Watching the United States government in action right now is like watching a bunch of kids who have gotten in trouble for breaking something. They are so busy trying to assign blame to each other that the mess is not getting cleaned up. They are all fighting to be right, rather than fighting for what is best for the country. Every time the President or one of his representatives speaks they assign blame. It is the same when the Republicans and Democrats speak. What they are doing is not helpful, nor is it productive. My personal opinion is none of them, including a past President, have clean hands in this mess.

At this point, I don’t care who messed up the budget, got the United States of America in so much debt, or who comes up with the idea/plan to get the US back on track. I don’t even care about the United States losing its credit rating. As far as I’m concerned, in the grand scheme of things, none of that matters. What matters is the fact that our federal government is in a state of chaos. Personally, I think this state of chaos is going to cost our country a lot more than a credit rating. I believe it is going to further damage our already iffy reputation in the world, as well as harm its very own citizens. Part of me feels as if United States of America is on the verge of destroying itself. At the very least, this country will never be the same nor will it ever be as good as it once was.

I think the citizens of this nation have some extremely hard times ahead of them. I realize that life for most of us has not been a picnic the last few years, but I believe things are going to get significantly worse. Already there are thousands of more people looking for work because of the end of the Space Shuttle Program and because Congress failed to pass some much needed legislation with regards to the FAA. People are already angry about their inability to properly take care of their families. In my opinion, that anger is going to get worse and more volatile the longer chaos reigns in our federal government. I would not be surprised if some of the citizens of the US chose to riot in our nation’s capital in a similar fashion, or worse, to the riots that have recently taken place in Greece.

My family – my parents and grandparents – taught me to be proud of the United States. I tried to teach the same thing to my children. The US had a form of government that, for the most part, respected the rights of its citizens and their well-being. It was a government that may not have been liked by other countries but it was respected. I think that is gone. Where does that leave the US?