it's far from over

I've refrained from ranting on my blog about the ridiculous antics in the House of Representatives the last several weeks though I have been very vocal about my opinion on FB.

I'm glad the stalemate has come to an end but unfortunately not without damage to the country in general, and I totally expect the Tea Party members to repeat their performance in 4 months.

I'm also glad the President and the Democrats stood firm in refusing to negotiate with them. If they had, it would have been a terrible precedent and would have been the end of democracy in this country.

Because the way democracy works is that you have elections to appoint the people to make the laws and run the country and if one person or party loses the election, they do what they can to garner support and prepare for the next election.

What they don't do is act like a petulant child and try to force their agenda on the people who rejected that agenda at the ballot box. The Republican Party, led by the nose by the Tea Party Republicans did exactly that. They weren't winning so they tossed the game so that no one could play.

Having tried over 40 times to undo the ACA and having failed every time, they did what all dictators do that have a little power, they tried to force their agenda on everyone else. And not satisfied with just demanding the end to the ACA before they would pass a funding bill, they issued a list of over 20 other demands as well, including but not limited to:

Approving Keystone XL

Eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood

Medicare privatization

Allowing employers to eliminate insurance coverage for birth control

Preserving all the Bush tax cuts

Slashing funding for food stamps

Protecting mountaintop strip mining

Stripping the EPA of authority to regulate greenhouse gases

Loosening regulation on coal ash

Repealing a tax on medical devices

Eliminating Social Service Block Grants

Restricting the child tax credit

I think it's pretty clear who pulls their puppet strings.

When the President refused to give in to their demands, they accused him of refusing to negotiate and compromise when, in fact, the Republican Party had ignored over two dozen calls by the President to come to the table and talk in the weeks leading up to the shutdown.

The fact is, the Tea Party led Republican Party has no intention of compromising, something they consider to be selling out, something only 'losers' do. They do not want compromise. What they want is complete capitulation from the other side and that is the only thing they will accept. They have had five years to compromise and instead all they have done is obstruct.

President Obama is not perfect. He has done things that I am not in favor of but never has he purposely thrown democracy under the bus and if anything, he has been too willing to concede to the opposition. In return, they have voted against and obstructed every attempt to help the American people. You need only look at the congressional record for the past five years to see what their priority has been...restricting women's rights, abolishing the ACA, and obstructing every single thing the President has tried to do, even to the point of voting against things they were previously for and helped write.

And don't even get me started on the unprecedented level of disrespect they have shown to not only a sitting President, but the Office itself. Hateful and vile are two of the more positive adjectives I can come up with.

It would be nice if the Tea Party was duly chastened by the result of their unAmerican and anti-democratic stunt but don't kid yourself. They are proud of what they did (they looked pretty pleased with themselves during the press conference right after they voted to shut down the government) and you can expect more of the same from them in 4 months. They are doing what their handlers and supporters elected them to do...destroy the American government. It's not like they have been secretive about their goal. Ted Cruz alone received ¾ of a million dollars to his campaign fund in the last three weeks for their act of sedition.

And the fact that polls show that 30% of Americans support them is scary indeed. There is no one more dangerous than the person or people who think themselves anointed by their idea of god to bring about god's will in this country.

Make no mistake about it, these people are theocratic dominionists. They seek to replace the secular government, and subsequently the U.S. Constitution, and create a political and judicial system based on their perverted view of Christianity, all bankrolled by the likes of the Koch brothers.

And, like the Terminator, they will. not. stop.

Ever.

Those of us who believe in equality, in compassion, in compromise, in the separation of church and state, in the rights and the will of the American people over the will of the ultra-rich and mega-corporations who buy our politicians and who continue to try and subvert the democratic process for their own personal gain; we must engage in the political process, not turn our backs on it.

Because if we do, we're lost.