Bobblehead Ben votes to shut down the government

On the evening of January 18 the House passed a continuing resolution to keep the government running through early March. It required a 2/3s vote since the speaker suspended House rules in order to fast track it. 107 Republicans joined with 207 Democrats to avoid the shutdown. Bobblehead Ben preferred to follow the lead of such “stellar statesmen” as Lauren Boebert and Bob Good in support of tossing federal employees out of their jobs and denying important services to citizens. He’ll play it up in his next Perspectives newsletter bashing Democrats while conveniently forgetting the growing deficit under tRump. Up next for the Bobblehead… opposing any compromise on the border reached in the Senate. He’d rather have a red meat issue than a solution.

How will Bobblehead Bob vote?

Twin Sons of
Different Mothers

The vote on the CR that will reopen the United States Government and avoid default is on the floor as I type. What will Bobblehead Bob Goodlatte do? Vote for the good of his constituents and the American people or with his twin son from a different mother, Ted Cruz?

There is no winning choice for these clowns who held the American Government and people hostage for two weeks.

My prediction is that Bobblehead Bob will pussy out and vote "No." Why? Well all, or nearly all, Democrats will vote yes. They will be joined by a couple dozen common sense Republicans to forge a majority to get Americans back to work and short-circuit the GOP-engineered default. Our lovable Bobblehead Bob can vote "No" and cozy up with the tea partiers with full confidence that his vote won't matter.

How is that for courage? How is that for looking out for everyday Americans? How is that for representing constituents?

We should expect more of Bobblehead Bob Goodlatte, but unfortunately over the years he's torched those expectations along with many bridges.

Goodlatte to furloughed workers: Let them eat BBQ

Bobblehead Bob...
overdosed on tea.

Bob Goodlatte is hosting a BBQ at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds this rainy Sunday afternoon. I thought about going and asking how he could be hosting a social event when so many federal workers are furloughed and when businesses and federal contractors throughout the 6th District are severely impacted. Shouldn't our congressman be in D.C. trying to figure out a way out of this Republican/tea party ignited mess?

But, prudence took over when I re-read the letter I recently received (a friend got an identical one) from him. It doesn't take a genius to understand that our representative lives in Republican La-La Land where all blame is heaped on Senate Democrats and President Obama. Bobblehead Bob failed to address a single point in my original communication to him. Apparently his staffers just scratched through the Boehner & Friends book of "Tea Party Talking Points" and cobbled together a generic letter to send to anyone who asked him to please drop unreasonable demands and end the shutdown while moving away from the brink of default.

Looking at the invitation I realized today is not a BBQ for constituents where our congressman would listen to all points of view. Nope, not even close - this is a campaign event (the RSVP goes to his campaign) that he'll use to pick pockets of adoring lemmings for his next election (once again breaking his term limit promise). Our congressman won't do any listening this afternoon. Instead, he'll be railing against our President and against any Democrat he can find while taking irresponsible positions to make sure he doesn't get challenged from the right. I could show up but my words would fall on deaf ears and I'd risk being run out on a rail.

Better to stay home and check out what prudent steps to take as Congress Attacks America. Then maybe I'll call some family and friends who are among the groups taking the brunt of this GOP shutdown and offer some empathy or maybe a meal. Then I'll do a little reading, maybe to reassure myself that, in spite of the group gathered at the fairgrounds, Americans as a whole are pretty much a practical, common sense people. Three-quarters of us know the current impasse is driven by Republicans. As one of the pollsters in the recent NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll noted,“These numbers lead to one inescapable conclusion: The Republicans are not tone deaf; they are stone deaf.”

Government is the enemy

"Government is the enemy

until you need a friend."

William Cohen, Republican Senator from Maine, 1996

Hey Bobblehead Bob, under current Republican leadership, government has become the enemy: of tourists and small business, of farmers, and indeed of all Americans.

Bobblehead Bob Goodlatte, it is long past time to represent your constituents. It is long past time to represent the American people. NOW is the time to sever your perverted subservience to the tea party terrorists.

Blue Ridge Parkway closes during prime time

Every October the autumn leaves light up our mountains with stunning hues of reds, yellows, and oranges making this month one of the busiest (estimated to be an average of 70,000 per day) for the Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway. With the House Republicans holding America hostage and forcing a shutdown, many who love to visit those stunning national treasures will find themselves turned away at the gate.

