Anyone else (possibly) getting a mandatory vacation come Tuesday?

[Captain ******* Kirk]

I very glad that kentonio completely ignored the fact that the Republicans would've gotten their way on Obamacare in 2010 if the US used the British system of government. I guess it's hard to bash America when its ****ed-up political system is actually holding back the political party that you mindlessly hate.

[MrFun]

I very glad that kentonio completely ignored the fact that the Republicans would've gotten their way on Obamacare in 2010 if the US used the British system of government. I guess it's hard to bash America when its ****ed-up political system is actually holding back the political party that you mindlessly hate.

You mean like how you mindlessly hate the Democratic party?

[kentonio]

I very glad that kentonio completely ignored the fact that the Republicans would've gotten their way on Obamacare in 2010 if the US used the British system of government. I guess it's hard to bash America when its ****ed-up political system is actually holding back the political party that you mindlessly hate.

No, I actually ignored your point because it was stupid, not because it was inconvenient.

[Ben Kenobi]

Free Speech Zones are tools for the powerful to corral and ignore the poor masses. Any American who thinks limits like that are appropriate should be stripped of his citizenship, hanged by the neck until dead, and then left to rot in an abandoned quarry.

Can I have his since he isn't using it?

[kentonio]

The Republicans showing just how strong their principles are on all this..

"We're not going to be disrespected," Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) told The Washington Examiner. "We have to get something out of this. And I don't know what that even is."

[The Mad Monk]

Monuments and memorials remained open during previous shutdown
5:20 PM 10/02/2013

Charles C. Johnson

Although President Obama claims that he can’t avoid shutting down public sites and monuments, war memorials were in fact kept open during the 1995/1996 government shutdowns. The administration’s decision to barricade the Lincoln Memorial marks the first time in its history the memorial has been totally off limits to visitors during a shutdown.

The administration has also balked at efforts by non-governmental groups to maintain access to public sites. (Related: RNC offers to pay to keep WWII memorial open)

But during the Clinton-era shutdown, World War II veterans kept the Pearl Harbor memorial open.

“Despite the federal government shutdown and an unrepaired sign that reads ‘Arizona Memorial closed,’ tourists are still getting expert commentary about the World War II memorial at Pearl Harbor,” wrote the Associated Press on January 1, 1996.

“It’s our way of helping to preserve the history of this place,” Bob Kinzler, president of the Aloha Chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors, told the AP.

Barricades went up in national parks across Washington, D.C. Wednesday, including the Lincoln Memorial. This, too, was unprecedented.


A photo of the Lincoln Memorial during the government shutdown of 1995 shows the info booth closed but tourists still had access to the grounds.

lincolnmemorialshutdown1995

It is not clear how much taxpayer money the Obama administration is paying to ensure that government sites and services remain shuttered to taxpayers. Popular Washington spots such as the World War II memorial are now guarded by more security personnel than they are during normal operations, while federal employees have been dispatched to put up barricades on capital bike paths and other public grounds that are not usually patrolled at all.

Obama’s team has also been caught deliberately punishing World War II veterans trying to visit their own memorial, with one administration official telling a veteran’s supporter, “It’s a government shutdown, what do you expect?” (Related: Obama admin. knew about WWII veterans’ request and rejected it)

The American people are currently paying for eight mounted cops to keep people out of the World War II memorial.

Daniel Burnett, a volunteer with Honor Flight, sent The Daily Caller FOAIed documents showing how much the Park Service is spending on the mounted police. To house, feed, and care for the horses it costs more than $41,000 year. Park police starting salary is $52,020, according to their website.

Another unprecedented aspect of the current shutdown is that the president has until Wednesday evening refused any discussions with the opposition leadership. In 1995 and 1996 President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich negotiated vigorously and struck several compromises, such as 75-percent funding plan that lasted

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/02/mo...vious-shutdown

[kentonio]

Funny how at a time when 800,000 Americans have just been unceremoniously booted out of their jobs for an unspecified amount of time and will be sitting terrified about how they can pay their mortgages and feed their families next month, suddenly it's more important that some war memorials don't have to close temporarily. Seriously, you think that matters a damn right now?

[Ben Kenobi]

The administration’s decision to barricade the Lincoln Memorial marks the first time in its history the memorial has been totally off limits to visitors during a shutdown.

Apparently Obama doesn't care for this cracker president called 'Lincoln', a relic of the ancient past that America has moved beyond.

[The Mad Monk]

Funny how at a time when 800,000 Americans have just been unceremoniously booted out of their jobs for an unspecified amount of time and will be sitting terrified about how they can pay their mortgages and feed their families next month, suddenly it's more important that some war memorials don't have to close temporarily. Seriously, you think that matters a damn right now?

Apparently the administration does, since they're the ones making these very public and unnecessary moves. We couldn't focus on them if they weren't doing them.

The American people are currently paying for eight mounted cops to keep people out of the World War II memorial.

Please explain how this make any kind of sense.

[Guynemer]

Go away, Ben. Go away, you ignorant, homophobic, racist, ****brained amalgamation of yak dung. You aren't even worth the oxygen you displace by the fact of your very existence. No one wants to read your stupid, inane, self-contradictory, incoherent thoughts on this or any other topic.

