re: #88 Killgore Trout

MIlitary families are pissed…
[Link: twitpic.com…]

Even if this shut down is just a hoax it’s still shitty. The GOP should be ashamed,

Studies in the past few days have shown that only a tiny proportion of the American public is paying much attention to the shutdown antics. For the Republicans, it’s all been a big charade directed to their base. They will get very little blowback from the rest of the population. It’s been a nuisance for the families of federal employees, but since they are “government workers” their opinion doesn’t count. To justify messing around with the armed forces — “we tried to pay you but the Dems hate you so they wouldn’t play”?

Yesterday there was an editorial somewhere headlined “Pay the Guys With the Guns First.” I found that a creepy way of framing this issue — like, was the point that if we didn’t pay them, our soldiers would riot and sack cities in Afghanistan and Iraq? That’s what always happened in the 16th century when the Spanish government defaulted on its payments (cf. Sack of Antwerp etc.) — but I assume we’re beyond that today.