The Blue Ridge Parkway announced that all park programs and events have been cancelled. Campers and visitors in lodges must vacate by 6:00 pm on October 3. It is lights out for those wishing to experience the beautiful fall colors on the parkway.

Oh well, people can see the colors in their own neighborhood or catch a glance from one of the I-64 overlooks on Afton Mountain. No lasting harm, no foul.

Not so fast - beyond missing the views and the experience of the great outdoors, there are real human consequences to the Blue Ridge Parkway closure:

• 195 Park Service employees are on furlough and an estimated 200 employees of concessionaires will lose their jobs forcing them to dip into savings or use credit cards to pay for food and mortgages;
• The Blue Ridge Parkway will lose approximately $450,000 per day in fees;
• Communities along the parkway, like Waynesboro and Roanoke, will see fewer visitors and small businesses (and their employees) catering to tourism will take an hit - it is estimated that losses along the 469 miles of parkway could total as much as $76 million per day;
• Because of reduced tourism there will be less Virginia sales, gas, and meals taxes collected.

Do the national math: 401 parks and other sites x 20,000 Park Service employees furloughed x how many (??) concessionaire jobs lost x lost tourist dollars in thousands of communities = a huge hit to the American economy. Could Republicans actually be gleeful that a rise in unemployment is a good thing since it might reflect in the President's poll numbers?

Now you may be saying "hey, the House sent a bill to fund the Park Service and exempt it from the shutdown." How convenient - cherry picking a few programs to appease constituents hoping to keep the heat off the politicians who are still collecting their paychecks. Nothing new about public "servants" serving their own interests first.

Bobblehead Bob
Listening to people or party?  

At the core of the shutdown are approximately 75-80 tea party wingnuts from safe (gerrymandered) districts who have little interest in the hard work of governing but a great passion for tearing down the people's government. Many looked forward to and encouraged a government shutdown. It seems that Speaker John Boehner and representatives like Bob Goodlatte lack the gonads to stand up to these terrorists thereby enablin the crazies in their own party. The inevitable result is a scruffy tail is wagging a mongrel dog known as the House of Representatives.

Tell Bob Goodlatte the GOP engineered shutdown is hurting people and communities in the 6th District. Tell Bob Goodlatte it is time to stop marching in lockstep with the party and put constituents first. Tell Bob Goodlatte a prolonged shutdown will undermine the national economic recovery. Tell Bob Goodlatte to join Rep. Scott Rigell (VA-02) and a growing number of Republicans who support passing a clean continuing resolution without unrelated stipulations.

I don't know where I'm a gonna go

With sincere apologies to Jimmy Buffett. Check out Jimmy performing Volcano in Jacksonville, January 2012.

Now I don't know

I don't know

I don't know where I'm a gonna go
When the tea party blow

Let me say now, I don't know

I don't know

I don't know where I'm a gonna go

When the capitol blow

Ground she's movin' under me

Tidal waves out on the sea

Sulfur smoke up in the sky

Pretty soon we learn to die

Let me hear ya now, I don't know

I don't know

I don't know where I'm a gonna go

When the U.S.A. blow

Now my girl quickly say to me

Mon you better watch your feet

Tea party bull shit come down soft and hot

You better pray for truth now or pray for truth not

Let me say now, I don't know

I don't know

I don't know where I'm a gonna go

When the tea party blow

"Mr. Utley"

No time to count what I'm worth
'
Cause I just left the planet Earth

Where I go, I hope there's rum

Not to worry, Mon soon come

Now I don't know

I don't know

I don't know where I'm a gonna go

When the GOP blow

One more now, I don't know

(Ah, he don't know)

I don't know

(He don't know, mon)

I don't know where I'm a gonna go

When the U.S.A. blow

But I don't want to land on no Speaker Boehner

Don't want to land near Ted Cruz

(No no no)

Don't want to land on no Bobblehead Bob

Don't want to see my country go low

(No no no)

Don't want to land in a closed National Park

Or anywhere in TexAss

(No no no)

Don't want to land in no Houston airport

Or the racist territory

(No no no)

Don't want to land in no Fox News swill

Don't want to land in the NRA

(No no no)

Don't want to land on no Bob Goodlatté

I got nothing more to say

I don't know

I don't know

I don't know where I'm a gonna go

When our economy blow

Just a one more, I don't know

(He don't know)

I don't know

(I don't know, man)

I don't know where I'm a gonna go

When our beloved country blow

when I blow, (hey)

when I blow (hey)

When I blow it smells
 BAD!!!