Rank Hypocrisy

Granted, I didn't really take all the talk of the possible government shut down very seriously. Because I honestly, didn't really have to.

Because like most folks, I don't live in DC.

DC for its citizens, is frankly less a city (much less a capital city I might add), and more of a serfdom. Not only are they denied a vote when it comes to the federal government, but they serve as a petri dish for whatever schemes the federal government sees fit to foist upon them. The new budget requires them to not only restart programs they'd abandoned (programs that I'm in favor of but that should ultimately be up to the people of DC), but also restricts how they spend revenue they collect.

From Democracy in America:

You would think that Republicans who claimed to be trying to cut the meddling federal government down to size would not have wanted to use the cuts as an excuse to increase federal meddling in DC’s affairs. But it is just fine for the feds to take control of America’s schools and clinics, it seems, as long as you have already deprived the families that use them of a say in their national government. By the same token, you would think that DC’s cries of “No taxation without representation” might strike a chord with the tea-party movement. But they’re only interested in the rights and freedoms of like-minded people, apparently. And don’t get me started on the White House and the Democrats in Congress, who appear to see assaults on “women’s health” as absolutely beyond the pale, except, inevitably, if the women in question live in the District of Columbia.

As a cynical journalist, I’m not normally surprised by hypocrisy in politics. But I am curious as to whether any of the characters involved felt any qualms as they ignored the very principles they claimed to be fighting for. It must say something about the health of American democracy that DC, as its (non-voting) delegate to the House of Representatives put it, got thrown so casually under a bus by the highest political office-holders in the land. I guess I and the city’s other residents should just be pleased that the buses are still running.

How is this situation even tenable? Seriously, I don't understand why people in the District aren't manning barricades. This would be utterly maddening to me.

I will say however, KUDOS TO THE MAYOR OF DC. He was arrested protesting riders in the budget that impose new rules upon the District without the consent of any of its citizens.