Government Shutdown, Day 7

Sometimes I think that I wish there were some adults in the White House.

Things were looking good. The president had said there wouldn't be any negotiations over the resolution to fund the government at the same level (the CR - continuing resolution) or on raising the debt ceiling. That's the right answer to the Republicans attempting to extort concessions in exchange for the country continuing to run and not causing an international economic crisis.

Then the White House issued a statement today saying that the president might consider it acceptable if the lifting of the debt ceiling were for an amount that would carry borrowing for a period less than a year.

Are you bloody kidding (the word "bloody" by the way is a British usage and is designed to avoid the use of the word we in America commonly know as "f'ing" but with the letters between the "f" and the "i" filled in)?!!!!!!

No negotiations means no negotiations. You don't give stuff away, particularly if you're not getting something in exchange. What are they getting in exchange? Nada, zip, gornisht (look it up). Adults don't negotiate when a child is holding its breath.

Colin Powell used to state the Bull in the China Shop rule: you broke it you own it. The House Republicans have broken the government by shutting it down. They don't own the government, but they do own the shutdown and they should have to pay for it. The democrats don't need to help them.

A couple of notes worth noting about books. First, if you'd be kind enough to look at the post I did in April of last year, you'll see a way to get to my books on Amazon. In brief, one's a mystery novel, another's a guide to mobile home investment, and the third is a compilation of my columns on the subject of sex, that I do for a local magazine.

Secondly, there are a couple of books I've read recently I want to share with you. One is called "Six Years" by Harlan Coben. Coben's an amzazingly good mystery/suspense writer who includes humor with his storytelling. Brilliantly done. He has a series of books of which this book is not a part. That series involves a sports and talent agent who solves mysteries. This book is about a man whose true love dumped him to get married to a former sweetheart of hers. He accepts the invitation to the wedding and sees it take place. She asks him not to contact her. Six years later, the groom's obituary appears and the protagonist goes to the funeral and sees the widow from a distance, but it's not the same woman who married the dead man.

Everything happens after that. It's an amazingly compelling story.

The other book I wanted to recommend is "Void Moon" by Michael Connelly. This doesn't involve his series character, Harry Bosch, but it's a great story about a woman who was convicted for manslaughter and is now out of jail. She went to jail for that crime because she was involved in a robbery in Las Vegas in which her lover and co-conspirator died. Most states have a felony-murder doctrine, but whether Nevada's is different (manslaughter rather than murder?) or Connelly used literary license, is unclear. In any event, she's out of jail, selling cars and decides to try one last score, again in Vegas. The title refers to the stage of moon known as Void Of Course. Read the book. If you don't like it, I'll give you twice what you paid ME for it (2 times zero.....hmmm).

Meanwhile, give a listen to our radio program this Wednesday night on GoingBeyondRadio.com. We're live at 9PM Eastern, and you can hear the archived editions anytime. Thanks.