Mullings An American Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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Klaatu Barada Nikto

Rich Galen

Friday April 8, 2011

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I am writing this at 10:15 pm on Thursday night. As of this moment, the House has passed a one-week extension to the Continuing Resolution which would keep the government open, but the Senate has not acted.

President Obama, Speaker Boehner, and Majority Leader Reid met again at the White House but no white smoke was forthcoming, as they did not reach an agreement.

The other night, after a long-ish negotiating session, Obama went to the White House briefing room and said he wanted "to have an adult dialogue on the budget," the implication being he - Obama - is the adult, while Boehner and Reid are the recalcitrant and fussy children.

If Obama is the grown-up, I think it's time to bring in Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler to supervise what the adult is up to with the kids. One of the children - Speaker John Boehner - rallied his troops and, with the help of 15 Democrats, passed a one-week extension to the budget which would keep the government running.

According to the Christian Science Monitor the bill would:

Extend funding for fiscal year 2011 through April 15.
Provide $515.8 billion for defense funding through the fiscal year ending Sept. 30,
Add $12 billion new spending cuts, and
Attaches various policy riders, such as a measure banning the District of Columbia from using local tax dollars to fund abortions.

The Delegate from the District of Columbia, Eleanor Holmes Norton, took to the airwaves yesterday afternoon to wail about the "Masters in Congress" (note the racially-charged language) who decide what the DC government can or cannot spend its own money on.

I yelled back at the radio that if Ms. Norton and her fellow Democrats had done their job last year (when they owned both the House and Senate, as well as the Administration) and passed even one appropriation bill - which they did not - we wouldn't be in this mess now.

She didn't respond to me, even though I have a state-of-the-art Sirius satellite radio.

The Senate is not likely to vote on the House bill because Harry Reid doesn't want it to. Again, from the Christian Science Monitor:

Senate Democratic leaders say that the impasse is no longer spending cuts, it's the social-issue riders - such as defunding Planned Parenthood - that tea party freshmen demanded be included in the package as a price for their support.

So. Some 800,000 Federal workers are going to be furloughed because Harry Reid wants to make nice with the Liberal Ladies of Planned Parenthood? This does not strike me as the clear thinking of an adult.

I did an interview with a senior reporter yesterday about the comparisons between the looming shutdown of 2011 and the shutdown of 1995-96.

I said there is no comparison: John Boehner is no Newt Gingrich, which is a good thing for Republicans; and Barack Obama is no Bill Clinton, which is a bad thing for Democrats.

The press is covering this potential shutdown like it covers everything else: A sporting event. At least one of the cable channels had a count-down clock on the screen while the geniuses in the anchor chairs worried over what horrors will befall the nation if the federal government shuts down at midnight tonight.

It is being presented as being like "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (the 1951 version, not that 2008 laugher with Keanu Reeves) when Klaatu and his robot Gort caused every mechanical and electrical device in Washington, DC to suddenly stop working.

Unless you are chaperoning a class trip to the American History Museum on the Smithsonian Mall, it is not likely you will notice anything at all over the weekend. And if the shutdown lasts into the work week, your call to the Social Security Administration probably won't get answered.

Nevertheless, the Safeway will have milk and eggs; the Exxon station will have fuel; and, your boss (assuming you are not a federal contractor) will expect you to arrive on time for work Monday morning.

I think the best course is to repeat, over and over, the instructions to Gort to stop him annihilating the Earth: Klaatu barada nikto.

Couldn't hurt.

On the Secret Decoder Ring today: Links to the Christian Science Monitor and AP pieces; also links to Law & Order: SVU which explains the reference to Olivia and Elliot; a link to the WashPost listing of who gets to stay home from which Department and Agency; and a link to the "Day the Earth Stood Still."

Another in the long list of license plate Mullfotos and a Catchy Caption of the Day.

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