Shutdown? Trump's Always Open for Business.
AP marvels at Donald Trump's unwavering devotion to golf and grand receptions even as a government shutdown left 750,000 federal employees working without pay or furloughed. (One might call that 'leadership by example,' if the example was 'how to monetize public service'). While the article points out a 'past practice' of presidents scaling back, it conveniently sidesteps the deeper, bipartisan
reality that economic hardship for public servants rarely translates to economic hardship (or even inconvenience) for the political class. This isn't just a Trump anomaly; it's a feature of modern governance where the consequences of political theater are externalized onto the public. The 'shutdown' for Washington's elite often means an opportunity for photo ops blaming the other side, while their
own perks remain untouched. This raises the question: if the government can cease to function for months without impacting the lives of those nominally in charge, what exactly is 'government' to them?