{"id":38898,"date":"2013-10-01T07:09:56","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T13:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/01\/o-wad-some-powr-the-giftie-gie-us.html"},"modified":"2013-10-01T13:14:40","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T19:14:40","slug":"o-wad-some-powr-the-giftie-gie-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/01\/o-wad-some-powr-the-giftie-gie-us.html","title":{"rendered":"O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us"},"content":{"rendered":"
Reporting on the US as if it were a foreign nation. Delightful (and, of course, depressing). \u00a0<\/p>\n

I did enjoy the reference to "Sen. Ted Cruz, a young fundamentalist lawmaker from the restive Texas region, known in the past as a hotbed of separatist activity."<\/p>\n

Reshared post from +Kee Hinckley<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u275d The typical signs of state failure aren\u2019t evident on the streets of this sleepy capital city. Beret-wearing colonels have not yet taken to the airwaves to declare martial law. Money-changers are not yet buying stacks of useless greenbacks on the street.<\/i><\/p>\n

But the pleasant autumn weather disguises a government teetering on the brink. Because, at midnight Monday night, the government of this intensely proud and nationalistic people will shut down, a drastic sign of political dysfunction in this moribund republic.<\/i><\/p>\n

The capital\u2019s rival clans find themselves at an impasse, unable to agree on a measure that will allow the American state to carry out its most basic functions. While the factions have come close to such a shutdown before, opponents of President Barack Obama\u2019s embattled regime now appear prepared to allow the government to be shuttered over opposition to a controversial plan intended to bring the nation\u2019s health care system in line with international standards.<\/i> \u275e<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

How Would We Report on the Government Shutdown if It Were Happening in Another Country?<\/a>
\n This is the first installment of \u201cIf It Happened There,\u201d a regular feature in which American events are described using the tropes and tone normally employed by the American media to describe events in other countries.\u00a0 WASHINGTON, United States\u2014The typical signs of state failure aren\u2019t evident on the streets of…\n <\/p>\n

View this post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reporting on the US as if it were a foreign nation. Delightful (and, of course, depressing). \u00a0 I did enjoy the reference to "Sen. Ted Cruz, a young fundamentalist lawmaker from the restive Texas region, known in the past as a hotbed of separatist activity." Reshared post from +Kee Hinckley \u275d The typical signs of … Continue reading “O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,12,380,358],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-fourth-estate","category-nationalism-exceptionalism","category-poor-citizenship"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23290,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/11\/01\/are-privatized-government-functions-immune-from-government-checks.html","url_meta":{"origin":38898,"position":0},"title":"Are privatized government functions immune from government checks?","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 1-Nov-11 2:11am","format":false,"excerpt":"You'd think that would be a nonsensical question, that basic constitutional guarantees apply whether the other party is the government or a corporation serving in lieu of. But our business-boosting Supreme Court has already ruled that such businesses cannot themselves be sued as the government can; now they will be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50093,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/04\/16\/government-drinking-specifications.html","url_meta":{"origin":38898,"position":1},"title":"Government drinking specifications","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 16-Apr-15 6:25am","format":false,"excerpt":"Of course, given what was going on in the US government in 1974, no wonder booze was a popular topic.That said, I'd check the recipes carefully before throwing a Government Cocktail Party. A 2:1 gin:vermouth ratio in a martini is almost undrinkable. A 1974 government document shows how to make\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28389,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/06\/20\/when-is-big-government-not-big-government.html","url_meta":{"origin":38898,"position":2},"title":"When is big government not big government?","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 20-Jun-12 9:45pm","format":false,"excerpt":"When it's doing something we want, dagnabbit! Just like George Washington wanted!Reshared post from +Jim Feig Google+: View post on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38797,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/09\/22\/you-can-have-a-democracy-if-the-government-is-allowed-to-lie.html","url_meta":{"origin":38898,"position":3},"title":"You can’t have a democracy if the government is allowed to lie","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 22-Sep-13 11:39pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Never mind the question of whether the government overuses its \"national security\" privilege to hide things that are only marginally related to national security. \u00a0If, in the name of \"national security,\" the executive branch is allowed to lie to the judiciary, without any repercussions, then one of the fundamental checks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39214,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/16\/government-shutdown-for-thee-but-not-for-me.html","url_meta":{"origin":38898,"position":4},"title":"Government shutdown for thee, but not for me","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 16-Oct-13 9:21am","format":false,"excerpt":"How dare they shut down the stuff I care about!?I am not pooh-poohing the suffering and need of those ranchers. \u00a0There's clearly a lot of pain, and a lot of opportunity to help those folk get back on their feet. I am simply agog at the myopia (if not selfishness)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17174,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/04\/21\/the-godly-tea-parties.html","url_meta":{"origin":38898,"position":5},"title":"The Godly Tea Parties","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 21-Apr-10 11:16am","format":false,"excerpt":"Senator Jim DeMint sees the Tea Parties as a new \"Great Awakening\" in America's spirituality.\u00a0 Despite the idea that they are anti-tax (\"Taxed Enough Already\"), small-government, semi-libertarian movements, DeMint believes that leads directly to God. Yes, God becomes more important the smaller government gets.\u00a0 And, indirectly, that is in fact\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/church-and-state.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38919,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38898\/revisions\/38919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}