems that any good intentions go awry. They behave like spoiled children, and because they have a bully pulpit, the rest of us have no choice.
[…] been a busy week, both online and offline, and the entire budget debacle was also a bit […]
What happened to collaboration? Can’t we get more done working together than against each other? If a president could get both parties working together………….what a unique concept………………….
I’m not going to get political here nor tell you my affiliation; but I will say ‘Mr/Ms representative, I elected you, figure it out sooner rather than later’. I’m not into extremes; just what is best for America.
Arghhhhh; I am so tired of the infiighting…………….!
It was an incredibly stressful week for many of us. I agree with your sentiment but also hope we don’t paint such a wide swath.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was a member of the leadership team for Senator Murkowski’s historic reelection campaign. The Senator has been a true collaborator and listener (much to the consternation of Republican leadership in both houses) during this process. There are a few others like her but they are over-shadowed by those who believe so strongly they are doing the will of the people.
Until more members of Congress learn to listen, hear and collaborate we are going to continue having these problems. We need to put our energies toward electing officials who will listen and collaborate. They don’t have to be people we agree with 100% but listening and making hard decisions together is imperative.
So thankful they made a deal and now hope they can move forward listening to each other with respect and all the voters’ interests at heart.
@Lisa Gerber Hah, I love lisadjenkins update!
@NancyD68 That’s it exactly – it just boggles my mind.
AMEN SISTER.
and as you said, this isn’t about politics. it’s about the system.
My friend lisadjenkins posted this on her facebook yesterday. I hope she doesn’t mind if I share:
Lisa D. Jenkins: Dear Congressmen: We elect and pay you to make sure our government doesn’t break. If it does break, you aren’t doing your job and it’s you (not anyone else) who shouldn’t get paid. Love, Lisa
If they worked anywhere else, they all would have been fired. The inability to compromise is not acceptable. Everyone who held this up, needs to be fired. I wonder how they can sleep knowing they willfully caused so much havoc in so many lives.
That is my two cents. I am a hardworking, uninsured American who is not on any Government assistance of any type. It saddens me that all the elected officials can seem to do is play hardball with one another. Do they even care about the jobs that would have been lost (even if only temporarily?)
Oh well, now they get to congratulate themselves for doing what they should have done months ago.