i have lost interest in their inability to finish the job
july 05, 2005 @
23:58
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Ok, I guess the shutdown is going a little longer than I thought it would. And by 'longer than I thought it would' I mean 'longer than I was thinking I'd have to leave my stupid 'essential content only' page online'. So down it comes. And normalcy returns. And it was good.
But wait. Before I leave the shutdown behind, a few final notes:
- What would happen if a state government shut down and nobody noticed? Well look around, because that's pretty much what's happening. The shutdown resulted in 9000 state workers being temporarily laid off and the impact to the average Minnesotan has basically been el zippo. Sure, the highway rest stops are closed, the freeway traffic info signs are blank, and you can't get a new driver's license, but as someone who spent the holiday weekend actually *trying* to be inconvenienced, I gotta admit that I didn't really notice the difference. Conclusion: the cynical jerk in me is pretty sure I'm not the only one out there scratching my head and wondering what those 9000 people do all day.
- My hands-down favorite shutdown moment so far: Steve Sviggum's 2nd grade playground tantrum during last Friday's Midmorning show on MPR. (It's near the beginning of the show, so don't be afraid to listen.) Nutshell version: Kerri Miller asks some awesomely hard hitting questions and Sviggum goes all nutty and starts in with the "well if you're so smart, what's your solution?" comebacks. Profoundly juvenile. Profoundly funny. Profoundly indicative of how this whole thing has gone. Who votes for doofs like that guy?
- Second favorite shutdown moment: the media coverage of the rubes peering in the darkened windows of the DMV wondering why they're closed. I'm still laughing about it. In fact, who am I kidding, those clueless rubes are way better than a Sviggum tantrum. They get my top spot. Kudos to you, rubes.
I am now probably done with shutdown talk. Nostradoodle predicts that a "lights on" funding bill will pass before the 15th and that, with the pressure removed, no real budget bill will pass until after the next election.
And now back to our regularly scheduled nonsense.