[The Mad Monk]

The barricades aren't so far back that they can prevent, for example, thrown sandwich bags filled with green paint.

[The Mad Monk]

I chose my example carefully. Of all the monuments, only the Tomb has the kind of protection under normal circumstances that could prevent this.

[Ben Kenobi]

It's a good thing that Obama is an extraordinary president. Extraordinary presidents provoke extraordinary circumstances.

[The Mad Monk]

It gets better. By which I mean worse.

Seven stupid things the gov’t spent money on during the shutdown
9:23 PM 10/02/2013

Michael Bastasch

The government is shut down and thousands of government workers have been sent home. But will it save any money?

The shutdown in during the Clinton Presidency cost taxpayers about $1.5 billion in 22 days. According to IHS Global Insight, the shutdown could cost the U.S. economy $1.6 billion per week — and NBC News reported that the shutdown would cost $12.5 million per hour.

Here are seven things that the government, in all its wisdom, has opted to do during the current shutdown.

1. Federal agencies created new websites to tell visitors that they don’t have enough funding to run their old websites.

Federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Park Service, have created new splash pages to tell visitors that they don’t have enough money or manpower to maintain their normal websites. The Internal Revenue Service website will be active, but won’t be updated — at least they’re not auditing you.

According to USA Today, even Capitol Hill’s Twitter feed will be impacted. The newspaper reports that, “Twitter followers received a message from the architect of the U.S. Capitol proclaiming certain accounts will be inactive. A message posted on first lady Michelle Obama’s Twitter account said tweets would be limited ‘due to Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the government.’”

2. The feds shut down the parking lot of Mt. Vernon, but not the park itself.

In another brilliant move, the National Park Service closed off the parking lot to Mt. Vernon, the home of the country’s first president George Washington. Since Mt. Vernon is privately owned, the NPS can’t shut down the park, so they instead opted to shut down the parking lot at the popular tourist attraction.

The news came from one brave man on Twitter who has been tweeting to the world all day about how the parking lot (well, at least one parking lot at the time this report was being written) was closed, despite Mt. Vernon officials saying it was open.

1 parking lot directly out front of Mount Vernon remains closed in spite of dispute with Park Service pic.twitter.com/8SoKfTllvj— Stephen Gutowski (@collegepolitico) October 2, 2013

3. A D.C-area canal is closed and had all the pumps taken off of it.

The National Park Service has actually had someone remove the handles off all the well pumps along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal that runs 184 miles from Washington, D.C. to Cumberland, Maryland, according to sources. The NPS has also stationed officers in the park to make sure bikers don’t ride down closed bike paths and that no one can come near the scenic waterway.

Mike Nardolilli, president of the C&O Canal Trust, said in an email: “As you may be aware, our Federal Government has shut down for an indeterminate amount of time. What you may not have realized, however, is that the closure of the Federal Government means the closure of the C&O Canal National Historical Park and all other National Parks.”

However, rebellious bikers seem to be taking matters into their own hands and are using the closed trails due to lax enforcement.

4. Angry moms launch full-scale assault to reopen D.C. turtle park.

According to sources, angry moms near the Eastern Market are of Washington, D.C. have been diligently tearing down barriers erected by the National Park Service around Marion Park, or the turtle park as it is commonly referred to because of the fake turtles that children like to play on.

Sources said that the park was blocked off by park officials, but the source suspected that neighborhood moms have been taking down barriers to the park so their children could play there. In response, park officials keep erecting new ones, which the moms promptly tear down.

The park is extremely small and sort of seems pointless to block off.

5. Not closing parks near Democratic senators’ houses.

Sources tell TheDCNF that Lincoln Park in D.C., which maintained by the NPS, was not closed down, nor were any signs put up that indicated it was closed due to the government shutdown. According to the same source, it’s close to the homes of “quite a few” Democratic Senators, and the source has previously seen Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus walking in the park.

While Lincoln Park remains seemingly open for Baucus and other senators to go for a walk, national parks all across Montana have been closed down and thousands of tourists have been turned away.

The NPS did not respond to TheDCNF’s request for comment, probably because no one is working in their press office.

6. Posting park rangers at the WWII memorial to prevent rogue veterans from getting in.

Bus-loads of WWII veterans were forced to storm their own monument after it was blocked off by the National Park Service. A group of lawmakers led by Mississippi Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo pushed aside the park rangers’ barriers and allowed veterans to get into the memorial.

“Some idiot in government sent goons out there to set up barricades so they couldn’t see the monument. People had to spend hours setting up barricades where there are never barricades to prevent people from seeing the World War II monument because they’re trying to play a charade,” Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul said on Fox News’s “Hannity.”

7. The DoD is postponing the Navy-Air Force football game.

USA Today reports that the Department of Defense is postponing this weekend’s Navy vs. Air Force football game due to the government shutdown. The military has also suspended all other armed services athletic events until the shutdown is resolved.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/02/se...-the-shutdown/

The last item has been revised, in that the Navy-Air Force Game has been uncanceled due to outcry.

[Lorizael]

I am shocked that the shutdown of an organization with millions of employees did not go smoothly.