Shutdown the Shutdown

Well, it's almost over. The Republicans finally caved before sending the entire planet into an economic tailspin. Of course, many of them are apoplectic that they didn't succeed. It's as good example of a political party cutting off America's nose to spite it's face as you will ever see. If the Tea Party were in charge, the United States would have become a third world country this week.

I'm certainly feeling a lot of schadenfreude over the Republican civil war and the recriminations they're throwing about. If you want to see a whole bunch of quotes from Republicans pissed off over the whole deal, check out this link.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Hardliner and actual CNN contributor Erick Erickson, or maybe he's not there anymore because who the hell watches CNN these days:

"I am tired of funding Republicans who campaign against Obamacare then refuse to fight. It’s time to find a new batch of Republicans to actually practice what the current crop preaches."

Yes, the problem is that they didn't fight hard enough to destroy the country.

The Tea Party Nation is very, very sad:

Barack Obama demanded unconditional surrender from the Republican Party. He pretty much got it. […]
In short, the GOP got nothing from their fight. But then again, McConnell, Boehner and the GOP establishment never tried.

Apparently Tea Party Nation hasn't been paying attention since October 1.

Grover Norquist:

“It’d be a good idea if they stopped referring to other Republicans as Hitler appeasers because they opposed the strategy they put forward which failed,” Norquist says. “I think if you make a mistake as big as what they did, you owe your fellow senators and congressmen a big apology — and your constituents, as well, because nothing they did advanced the cause of repealing or dismantling Obamacare.” […]

I think they owe everyone on the planet a bit more than an apology. How about some human sacrifice? Say Ted Cruz?

And finally, last week Stuart Varney of FOX News said this:

HOWELL: Do you think that federal workers, when this ends, are deserving of their back pay or not?

VARNEY: That is a loaded question isn't it? You want my opinion? This is President Obama's shutdown. He is responsible for shutting this thing down; he's taken an entirely political decision here. No, I don't think they should get their back pay, frankly, I really don't. I'm sick and tired of a massive, bloated federal bureaucracy living on our backs, and taking money out of us, a lot more money than most of us earn in the private sector, then getting a furlough, and then getting their money back at the end of it. Sorry, I'm not for that. I want to punish these people. Sorry to say that, but that's what I want to do. Link

First of all, it's not the President's shutdown, it's solely due to the Republicans. Second of all the "bloated federal bureaucracy" is not because of federal workers. The bureaucracy is large because we live in a country of 300 million people and you need a bureaucracy of that size to manage things. It's the price of civilization. Third of all, federal workers generally don't get paid more than "most of us" in the private sector (and especially not more than asshat pundit Stuart Varney). It's also pretty psychotic to want to punish people who are serving their country

So in conclusion, Stuart Varney, fuck you.

And now back to work, where we wanted to be all along.