Congress left for recess without resolving the shutdown, and Trump still regularly goes to Palm Beach in wartime.
Americans are being impacted in all sorts of ways. The ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has left air travelers standing in long lines at airports, while motorists are paying higher prices at the pump. Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed, and two more died of noncombat causes, in the Iran war.
Yet, there is little evident disruption in the lives of the policymakers whose action — or inaction in some cases — has created stresses for Americans living with the consequences of Washington’s decisions.
If I didn’t do my job I would be fired. These dogshit politicians never get anything done and get more days off than public school students do. Nothing happens to them. They hold their seats for the remainder of their shitty lives while doing the least amount of work as possible.
They’re still there for, well, I can think of three reasons.
People vote for them. Organizing people to vote is hard for various reasons, but that mechanism is still present.
They’re not murdered. Always an option, but certainly an escalation that doesn’t scale well.
They’re not expelled. Wikipedia says "In the entire history of the United States Congress, 21 members have been expelled: 15 from the Senate and six from the House of Representatives. Of these 21 members, 17 were expelled for supporting the Confederate States in 1861 and 1862. ", so that’s not a commonly used option.
Personally I worry that if non-violent options fail, more people will see violence as an acceptable option.
It is what it is, they say now.
It is what it is, we’ll say later.