Opinions on the reactions to the end of the shutdown

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I'm having trouble understanding the aftermath of the end of the shutdown.

Picture this:

A town mayor won't budge on agreeing to a law the majority of the town's council wants to pass. The town's media is an unabashed bullhorn for the council's desires. The issue is contentious. The mayor is firm in saying she knows it's best to refuse to pass the law. The majority of the council and the media are equally firm that the mayor should pass the law.

The mayor agrees to pass the law which is what the council wanted.

Majority members of the council and the town media immediately belittle the mayor for "caving" to their desires and gloat.

Is this the best response after the decision and/or in the long run for the council? Why or why not?

The mayor is likely to have been belittled by the City Council ever since the mayor was elected in an election that was rigged by people from another town.

False analogy. The majority of the country wants real border security, not an ineffective monument to bigotry.

Exactly!

Sure, increase border security -- put more border guards to work, build more automatic security systems, untangle the knots in our immigration policies, and so forth.

But to put up a multi-billion dollar monument to one man's narcissism, when it would involve only a fraction of the border is just plain S T U P I D ! !

Trump says several Democrats caved in, and promised to support his wall.

However, the ultra-right is calling Pelosi the "alpha" and Trump the "beta".

I wasn't as clear as I should have been. My analogy is to analyze behavior, not to describe a scenario that mirrors the exact situation of the current U.S. Government, the backstory, or even what the majority of the country wants or doesn't want.

This might work better. You guys will like this one more:

An immature and off-putting teenager that thinks she's God's gift and knows it all is the president of the student council. She makes a demand wanting the student council give in to. Both the student president and the student council positions (as well as the school paper) have been positions that have been historically regarded as being filled by students who are exemplary examples of maturity. The majority of the council refuses. The school president relents and drops her demand......Both the majority of the student council and the school paper ridicule the student president by sticking out their tongues and saying "nya nya nya!....

Is the question about whether schadenfreude is morally justified? I think it depends how how much of a dick that individual has been.

Perhaps partially. Thanks for trying to understand what I'm trying to say (seriously).

Someone wants something from you.
You refuse to give it to them.
An impasse results.
The person relents their position and you win your position.
You proceed to ridicule and belittle them for relenting to you.

I'm a stoic black and white thinker in many respects. The behavior described in the last line above seems immature and counter to the behavior I would perceive as mature or "correct".

Please note that the person wanting something from you in the above example may very well be terribly immature; I'm not asserting that they'd be exemplary and I also don't think Trump displays exemplary behavior; quite the contrary. That's beside my point that the bolded line behavior above seems wrong to me.

Last edited by Magna on 26 Jan 2019, 7:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yeah, I don't think anyone won that exchange. We all lost.

Unfortunately this is the state of American politics right now. Both sides can score points with their base by ridiculing the other team when both sides should be being trashed for such immaturity. It's like children on the playground going "ner ner ner-ner nerrrr".

Off topic, but when I was a child, truly one of my harshest realizations in my life was learning that grown ups could act as bad and as immature as children could. It's hard for me to describe just how much of a monumental letdown that was and still is. Embarrassing, shameful, pitiful and many other words come to mind.

I agree with your point that the behavior in the last line is immature. I would say that this is the kind of behavior politics attracts, though, and we're better off accepting that than thinking the next generation will usher in some new, benevolent politicians.

And, not to take away from your original question, but I'd say that for me the real question is what would happen to any of us at work if we were so indecisive and uncooperative? Yet, these people manage us.

The bully in chief is always calling people losers and saying he is the greatest dealmaker. When he loses, especially when he loses to a women on his signature issue it takes a level of willpower and strength most people do not have not to give him the hell he deserves because it is better in the long run for the country and it makes you a better person.

Great point.