The Book of the Shadows

I have a simple view to share regarding the current government shutdown. I’ve resisted making comments on the matter for now because of the fact that, quite frankly, I didn’t expect that it would take so long for things to be put to an end. We have troops in Afghanistan, we’re trying to manage a very volatile Middle East situation right now, the economy has been struggling to return to normalcy… shutting down the government and threatening the debt ceiling is not something reasonable people do at a time like this.

I waned to wait before weighing in on this matter. I wanted to let certain people speak, and hear what it was they wanted to say. The president was the last person I wanted to hear speak. He spoke movingly on Friday afternoon, a little before two in the afternoon. So here's my take on the case and its aftermath.

I've spent much of my time in this space discussing topics of some levity. Although I have touched on a few serious topics in past posts, I haven't done so in a little while, so I hope I can be excused for going back to the more sober topics for a day. The topic today, below the break, will be Guantanamo Bay prison.

I find myself looking back on the events on Tuesday in New Jersey. I listen to the news and read a few articles on the web about President Obama and Governor Christie being together touring the Jersey Shore and looking at the repairs being done. They have a few photo-ops of the two men at game stands chatting, giving each other high fives. Then the president gives a speech where he touts the area, talks about all the good that has been done between the federal, state, and local governments to fix the damage since Hurricane Sandy, how the federal government will remain invested in helping residents and businesses recover. A lot of the talk post the event was not about the actual event. It wasn't about what was done in Jersey, or what is left to be done. It is mostly about whether Republican Gov. Christie will be helped or hurt by being seen "paling" around with the Democratic Pres. Obama. It is the continuation of the same talk that came around when the two elected offic...

There is always a need, when something goes wrong, for tough questions to be asked, and for people to be held accountable. This is a fundamental component of the US Congress. It is their Constitutional mandate, to serve as an oversight body. However, the Congress is very poor at doing their job. It's not a matter of not knowing what is going on, or knowing how to do anything to fix the problem. It is rare that they make it that far in their thought process. Which is sad. I look at this matter through the prism of the current IRS scandal. I will admit that I was one of those who at the outset was very critical of the IRS. I was appalled at the idea of the IRS targeting specific groups for undue scrutiny. However what differentiates me from many Congress, and what I hope differentiates most of the sensible people in the country from Congress, is the fact that rather than allowing their views to evolve through the exposure to new information, they dig in - or rather they cli...