Race to a shutdown

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Updated Oct 2, 2013

Well, they beat us to it. The government went ahead and shut down before the truckers could get there. We’ve been watching the call for a shut down in a couple of weeks, haven’t said much about it because we weren’t sure it was even truckers stirring up muddy water. Turns out, the initial call for a shut down wasn’t from truckers at all, but a radio host and some other ya-hoo. Todd had the info ferreted out before I ever got a response to my first query letter, asking them to please be specific about their message.

Of course, we’d support the truckers in a shutdown involving wages, fuel prices and arbitrary lawmaking involving hours of service. Those things are pertinent to the industry. All the other ancillary causes need their own platform. Attaching a bunch of stuff to a trucking cause that has nothing to do with trucking is the same thing the government does when they attach pork to a bill.

Related: Will you participate in the “Truckers Ride for the Constitution” / general strike being promoted for Oct. 11-13? 

“Let’s see, this bill feeds hungry children in West Virginia. It also funds a hunting lodge on property owned by Omnicare, so congress members can take their families on expeditions in a safe and professionally managed area. I’m voting yes!”

(This, of course, is my interpretation of how actual bills are written, because I’m stupid and believe pretty much anything can be explained in two sentences. In real life, this bill would be 400 pages long and take three days to read.)

Don’t make people choose between supporting the trucking causes and going on a hate ride. The original document I read about the shutdown cited all kinds of stuff about kicking all the Muslims out of government, and calling for Obama to be impeached. Here’s the deal. We don’t give a damn if you’re a Muslim, Baptist, Catholic or Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, if you’re not upholding the Constitution, you need to be removed from public office. Period. We’re not going to specifically cite one group of people, because there are a whole lot of bad guys in our government, and they’re not all Muslims.

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BabboonIt’s not a secret I’m no fan of the government. It’s not because I like one side or the other, I don’t like any of them — they all make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I find it in no way ironic that a large gathering of baboons is also called a congress. Have you ever seen a baboon up-close? (You have now. See above. –ed.) Furry-cute with fangs that could eviscerate a grown man. Opportunistic omnivores and selective feeders that carefully choose their food. No irony there at all.

A million trucks riding to Washington would be an awesome thing to behold. A million trucks riding to Washington with a clear, trucking-oriented message would not only be awesome to behold, it may actually make a difference.