There is an apocryphal story about the beginnings of the fall of the Roman Empire. Long before Rome was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 AD, the story goes that Emperor Nero was so oblivious to the fate of his subjects, that he played a lyre as the city burned. From that story comes the phrase for a leader heedless of his duties: \u201cHe fiddled while Rome burned\u201d. It is the symbolic tale of a government absolutely detached from the needs of its constituents. Nero was the \u201cbeginning of the end\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s some serious fiddling around going on here in America today.\u00a0\u00a0The Government of the United States of America is closed, and has been for more than a month.\u00a0\u00a0Sure, the wheels of bureaucracy continue to grind, albeit slowly.\u00a0\u00a0Medicare bills and social security payments still arrive.\u00a0\u00a0But, what used to be called \u201cfood stamps\u201d (now SNAP benefits) are on the block this week.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the place where many Americans come in direct contact with Federal employees, the airport, is under stress. TSA and Air Traffic Controllers are mandated to show up for work. But they aren\u2019t getting a paycheck. Not surprising, many are taking sick days, perhaps to work other jobs to pay the bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what is the President of the United States, for once, really the \u201conly man\u201d who can fix this, doing?\u00a0\u00a0Most of the past couple weeks was spent overseas, picking up awards from various leaders. Then, he returned to host a White House Halloween party, and work on planning the self-named new ballroom.\u00a0\u00a0Next, he spent the weekend at Mar-A-Lago, golfing during the day, and hosting a \u201cGreat Gatsby\u201d themed dinner party at night.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ironic that they chose\u00a0The Great Gatsby<\/em>, a book about social elites set in 1922.\u00a0\u00a01922 was a transition era for the United States.\u00a0\u00a0The Nation was recovering from the Great War, with the economic upheaval caused by moving\u00a0\u00a0from a wartime economy back to peace.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The United States was also restricting immigration, and cracking down on political dissent through the Palmer Raids.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And many Americans ignored the US Constitution, particularly when it came to the 18th<\/sup>\u00a0Amendment banning alcohol production.\u00a0\u00a0That created a huge criminal black market for alcohol transportation and sale, and made many Americans new criminals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a time of rich extravagance, and criminal growth.\u00a0\u00a0There were the \u201cbandits\u201d: Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, and Pretty Boy Floyd.\u00a0\u00a0They were well armed with the new weapons used in the Great War.\u00a0\u00a0And it was also a time of dramatic growth for organized crime, financed by the alcohol trade.\u00a0\u00a0While Al Capone headlined with violence, all of the Mafia families dramatically grew through bootlegging and other illegal activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMain Street\u201d America was invested heavily in Wall Street. It was a time of excess, and \u201cfiddling while Rome burned\u201d. But, the economic success was soon to end. By 1930 we were in the throes of the Great Depression, the wealth of the masses lost in the market crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So where are we now?\u00a0\u00a0The Wall Street economics seems to have no bounds, driven by the \u201cAI bubble\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0But on Main Street prices are still high, with no end in sight.\u00a0\u00a0Some US Senators in both parties would like to negotiate an end to the shutdown, but leadership knows that nothing is possible without Trump\u2019s agreement.\u00a0\u00a0And in the House, Democrats face locked doors, as Republican leaders keep the body in more than a month-long recess.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They\u2019re waiting for Trump\u2019s \u201cpermission\u201d to come back to Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Decades ago, my teacher\u2019s union was negotiating for a new contract with the Board of Education.\u00a0\u00a0The Superintendent, the Board\u2019s lead negotiator, thought he could get a \u201cbetter deal\u201d by\u00a0\u00a0blowing things up.\u00a0\u00a0So he showed up hours late for negotiations, dressed in a summer Boy Scout uniform, complete with shorts, knee socks and tasseled garters.\u00a0\u00a0The message was clear:\u00a0\u00a0going to his son\u2019s Scout meeting was much more important than what the teachers wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It worked.\u00a0\u00a0The teachers were incensed.\u00a0\u00a0And while a strike was ultimately averted, the final deal was tough.\u00a0\u00a0The Superintendent got some of what he wanted. I guess he won. But the loyalty and respect of the teachers he lost was never regained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump’s message to America is clear as well:\u00a0\u00a0playing dress-up at Mar-A-Lago is more important than getting the American Government back open.\u00a0\u00a0The difference is that many Americans aren\u2019t sure that the President wants to ever open the government again.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s much more comfortable running it \u201cby himself\u201d.\u00a0 It’s that “he alone” thing all over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The Great Gatsby\u201d did not have a happy ending.\u00a0\u00a0Neither will Trump\u2019s current course of \u201cfiddling around\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gatsby<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Knee Socks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n