Artist: Pierre-Narcisse Guerin
Sorry, things don’t seem very “beguiling” right now, courtesy of the lunatic fringe and the government shutdown:
Headlines around the world reflect bafflement and ridicule.
Countries we have sanctions against can tank up on American dollars and expand their nuclear programs… Because that office is closed.
There’s a hurricane bearing down on Florida. 86% of FEMA workers were sent home when John Boehner crippled the nation, wonder what will happen now?
Military Commissaries (grocery stores) are closed, meaning that for military families, where starting salaries can be $20,000 a year, putting food on the table is going to be a hardship.
Meanwhile, estimates are running $300 million dollars a day lost in economic output, which will increase as the shutdown continues.
Your food may be tainted with Salmonella, or E. Coli, and you’ll never be the wiser because the USDA is effectively shuttered. Of course, as you become painfully ill you might realize what happened.
The CDC isn’t tracking flu outbreaks or identifying virulent strains (that’s a big, “ah oh”).
You know, this is getting really depressing and I haven’t even scratched the surface yet, let alone mentioned the… Debt Ceiling… or Default… Now that would bring us a whole new different can of global whoop ass.
Sidebar: Morpheus, god of dreams – Iris, messenger of the gods. The artist who painted this fanciful representation was Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, teacher of Delacroix and Géricault.
The quote is from The Matrix (1999)