The partial shutdown of the U.S. government that started Saturday is a testament to the inability of our two major political parties to do anything but kowtow to their respective bases, and their failure to sit down together to work out a deal.
Isn’t it great?
Far from being an embarrassment, these shutdowns show regular Americans, wielding only the power to vote in national elections every two years, are kings and queens of the realm.
Look what politicians will do for a vote. Democrats will let the government shut down just to show their allegiance to the Dreamers. Republicans will let it shut down to satisfy GOP voters who insist on border wall funding before helping Dreamers.
And both are willing to gamble that a majority will see it their way in November.
They’re not really fighting over spending or immigration or the military. They’re fighting over us and for our attention.
Name another major power government that would shut down chunks of itself — nonviolently, without any involvement from its military — in a battle to win the adoration of regular folks. Would Russia shut down because its people were split over where to build the next Internet troll farm? Would China?
Democrats in particular seem to miss this essential fact of our system, and worry all the time about showing that leaders can “govern,” as if it’s more important to let the government chug along in the wrong direction than to adjust it once in a while.
In America, governing is sometimes defined by having huge policy fights about the direction of the country that sometimes lead to shutdowns.
People from places other than America are sometimes needed see the best of us. In a 2011 address to Congress, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she remembered watching the moon landing as a student, and said she thought that “Americans can do anything.”
It took a few seconds before the full power of her words registered:
We forget, but Gillard was right. We can do anything, including shut down our own government for a few days when we don’t agree.
Yes, shutdowns cause temporary pain. Sure, they cost money and cause inconveniences. And they can ruin a nice, quiet Friday night as the press tweets incessantly about them.
But the fact that they can happen at all? We’re the luckiest people on the planet.
