Imagine that. A Republican finally told the truth about why they shut down the government, bringing our economy to a halt.
Apparently – and this is from their own mouth – they don’t want to be “disrespected,” and they will keep the government and the economy down until they get… “something.”
The Republican, Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana admits he has no idea what that “something” is, but the government will stay down until that “something” shows itself.
For many of us, to remember the last time Republicans shut down the federal government is to think of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich. Specifically, the far-right Georgian admitted in November 1995 that he closed the government in part because President Clinton hurt his feelings on Air Force One — the president didn’t chat with Gingrich during an overseas flight and then made the Speaker exit at the rear of the plane.
It was a moment that captured the entire fiasco quite beautifully. A petulant, out-of-control Republican leader shut down the government largely to spite the president who made him feel bad.
We don’t yet know if a similar moment will come to define this Republican shutdown, but I’d like to nominate this gem as an early contender.
“We’re not going to be disrespected,” conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., added. “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”
Go ahead, Republicans, tell us another one about how the shutdown is Democrats’ fault.
President Obama had something to say about this.
