David McElroy

Minnesota’s feuding Democrats and Republicans announced Thursday that they’ve agreed to a deal that will end the shutdown of state government. I guess some people think it’s a big deal, but I find myself thinking, “So what?”

People have become conditioned to think that it’s a big deal to have state offices close. It’s certainly true that it creates some inconveniences for some folks, mostly related to business that the state is going to force you to conduct another time. Other people have made themselves dependent on checks that various state departments issue with tax money. For the rest of us, though, why would we possibly care?

There are some things that the state currently has a monopoly on, but those things could be dealt with in other ways over time. We could see the rise of new entities that own and operate various areas — competing for customers in the same way that companies compete today. Some people would choose to live outside of those “civilized” places. It’s not a life I’d choose, but some people would. I want an orderly place where services are provided, but I want to know that if I’m not happy with the service or rules I get from one place, there’s another place I can choose — and the rules can’t be changed on me in midstream just because my neighbors decide they want to take my money or tell me what to do in some way.

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I don’t know of a better example of pure evil in the world today than the members of an insane religious cult in Kansas who claim to speak for God. For those of us who are Christians, though, it’s a warning that it’s easy to believe that our thoughts and judgments all come from God.

Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, is widely known for picketing military funerals and protesting pretty much everything you can think of. Its members claim that “God hates fags.” (That’s even the name of the group’s website.) Every time something bad happens in this country, the group claims it’s evidence of God’s judgement of America. They picket funerals to bring attention to their claim that the deaths and disasters represent God’s hatred of a sinful America.

Today, this group announced that members would be picketing the funerals of the Teutenberg family (above), the members of which were killed in a plane crash last Saturday in rural Alabama. For the hate-filled details, see this press release (PDF) from the group. You really need to read it for yourself to get the full effect of how insane and how hateful these people are.

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When you’re a part of the political power structure, you lose perspective about what matters. Before you know it, the thing that’s most important is yourself, your group and your place in the power structure. Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell provides the latest example of that.

For sane people who can do math, it looks probable that the federal government is heading inevitably toward defaulting on its debts one day. It’s just not possible to keep borrowing at this rate and still pay the money back at levels of taxation that people will put up with. For years, there’s been a need for a president and a Congress to face that reality and quit borrowing money and spending more, but it’s not political reality to expect that. And it hasn’t happened.

So now the two mainstream parties are locked in the latest deathmatch over control, each hoping that the other party will blink first. Republicans are demanding modest budget cuts before they’ll agree to let the government go on borrowing. Democrats are trying to avoid the cuts and offering insane plans of their own. Neither side offers any plan that deals with long-term reality.

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