The 31-Year-Old Strategist Behind the Shutdown

The source of the political crisis in American government is that the Tea Party captured a lot of state governments in 2010 and then proceeded to gerymander congressional districts to their favor. That means that no matter how insanely destructive House republicans get they can't be voted out, at least until the next census. So there is no accountibility. And since they're ideology borders on a religous war we're in for a bad ride.

From the article <i>&#x27;I really believe we are in a great position right now,&quot; says Michael Needham, the 31-year-old president of Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of the nation&#x27;s largest conservative think tank. By &quot;we&quot; he means the Republican Party and the conservative movement; their &quot;great position&quot; refers to the potential to win the political battle over the government shutdown.</i><p>Is the guy a total cynic, clinically insane, or just pathetically intoxicated by his own rhetoric?<p>The slight possiblity that he might actually be correct in his assessment of the situation gives me indigestion.

<i>&quot;Mr. Needham is not apologetic at all for the shutdown that he sees as regrettable but necessary collateral damage if it focuses the public on the horrors of the health-care law.&quot;</i><p>In other words the ends justifies the means. This is not how laws are to be repealed. If they&#x27;re successful then a very dangerous precedent will be set. I&#x27;m admittedly not the biggest fan of Obamacare in its current form, but these tactics to effectively repeal it without due process unnerves me.

What a pathetic waste of talent.