Furloughed- An American Story

When the government is shut down and you're furloughed, stuck at home, I guess the best thing to do is update this blog.  I can't say this was my first order of business however, as I've been taking naps and watching Netflix, but now here I am.  I'm sure years from now rereading this blog we'll all laugh at the absurdity of the moment, but we're about to go into the longest U.S. government shutdown in history, with our political elite (ahem) failing nearly a million feds over the construction of a medieval border wall.  S has been called in to the office and I've been left at home, quickly approaching our first lapse in paychecks.  We'll be just fine, as we've prudently sacked away well over six months of wages in the bank to cover unexpected, or now perhaps expected, moments like this, as the vestiges of a once great empire begin to collapse around us.  I'm not old enough to remember 'Nam, or the 70's, the assassination of Kennedy, the World Wars or the Great Depression, but I can say that the world is at its worst precipice during my lifetime.  Right is wrong, up is down, lies reign supreme and facts are fake news.  I'd like to blame it all on one individual, who I am publicly forbidden to name as I'm a government employee, and he or she is a "potential candidate", meaning any public criticism on my part can be deemed a violation of the Hatch Act.  But, I suspect the problem has much more do to with a collapse in human values.  Leaving political dogma aside, I'm bewildered that so-called Christians are now leading the charge in espousing hate and bigotry and excusing vile immorality in the face of selfless preservation.  That the once fiscally responsible are shamelessly leading the country to financial ruin by corporate giveaways to the ultra-wealthy, and deceiving the poor that this is somehow in their best interest. That pure fascism (yes, this is the correct word, I have a degree in Political Science) is spreading throughout the world, a repeat of every history book that covers global wars, yet now it has taken root in the United States. Xenophobia and fear rule the day, harnessed now by individuals seeking to collapse the foundations of democracy.  Stacking the courts, promoting to senior positions unqualified sycophants, attacking the free-press, the fourth pillar of democracy, interfering in a neutral criminal justice system, and Congressional abdication of executive oversight,  just to name a few.  At the same time, any noble man or woman who has the courage to speak out, has been vanquished by an equally complicit electorate. (Jeff Flake was one of the most authentic politicians I ever met.) According to my Civics books in school, that's not how any of this is supposed to work. Aberrations have always existed in America, and there are dark chapters of our history, but never once have we lost our moral voice in the world, until now.  The world now laughs at us and our demise.  Nevertheless, lest you think this was a negative treatise on a falling empire, think again.  The world has made amazing progress building from the ashes of the last World War and establishing a Euro-Atlantic system that has advanced the human condition more in 50 years than the last two millennia. After this revolting shock to its system, I believe that our foundations are solid and we will snap back, and while one political party seems to have a better moral compass at the moment, I hope and pray that leaders on both sides will turn away from the damage our nation has endured for the last few years.  Now excuse me, but my neck is getting twisted from staring at these windmills.   

M