Friday, October 4, 2013

Hitting the Road, Going to Unexpected Places

Thanks to the obstructionist party in the House of Representatives, we've had to completely retool our last overnight field studies trip of 2013. We had planned to explore Sequoia and Kings Canyon, but with the absolutely wrong-minded shutdown of the federal government, those parks are closed.

Luckily, even though the state of California flirted with the idea of closing her state parks, they are open for business, so we will be exploring one of the greatest stretches of coastlines in the world, the one between Big Sur and Bodega Bay. There just isn't any place like it anywhere.
It's been a while (like never) that I've had to plan and conduct a three day trip with three day's notice. I started from scratch, but I think we've got an ambitious itinerary that is flexible, and bound to be fascinating no matter where we go.
I will let you know how it worked out in a few days!

In the meantime, contact your representative and tell them to stop holding the government hostage. The fools in Washington have officially failed basic civics and political science. You don't get your way by tossing hundreds of thousands out of work, and taking food from children and the elderly (including the veterans).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

State and local governments, plus private organizations, are offering to step in to keep many places open, but the President prefers to keep them closed. It's called politics. Also, petulance.

Garry Hayes said...

This is something that really bothers me. The people who brought about the shutdown are all in favor of it, right up until it inconveniences them somehow. With the sequester, Republicans were all for it until some of them had to wait in line longer at the airport. Suddenly they found a way to legislate away the problem. They cried foul when some of their children didn't get to have a White House tour. Let children and elderly go hungry, no problem, but don't make their children unhappy over not getting a tour.

Now we get Republicans berating park rangers (who probably weren't getting paid) for following the law and shutting down veteran memorials. Shutting down government means shutting down all parts of government that aren't life-and-death security kinds of things. So there you go. Gotta make an exception for that!

No, the Republicans are shutting the government down because they aren't getting their way against the electorate of this country. They own this. If the national parks are closed, it is their doing, and they don't get to have yet another exception just for their convenience and desire.

Our democracy can't survive when extortion is used by one party.