Day 259: A Government Shutdown during Autumn's Summer

 

👄👄👄This is your regular reminder that we are 259 days into Donald Trump's Epstein cover-up. 👄👄👄👄

The last two weeks in my neck of the sprawl have been rather warm. This is not unusual. I recall one October a decade or so ago when it got so warm that the kids were passing out in their Halloween costumes! While it hasn't been quite that bad this October, it has definitely felt like we are suffering through Autumn's summer.

As such, a weird sort of malaise has taken hold. For me, those cool, crisp days of fall bring with them a burst of energy, a need to fully and enthusiastically embrace the joys of indoor living, something I consider encompasses everything from scrubbing the house from top to bottom after a summer of neglect, to more frequently planting my butt in front of my electronic dream machines to imbibe the pleasures of a wired age. And while I have made some progress in those areas since Autumn has officially begun, it has felt like an uphill battle as the unusual warmth and the unrelenting blinding sun suggests that I am still trapped in The Worst Season of All, aka summer.

Fall, for me, isn't just a weather report; it's a psychological reset button. It's the promise of sharper light, cleaner air, and a natural, gentle slowing that makes the indoor world feel exciting again. It is supposed to grant me the mental clarity to tackle my projects and the physical relief to enjoy the house I live in. Instead, I'm stuck in the same mental gear I’ve been in since June: hazy, lethargic, and vaguely irritated. The unexpected warmth doesn't just make me sweat; it derails my annual ritual. I'm not suffering through a warm October; I'm missing out on the one season that genuinely replenishes my drive. Until that first, unmistakable rush of cold air, preferably wrapped in rain, arrives, I'm afraid I'll be stuck perpetually waiting at the starting line, gazing wistfully at a summer that just won't let go.

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This false-summer malaise would seem to be striking the US government as well, as we are now approaching the second week of a government shutdown.  I am old enough to remember a time when a government shutdown was some sort of fever dream of budget hawk anarchists. However, with the start of the 21st Century, that fever dream has now become a chronic condition, one that has afflicted the country four times, three of which occurred while Donald Trump has been president.  This is ironic, considering that it is Trump who put his name on a book entitled The Art of the Deal. Indeed, back when he was running for president the first time, he crowed that he was such a great deal maker that when he gets people in a room, no one is allowed to leave until he gets the deal he wants. Now, in 2025, we find the president's party in control of the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate, and they are still unable to keep the government open for a fourth time under his administration.

 Embarassing.

In light of those inconvenient facts concerning the shutdown falling squarely into the lap of the GOP, it is not surprising that polling shows the American people blaming Trump and his party overwhelmingly for the political dysfunction.  These 'bad optics, ' as the media likes to say, are compounded by a smart message from Democrat leadership, one that returns to the original sin of Trump's so-called "Big Beautiful Bill", its gutting of Obamacare subsidies for low-income healthcare for working Americans. This was an unexpectedly smart tactical choice on the part of Democrat leadership that has shown itself to be anything but adroit during these high-stakes times of political warfare. 

And it is working. 

Today, the Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, gave a somewhat desperate presser where, like a toddler shouting "I'm rubber, you're glue!", he declared that it was Republicans who really cared about Americans' healthcare and Democrats were only posturing. It was nothing else if not a sign of desperation on the part of House leadership.

Meanwhile, President Trump has begun making grunts about finding common ground with Democrats. "We have a negotiation going on right now with the Democrats that could lead to very good things. And I’m talking about good things about health care."  Again, that is a sign that this shutdown is not playing well in Peoria, as they used to say. Trump and his party are openly looking for a way out.  

A deal is coming; it is just a matter of when. TACO has proven to be accurate most of the time, after all. Trump, despite his bluster to the contrary, is not happy with this shutdown. Not only is it causing polling problems for his party, but it also makes it hard for a president with autocratic tendencies to execute his grand schemes. How does one seize the reins of power when no one is picking up the phone at the relevant federal agencies because they have all been furloughed? 

It’s easy to joke about The Art of the Deal, but the deeper anxiety of this moment is that we are all, personally and politically, losing the plot. The master dealmaker can’t close a deal with his own party. The seasonal reset button that Fall promises me is being jammed by a persistent summer sun. Both situations are a failure of execution, a broken promise about things that should be routine. The sense of an uphill battle is no longer just about scrubbing mildew from the shower tile; it's about watching the highest levels of power demonstrate an inability to do their job, which in turn saps my own moral authority to force myself to do mine. If the US government gets a pass for incompetence, perhaps I can forgive myself for letting the dust bunnies colonize another week beneath the sofa.

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