A Few Decent Humans

The government shutdown really angered me, as I trust (and hope) it did for millions of our citizens. I sent a note to a commentary show asking why no one in the news seemed interested in discussing the Warren Buffett-inspired pettitions that were being circulated online to deny the members of Congress their regular pay during the shutdown. It was a very sane and logical idea. And naturally, it went nowhere. Today during the news shows, a crawl at the bottom of the screen was saying that some members of Congress have decided to return the money they were paid during the shutdown or give it to charity. These particular legislators must have felt guilty all along because they were a part of the ugliness of wasting money and time while hurting the common cause for our society and setting back our feeble economy. But these (I'm sure just a few) decent people who care about their fellow citizens were probably powerless to stop some of the idiocy in Congress; their only guilt was by association. I would bet that no members of the real trouble-making group who actually caused the shutdown are among the people giving back any money. Those fools (read: Tea Party Radicals) don't know what real giving back is all about. There is a deep sickness in our society that has allowed us to foster an elected taliban that is willing to use financial terrorism against our own people.