800,000.
800,000 families without a paycheck.
800,000 families in which at least one person in the family appears to be working as an indentured servant, meaning he/she must show up for work, without knowing when he/she will be paid, in order to serve their lord and master all the while bills continue to mount.
All of this because a tyrant and his lackey’s won’t allow a vote on a bill to reopen the government.
All of this because three people have egos that are getting in the way of truly negotiating and compromising so workers can go back to work and start getting a paycheck again.
All this because of some stupid, nay asinine, idea to build a wall along our southern border to keep the brown people out.
All of this because some white people are afraid people of color are coming to get them in some way.
How delusional and blind can one actually be I am wondering more often than not these days.
It is quite sad, and quite shameful, that people who make six figure salaries, have excellent health care coverage, fantastic pensions, and are actually quite wealthy, care very little about 800,000 workers and their families.
800,000 pawns in a game between childish nincompoops who seem to have forgotten we are people, not pawns. People, not numbers. People, not peons.
Mitch, Donald, and yes, even you Nancy, need to grow-up, stop the rhetoric and the power plays, and DO your jobs.
Nancy, draw up a bill that provides $5.7B more in national border security dollars (not just southern borders, and be specific it is not to be used for any sort of actual wall), and send it to the Senate.
Mitch, be an actual, not an in-title-only leader, and put the bill up for a vote; it doesn’t matter if this administration has stated he will sign it or not as that really isn’t your problem, it’s his.
Donald, stop being a petulant and egotistical child, and sign or veto the bill presented to you.
Nancy and Mitch, if Donald doesn’t sign the bill both houses of Congress has passed, then override the veto, which you are really truly are able to do constitutionally (read the Constitution if you need a refresher).
And, then, Mitch and Nancy, and maybe even Donald if he plays nice, you can all be the heroes of the day and get back to your petty daily bickering while those 800,000 souls get paid and work to get their lives back on track, which all of you have truly damaged, and seemingly without remorse.
In my little pipe dream here, I dream maybe passing this bill together would be the catalyst where the two of you can actually start talking and working together on compromises to move us all forward. Something real leaders do and boy do I miss real leaders.
Do you?
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 