Due to the current government shutdown....

.... we regret to inform you that all of the congressmen and senators that you elected will have to go back to their home states and live like the rest of us.  The government can no longer afford their salaries, their perks, their health insurance, their travel vouchers.  Not to mention all those political signs that are planted all over the planet two months before election time..... the government can no longer afford the budget for those either.


I don't usually put much of anything political in here, but I just couldn't resist.  I am just so very disappointed in everything and everyone in Washington DC right about now, and I'm sorry to say that I'm even disappointed in our president.  Disappointed, big time.

I have no idea when it started, but this country has been changing for years now, and instead of being the United States, we're becoming the Fractured States.  My grandparents on both sides of my family came here to the US to become Americans.  They came here with very little money, no place to live, and no jobs.  Within days, they took whatever jobs they could get, found whatever tiny apartments they could afford, and learned the language and learned the customs and became Americans.  No one gave them anything for free, except directions to the local churches and schools.

That is not to say that they forgot about being Italian......... they embraced and accepted and loved everything about America, but didn't forget where they originally came from.  After moving to this country, they were Americans first.... "Americans from Italy," as my grandfather used to say.  My grandparents loved this country..... four of their sons joined the Navy, the Marines, and the Army after Pearl Harbor..... only three of them came home.   Never once did I ever hear my grandfather say that his son Jimmy died for nothing.

Washington DC and all the suits walking around there should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.  A country like ours..... in default, in debt, in doubt.... and not one person in DC can even make a blessed good decision to save their lives.  And again, I'm sorry to say, that starts from the top down. My grandfather would be saying I should not disrespect 'the office of the President.'   But how do you give respect to 'the office' when you hear on the news that because of the recent shutdown of the government, military families aren't given death benefits to help bury their dead soldiers?

And... they closed off the outdoor memorial monuments in DC?!  Because of the shutdown?  Give me a blessed break.  Are the congressmen and senators still getting their salaries, their benefits, their limos, their travel vouchers, and whatever else that comes with those jobs?

Does anyone in Washington realize that we've been creating a culture that is dependent on government subsidies?  And these subsidies aren't just temporary hand-outs to get families through some rough patches, which can happen to each and every one of us in the blink of an eye.......... we are creating a culture that looks first for hand-outs before using their own two hands to help themselves.

Give us all a blessed break.