And so it ends.
The world's largest Civil War Reenactment. In the end, the government shutdown and debt ceiling fight turned out mostly to be a Southern thing. I guess some things are never truly over. It was almost like a modern day secessionist movement.
Was it about Obamacare?
Oh, I'm sure there is a lot of confusion, worry and resentment about this relatively mild insurance reform, mostly shaped by conservative think tanks and Governor Romney. Did they want a plan that excluded, eliminated, or just made private insurance companies compete with a public option? I think not. Do they still want those without health insurance to bombard the emergency rooms and pass the cost on to all the rest of us, in higher premiums and health care costs? I think not. Do they really want to see families go bankrupt trying to care for a family member, or get refused coverage because they have a pre-existing condition? I hope not.
So what is it?
Republicans changed their mind about what they wanted out of the shutdown faster than a toddler in a candy shoppe. Repeal Obamacare? Defund it? Delay it? Eliminate some of its taxes or make Congress be covered by it (which they already are)?
Or maybe it's something else altogether? Budget issues? Uhhh, the resolutions took the Republican numbers WITHOUT OBJECTION OR CHALLENGE. So, it couldn't be that. Additional slashing of Social Security and Medicare? Thanks but no thanks, Paul Ryan.
So what is it? Why was the South in particular such a strong holdout in this?
Except for those districts that have been carved out for minority representation, the South as a block held out. Why? Yes, they have issues, cultural and economic. But the bottom line is this - they have a visceral hatred for this President that goes beyond anything rational, and will object to their last breath about anything he does, even when he comes more than halfway to meet them.
Why? Why such deep-seated animus?
I'll let you think about that for awhile.
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