The vandals took the handles

While enjoying the hell outta my Awesome Cousins' visit, I paid very little attention to the news.  It felt good. I’m back in the basement (NOT mixin' up the medicine), reading all about wut up this morning and, Christ Almighty, I shoulda stayed blissfully unaware.

Apparently the gov’s been shut down. This in spite of Senate Minority Leader Schumer meeting with 45 and offering him a deal that Democrats would vote for. It even involved support for his precious the-Mexicans-will-happily-pay-for-it border wall.

“But even that was not enough,” Schumer said in a floor speech early Saturday after the climactic Senate vote.

He said that while Trump was initially amenable to his offer, he refused to push McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan to accept it. Schumer contrasted Trump’s reluctance to back the deal with his earlier promise, in a roomful of lawmakers during a public meeting at the White House, to “take the heat” for a politically risky immigration accord. (source)

Sad Cheeto is SAD!

So, who owns this shutdown? It wasn't just Dems (and not even ALL Dems) who voted against the pile of diseased warthog excrement, Republican-crafted bill to keep the government open. Nope. This is the Trump, Corrupto Turtle McConnell and Zombie Eyed Granny Starver Ryan shutdown.

They are, of course, making molto grande, ridiculous, craven, lying-ass, bullshit efforts to sell it otherwise. In fact...did you know? The White House phone message was even toddlerized NO, it’s all their fault. THEY started it! MOM, make them stop!

Mister Art of the Deal FAILS again. 

Just FYI, the big boys and girls, our elected assholes, will still have paydays. Their staff? Not so much.

The bloviating, posturing frauds on the right are now faux freaking that the military won't get paid. Of course they are. Hiding behind the military, using soldiers as political props and shields is what they do. How about, if they're so damn concerned, they all donate THEIR 27th amendment guaranteed pay to our soldiers, sailors, fly-boys and girls, etc.?

Seems like something Republicans would be all for. That is, if they really believed in what they were trying to legislate. But they don't.

Senate “leader” McConnell blocked Democratic Senator McKaskill’s attempt to introduce legislation authorizing military pay. 

Ya know, alls I want is a clean DREAM Act. Passage of that bipartisan bill NOW is not too much to ask.

Here’s an interesting and amusing bit.

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation will continue as planned because it is funded by a permanent indefinite appropriation, rather than an annual appropriation dependent on Congress. Employees with the special counsel’s office are exempt from furlough. (source)

This counts as very good, schadenfreude-y news but could Mueller make a case for impeaching the entire criminally disingenuous, double-dealing, bunco artist Republican party?

Subterranean Homesick Blues – Bob Dylan