ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 4, 1995 TAG: 9512060031
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Ben Beagle
SOURCE: BEN BEAGLE
We got through the latest shutdown of the government all right. Let's face it. It wasn't the kind of disaster that sells those survival T-shirts.
It wasn't the kind of thing that makes people go out and buy canned goods, candles, batteries and bottled water - like they do before snowstorms.
Of course, if you'd planned to visit the Washington Monument and lecture the kids on "The American Way," you may have been a little sore.
It certainly didn't make any difference around our house.
The leaves kept coming down. The bills came in on schedule. The kitchen sink kept right on leaking. The dog kept on licking.
The Washington Redskins didn't change their style at all. You've got to give it to those guys. They don't let a little thing like the government closing keep them from looking silly on the field of play.
They've been shut down for years now, but like members of Congress, they get paid for losing no matter what the government does.
Those congresspersons. They'd keep on getting a check if the British burned Washington again. Not to mention great health care.
The Clintons didn't have to worry about where the groceries were coming from, either. They had to do without a couple of chefs and maybe a butler or two, but everybody knows Hillary is good with scrambled eggs and can answer the door with the best of them.
A lot of people got excited about the government doing what it did.
"A tawdry example of what representative government in this country has come to," one of them told me. "A cynical playing of politics instead of seeing to the aspirations and dreams of the American people. Of balancing personal agendas upon the backs of patriotic Americans.
"Such gross disregard for the people will one day lead to a new revolution in this country. As Mr. Jefferson said, the tree of liberty needs to be watered periodically with the blood of patriots."
A lot of people, such as Old Bennie here, who think that stuff about the blood of patriots is pretty gross, just hunker down and watch.
And we see that many congresspersons must be in it for the money and the fringe benefits. I mean, who else gets paid when the plant shuts down?
Think about it, pal.
You ever see a badly tailored congressperson on C-Span who appeared to be worried about retirement, health coverage or the tree of liberty?
LENGTH: Short : 49 linesby CNB