Edgy

The Minnesota state government shutdown is at a standstill. The governor proposed a couple of solutions and the GOP declined them. They want the governor to call a special session so a “lights on” bill can be passed and then work on the budget.

It’s almost if these government officials don’t realize that thousands, perhaps millions of people are affected by this shutdown. The legislators are being paid, although some are declining their paychecks during the shutdown, so their lives aren’t being affected. They can still pay their mortgages, go to work, and buy food for their families.

Call a special session. Look at different compromises. Meet in the middle. Is it that difficult to do?

How did these people grow up with brothers and sisters? How are they married? How do they raise children? How do they make a living?

Life is full of compromises and not always getting our way, because if we become too dogmatic, nothing happens.

Why can’t politicians apply compromise to themselves?

The same debate is raging at the federal level, too, as the debt ceiling needs to be raised. No one wants to compromise, to meet in the middle.

One of the behaviors that make American great is the ability to work through complicated and emotional issues and meet in the middle. No group is right or wrong, and the country can keep moving.

If there was no compromise, we would still have slavery, no civil rights for minorities, no scientific discoveries, and businesses wouldn’t be able to grow. We would be mired in mediocrity.

Another example of how weird our country is becoming, is that Casey Anthony trial. I work for a living, so I’m not sitting home watching TV 24 hours a day, so I paid very little attention to the trial, but when the jury came back with a verdict of “not guilty,” I couldn’t believe the rancor that followed.

Joe and I watched that Nancy Grace on HLN. Is there something wrong with her? I couldn’t believe her demeanor! I’ve never watched her before, so I don’t know if that’s how she always is, but if it is, what she does is not journalism.

She didn’t calmly break down the trial, but was practically screaming “Justice for Callee!” over and over again. What’s wrong with her? It wasn’t her trial.

I had Joe change the channel and we watched CNN. CNN had both sides, broke down the trial, and for me, a non-observer, it made sense that the prosecution brought a first degree murder charge which would be exceedingly difficult to prove when experts were unable to determine a cause of death. A “not guilty” verdict is the only verdict a jury could bring. You can’t convict on “I think that’s what happened.” You need proof, especially for murder one.

I believe that something bad happened to that little girl, but running around screaming isn’t going to change anything. Get a life, people!

And then think of so many other children that are living in poverty, have abusive parents, and face death almost every day by an adult. Those are the children we should be screaming for.

I’m off work now, due to the shutdown, but I have a rule, no TV until the evening news.

I honestly believe TV is part of the edginess we feel as a country. We’ve become a nation of sound bites. We don’t want to research anything in depth. We don’t want to dig deeper. Just give us the sound bite and whether you’re right or wrong doesn’t matter.

Watching hours and hours of TV allows people like Nancy Grace to determine our emotions. Joe watches a ton of cable news and he gets so angry. When I turn off the TV, his emotions calm down. Why would any of us allow the media to control our emotions?

But we do. TV is a vast wasteland of nothingness.

My summer vacation is continuing. It reminds me when I was off from school and each summer day provided something different for me to choose to do.

Shall I go swimming?

Ride my bike?

Garden?

Call or see a friend?

Read a book while sitting on the deck?

The possibilities are endless.