Shutdown, day 2

Shutdown, day 2. So as one Republican lawmaker said, see, we shut down the government and it wasn't the end of the world! No, it wasn't. Even the stock market usually so sensitive did not react negatively. Yet, national parks were locked up and tourists inconvenienced. Thousands of federal workers were furloughed without pay including FBI agents and others who work in supportive jobs for our  security forces. It all depends on one's definition of essential. It still amounts to a lot of people out of work and wondering if they will get paid for this involuntary leave. The service academies are waiting to see if they will have to cancel this weekend's football games because they cannot travel without support personnel. I imagine some angry phone calls from the military brass may light a fire under some members of Congress. The crazy thing is this is all about health care. As the phones lines lit up yesterday and the web sites crashed from overwork, there were a lot of people excited and appreciative that they could finally get health insurance - like most of the rest of us. People in low paying jobs, people with previous conditions, young people and old people were finally able to get help. On any reading of the situation that would seem to be a good thing. One we should be proud of as a society. Isn't it ironic that on the day it became possible a few powerful people were trying to keep them uninsured. And they were willing to bring the whole country to a halt to do it.