Epic ending, epic idiots

Masterful.  That is the word I would use to describe the series finale of Breaking Bad, one of my most favorite shows of all time.  Unlike other finales for big shows that typically will leave fans with annoying unanswered questions, this finale delivered in every imaginable way.  I won’t spoil it for those of you that have not yet had a chance to watch it On Demand but damn, I was riveted every single second.

On the Stern show this morning they played the song the series ended with.  It gave me chills as I relived the final scene.  If you never got on the Breaking Bad bandwagon, get a Netflix account and start watching, now.  A fantastic show that may have the best ending of any tv series I have ever seen.  A+++ rating

So today the federal shutdown begins after congress was unable to agree to raise the fiscal ceiling.  More specifically, the Senate refused to pass a bill from the house championed by Tea Party douche bags that are trying to tie a lead weight to Obamacare in exchange for their cooperation in keeping the lights turned on.  I really think this strategy is going to blow up in the face of idiots like Ted Cruz.  This is like a bank telling you that the only way they will loan you money is if you agree to kill your cat.  The two items have no business being paired together.

Robert Reich, whose opinion I respect and value, summed it up like this:

The issue we are about to face as a nation has nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act or any of the other of the demands Republicans are making. It has to do with political extortion: Republicans’ threats to close the government or default on the nation’s debts if they don’t get their way. The President and the Democrats must not negotiate. Once you start negotiating with extortionists, there is no end to it. Extortionists will hold the nation hostage again and again. Any law on the books they don’t like, any tax their wealthy patrons detest, any regulation their corporate bank-rollers would like to do away with, any subsidy or bailout their Wall Street underwriters desire, will be fair game.

Let Republicans carry out their threats. Let America see them do it and experience the consequences. And then let us send the Republican Party into the dust bin of history.

If this shutdown happened a few weeks ago it would have literally killed our Grand Canyon visit which is now officially closed today along with all the other things the National Park Service operates.

I was surprised to read the last this happened (an actual shutdown) was 95-96 since this pattern of drama approaching the debt ceiling deadline has happened so often in the last half decade.  Up until today, common sense had prevailed, the realization that partisan agendas are not worthy of disrupting the services of the federal government.  RIP common sense.