Shutdown coverage fails Americans

[checkerdandy]

U.S. news reports are largely blaming the government shutdown on the inability of both political parties to come to terms. It is supposedly the result of a "bitterly divided" Congress that "failed to reach agreement" (Washington Post) or "a bitter budget standoff" left unresolved by "rapid-fire back and forth legislative maneuvers" (New York Times)

Comments

[hinoema]

And holding the entire government hostage while demanding the de facto repeal of a president's signature legislation and not even bothering to negotiate is by any reasonable standard an extreme political act. It is an attempt to make an end run around the normal legislative process.

Called that one.

They describe the modern Republican Party, without any hesitation, as "a party beholden to ideological zealots."

But as Mann explained in an interview last year, "The mainstream press really has such a difficult time trying to cope with asymmetry between the two parties' agendas and connections to facts and truth."

That's because a chunk of the 'mainstream press' is in bed with the ideological zealots; they're probably both funded by the same special interests.

[meadowphoenix]

When the IRS-scandal-that-wasn't was going on, my teacher told me that one website refused to stop calling it a Scandal, even though all evidence suggested there was no scandal, because to do so was to agree with the Democrats.

[joiedumonde]

I am still trying to find some mainstream (or official) source calling this what it really is, economic terrorism.

It's very clear to me that the Republicans either don't care, or are actually desirous that the economy regress again. I haven't quite figured out the specific motivations other than the fact that it would allow them to claim Obama has 'failed' once again with getting out of the recession.

[hinoema]

Does Al Gore count?

[emofordino]

MTE on all counts. it really worries me how long this could possibly go on, though, because like you said--the republicans either don't care, or almost want the economy to fail so they'll have more ammo to use against obama.

i don't want the dems to cave to their demands (there are many reasons why we don't negotiate with terrorists, the major one in this case being that we don't want to encourage them to have this kind of immature tantrum every time they don't get their way), but on the other hand, i reeeeeally don't want this shutdown to go on any longer than it has to, and the repubs don't seem to want to concede one bit. they don't seem to be concerned about their reputations/losing their jobs, so i don't know what it would take to motivate them to back off.

[lovedforaday]

they don't seem to be concerned about their reputations/losing their jobs, so i don't know what it would take to motivate them to back off.

they're not worried about their jobs because a lot of them are at little risk of losing them.

[maladaptive]

This drove me bonkers yesterday, "because of the government's failure to compromise...."

I didn't know caving to the demands of a minority who holds the government hostage is a "compromise." That's "giving the terrorists what they want." What do non-tea partiers get, other than "the government continues to function like it should have"? How is it a compromise to give them everything they want and get nothing in return?

[maynardsong]

The French media is guilty of the very same, if le monde is anything to go by. Anyone from France able to refute or corroborate this?