What Have We Learned From the Government Shutdown?
More importantly, what will we remember?
Thirty days and counting into the latest episode of “Government Theater,” the farce known as a “shutdown” has offered a masterclass in political absurdity. Let’s review the syllabus:
1. Democrats Lie. (Yes, Still.)
Sure, politicians lie. That’s hardly breaking news to BWW Readers. But this time, even the most blissfully uninformed voter had to notice the Olympic-level dishonesty. Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries took gold in the “Lie With Conviction” event, while their chorus of legislative backup dancers earned honorable mentions.
Meanwhile, Republicans—armed with a rare “clean CR”—managed to sound almost honest. When your position is simple and lawful, you don’t need to twist yourself into rhetorical pretzels.
So, what does it say when Democratic leaders lie so effortlessly about something so fundamental? If they’ll lie about this, what won’t they lie about? Or maybe that’s the point.
2. Low Information Voters: Still a Thing
Rush Limbaugh coined the term, and this shutdown put them on daily display. These folks don’t know how government works—and they don’t want to. Feelings over facts. TikTok over textbooks.
Case in point: the SNAP funding debacle. Thanks to the usual suspects in Congress, Legacy Media, and cable news, LIVs believe Evil Orange Trump is personally starving poor people for sport. Cue the viral videos: angry rants, threats of violence, demands for money, from people who think the Constitution is a DoorDash menu.
Some even promised to loot grocery stores and “kill white people” if their benefits didn’t arrive on time. Civil society? Not so much. And let’s not forget the salon-quality nails and designer lashes—because nothing says “food insecurity” like a fresh gel set.
3. Judges Can’t Read Either
Two federal judges in Massachusetts (surprise, both Obama appointees) ruled that the government must fund SNAP—even though the law states otherwise. The Agriculture Department’s $6B emergency contingency fund? Off-limits for SNAP funding. But hey, who needs statutes when you’ve got feelings?
Trump’s response was classic: “You figure it out.” Translation: If judges want to override the law, they can explain how. The legal team’s move to punt the question back to the courts was a chef’s kiss of constitutional judo.
So, What Have We Learned?
Democrats lie with a confidence that would make George Costanza blush.
They’re happy to weaponize suffering if it scores political points.
The government is bloated, broken, and barely pretending to follow its own rules.
And the public? Half of it is too distracted, too misinformed, or too entitled to notice.
The shutdown didn’t just expose dysfunction. It spotlighted the grotesque theater of modern governance—where facts are optional, law is negotiable, and the loudest voices often know the least.
Final Exam: Government Dysfunction 101
So what have we really learned?
That the people who scream the loudest about “saving democracy” are often the first to trample its rules. That a “crisis” is just another campaign strategy. That the same folks who can’t balance a budget or read a statute are somehow trusted to run the most powerful government on Earth.
And perhaps most depressingly, we’ve learned that for a disturbing number of Americans, the only branch of government they care about is the one that hands them a check.
The shutdown didn’t break the system. It revealed it. This isn’t a glitch—it’s the design. A bloated, self-serving, performative circus where truth is optional, law is flexible, and accountability is a punchline.
So what will we remember?
Hopefully, everything. Because if we don’t, we’ll be doomed to watch this same clown show on rinse/repeat—only next time, the stakes will likely be higher, and the lies even louder.
Curtain down. Lights off. The joke’s on everyone who didn’t learn the lesson the last time.
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