By James B. Ewers, Jr. Ed.D., Senior Columnist
People are hungry because benefits are being cut. Men and women are losing their jobs because of budget realignments. Folks are experiencing higher prices in stores because of tariffs. Senior citizens are paying more for their medications because of increased prices within the drug industry. Students wanting to attend college are finding fewer pathways to get there because there are fewer grants and loans, and more restrictions to get them.
This is American life today. It hasn’t always been this way. Every day, life is becoming more difficult. What we could do, we can’t do anymore. Frustration and aggravation have replaced good fortune and ethical behavior. Accountability has been lost, and doing whatever you want to do has been found. Due process is now no process. Systems that once worked have now been tabled and are under further review. Laws once kept are now broken with no consequences. Treaties once used for peace are now discarded resulting in chaos and war. Diversity, once a cornerstone of our democracy, is now a dream deferred. This is American life today.
The government shutdown is causing severe pain and suffering. I do wonder how elected officials can have town meetings with their constituents when this turmoil is occurring. Their answers are tied to blaming the other side. The shutdown is now in month two. Who can be satisfied with this political free-for-all. It’s disaster with more to come.
Reports indicate the sitting president wants the shutdown to end. This seems to be a change in his position given his contentious statements some weeks ago. Why did his position change?
I believe it is because he sees the polls show that he is becoming increasingly unpopular. The numbers don’t look good, and he knows that he can’t go on this way.
However, a GOP senator sees it differently. Senate Majority Leader John Thune through a spokesperson said, “Leader Thune’s position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged.” Now, House Speaker Mike Johnson is siding with the sitting president. He, too, wants the shutdown to end. The caveat is under his terms and conditions.
Let’s be clear and say that Senator Thune and other elected officials are eating three meals plus snacks each day. They are going home to heating and air-conditioned domiciles.
When and where will this script be flipped? We are waiting for them to come down from their bully pulpits. Currently, we are practicing a strange kind of government. A small but influential group of people has little interest in doing what is right.
Time is not on the side of we the people. We are being verbally bamboozled by the people in office each day. The record shows that the current president holds the record for the two longest government shutdowns. Is that a record that you want? Do you want that scorecard in your presidential archives? I don’t think so. Yet in the popular jargon of today, it is what it is.
So, the beat goes on with this shutdown of rights and privileges. Some elected officials will get a feeling of misguided euphoria about altering the daily lives of ordinary people.
They have the power and are exercising it to their political advantage. The question in the hallways is, do you feel good about being a part of this kind of sordid and indecent history? Is your conscience at peace when you hear about people back home whose lives are being shattered? You do know that it is because of you and your lack of caring and empathy.
Well, feel good now; however, history will not treat you kindly. You will be a part of an unjust and inhumane part of American history. You know, that’s sad.
