Serious question: The Federal government was partially shut down for more than a month; did anything change in your life as a result? Was there something that government does that you missed or just couldn't live without? Did you breathe a long sigh of relief when the government finally opened its doors again and welcomed you back into its loving arms?

I personally didn't miss a thing. My life carried on as always just like the government was still there, thousands of miles away, doing wh**ever it is that government does to make my life so much better than... Hmm. I don't know what, because my life doesn't seem to miss them when they're gone. Maybe they just weren't gone long enough. Maybe we should run a little experiment where government shuts down until we feel their absence and ask them back again.

How long do you suppose that might take?

As an aside, a quarter of the government's workforce (800,000 people) was either required to work unpaid or furloughed (PC speak for laid off). Can you imagine a private employer requiring employees to work without knowing when or if a paycheck was in the future? I'm sure there must be a word for that...

Also, did you know that the US Federal government is the largest single employer in the world? 3.2 million employees, and that does not include the military.

For me, part of being a patriotic citizen is to care about what happens to everyone in our country (whether I agree with their politics or not).

So even though I was not personally impacted for these reasons:

- I am not a government employee
- I do not work for a government contractor
- I did not travel during the shutdown

I was still deeply disturbed by the shutdown and the impact it had on other individuals and the economy as a whole. Not to mention the dictatorial way so many people were held hostage (unsuccessfully) to the whims of the president and, by extension, his political base. A pretty low point in our democracy, in my opinion.

Serious question: The Federal government was partially shut down for more than a month; did anything change in your life as a result? Was there something that government does that you missed or just couldn't live without? Did you breathe a long sigh of relief when the government finally opened its doors again and welcomed you back into its loving arms?

I personally didn't miss a thing. My life carried on as always just like the government was still there, thousands of miles away, doing wh**ever it is that government does to make my life so much better than... Hmm. I don't know what, because my life doesn't seem to miss them when they're gone. Maybe they just weren't gone long enough. Maybe we should run a little experiment where government shuts down until we feel their absence and ask them back again.

How long do you suppose that might take?

As an aside, a quarter of the government's workforce (800,000 people) was either required to work unpaid or furloughed (PC speak for laid off). Can you imagine a private employer requiring employees to work without knowing when or if a paycheck was in the future? I'm sure there must be a word for that...

Also, did you know that the US Federal government is the largest single employer in the world? 3.2 million employees, and that does not include the military.

I disagree, my friend.

The president made clear he was proud to own the shutdown.
He had multiple opportunities to open the government and then continue negotiations, but refused to do that. He didn't want to negotiate. He thought he could win by taking government workers hostage.

He made his bet and lost.

He had 2 years to get his border wall when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress.
But he could not make that happen because the majority of American people do not want it.