The mighty U.S. government shut down today.
Those who chant USA…USA…USA at every opportunity they get and chest thump, are they a little bit depressed? Just a bit, maybe?
If not, they should be.
Not because the mighty U.S. government has shut down. But because how the rest of the world views it.
Of course, they don’t read news from the rest of the world. They don’t perhaps believe the rest of the world exists. Well…apart from homeland U.K.
So, there’s no point to make a point — to them.
However, for those here in the U.S. and around the world who want to know what’s going on, it’s mighty embarrassing for a mighty nation such as USA. For those who understand the gravity of it, their chest thumping might pause for a little while. Millions of people and their families and children are going to be hard hit by the elite’s circus in Washington.
Not only the fascists and Tea Party extremists and white supremacists and their think tanks such as Heritage Foundation and financiers such as Koch Brothers have held the American nation hostage, they have actually dealt a big blow to the reputation of a once-reputed nation — in front of the entire world.
They say they don’t like the health care reform a large majority of American people want. Health care, that is a birthright for all. Only the U.S. has such an outrageous, anti-people health care system. In this mighty nation, nearly 45 million people (i.e., legal residents and citizens) live without any health insurance. (Remember Michael Moore’s Sicko?)
Of course, the same people behind the shutdown also do not like a raise in the minimum wage. They don’t even like food stamps for the poor. They just cut it.
The same people also cut taxes for the very rich. They also didn’t mind when their government took American peoples’ money and bailed out big banks and corporations. Big time. No, they didn’t mind at all that the government — an institution they hate so much — actually made them richer, by billions!!

It’s funny, but not funny.
Just think of it. Here’s a very small list of the damage — for those who care to know about the dismal disarray of this country.
1. At least one million ordinary American government employees are out of work right now.
2. Substantial numbers of intelligence personnel could be placed on leave. There goes the relentless fight against terror.

3. National parks would close. About one million daily visitors would not show up at Grand Canyon and Yellowstone and Everglades and Adirondacks and Mount Rushmore. Millions of foreign tourists would go back home with a sore note about the conditions here in the U.S.
4. Half of the Defense Department’s 800,000 civilian employees would be placed on unpaid leave.
5. Even global war mongering and drone dropping would halt, perhaps, for a while! (Well, that might actually be a good thing. But think about the morale of the chest drummers!)
6. Justice Department said that criminal litigation would continue under a government shutdown, while civil litigation would be curtailed or postponed as much as possible. (Are big lawyers for drug companies and insurance companies and media companies going to like it?)
7. All public schools and colleges are open now, but teachers and staff would not like the idea of teaching and working for too long without pay. So, bleak education ahead. Millions of students would not receive their Pell Grant to go to college.

8. Roads and parks and bridges and libraries — mostly run by the government — would not function down the road.
9. Most popular tourist spots in the nation’s capital would close, including Lincoln Memorial, Library of Congress, National Archives, National Zoo and all Smithsonian Museums.
10. But guess what? The zoo’s animals will continue to be fed and cared for.
Just like the zoo animals in Washington. They will be fine.
Funny but not funny.
Thank you for sharing.
Partha
Brooklyn, New York
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Post Script. – A very interesting update on the U.S. govt. shutdown. — I went to the Department of Agriculture website to do some research today, and this is what I found. Telling what’s going on and how massive it is. http://lnkd.in/bwZGpXW. It even has a special message from President Obama to U.S. government employees.