Opinion
By Dave Scott, 11-21-25
Name one single thing the record-setting 40-day shutdown of the U.S. government the Democrats orchestrated that benefited the American public. Yeh, me either.
I haven’t read one article or heard an analyst explain how it was the least bit beneficial.
It was supposed to reinforce the Democrats’ claim that there is an “affordability crisis.” If so, it’s one they caused. For example, when Biden entered the White House the median age of a first time home buyer was 33. In his four years there it soared to 40, meaning that for most families that meant not buying a home until the kids are grown.
The Democrat government shutdown made air travel a mess, clogging airports, delaying, and cancelling flights; cutting off paychecks to air traffic controllers and the military, creating layoffs and firings, stopping food stamp (SNAP) programs, and more.
That was just for starters. How did missing job interviews, business meetings, funerals, family celebrations, weddings, bar mitzvas, hospital appointments, etc. make anything affordable?
It only created heartbreak, disappointment, misery, anger, financial pain, and resentment.
The only people I saw cheering it on were the Democrat Senators and Congressional representatives who voted to maintain the shutdown, defying the wishes of the general public. They assumed the American public is as dim as they think they are.
Not a single member of Congress or their staffs missed a paycheck. Why not? They shut down the government and still benefited while their constituents suffered. What’s wrong with that picture?
Eight of the Democrat senators finally realized the damage that was being done and voted with Republicans to reopen. It took 14 votes.
Despite the embarrassing televised man-on-the-street interviews, and the voting results in New York City and Seattle, the general public doesn’t wallow in a sea of ignorance, at least not all of them, mostly Democrats.
Even CNN’s leftwing commentator Fareed Zakaria excoriated the Democrats for the shutdown saying: “It’s hard to see how the government shutdown and reopening is anything other than a defeat for the Democrats,” Zakaria said. Here’s his entire unedited comment. I haven’t seen the shutdown stated better anywhere.
“If America has an affordability crisis, it tends to be in places Democrats govern, like New York, Illinois, and California, all featuring high taxes, soaring housing costs, and stagnant outcomes. It is a paradox that defines much of blue-state America: government that promises more, costs more, but delivers less.
Democrats’ instinctive response to every problem remains the same: spend more. For decades, states and cities have traded short-term political harmony for long-term fiscal ruin. In too many Democratic strongholds, regulation has metastasized into paralysis. Housing is unaffordable because local zoning codes and environmental reviews, rent control and union carve-outs make construction painfully slow and expensive.
California has spent $24 billion on homelessness over five years, yet the problem has only worsened. More is spent per mile on subway construction in New York than any other city on earth. Each new initiative layers another bureaucracy atop the last.
Democrats must rediscover the lost art of simple competence—and they can prove it to the entire nation by governing well in places like big cities where they are in charge.
Democrats assume voters are stupid. They expected them to view the shutdown as a Republican inspired mess and to be held responsible for the economic misery the minority party created. That’s how much contempt Democrats have for American citizens.
Hopefully, during the midterms their callous intentions will backfire as Americans can’t afford any more Democrat “affordability.”
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A Movie Worth Attending: The movie Nuremberg is a riveting look at a major historical event and the people who were involved. Based on the actual war crimes trial of Nazis after World War II, it portrays those who acted bravely, the victims, and the complicity of those who did nothing. It focusses on Hitler’s second in command, Hermann Goring, played by actor Russell Crowe.
Crowe’s performance is excellent. Based on accounts of Goring that I’ve read his portrayal of the pompous, fervent narcissist Goring are accurate. For those familiar with the trial’s results this isn’t a spoiler, but it’s unfortunate that Goring was able to commit suicide with a cyanide capsule to escape death by hanging. There are several theories as to how he obtained the cyanide, but the movie doesn’t delve into that.
As one movie reviewer said: “It’s regrettable that Goring escaped justice by avoiding the hangman. It’s even more regrettable that he ever lived.”
The film should be made available to American students beginning in junior high school as part of their history curriculum, then followed by classroom discussion.
The actual black and white film footage of what the allies discovered in the concentration camps and used at the trial as evidence is still hard to look at, 80 years later. I first saw it when I was a young teenager and was shocked. I still am.
What is the difference between what the German Nazis did to the Jews during the Holocaust and what the Islamic Hamas butchers did to Israeli Jews on October 7, 2023, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust?
Wider showings of the film might help tamper down the rhetoric of Democrats who recklessly toss around the word “fascist” and “Nazi” to describe Republicans, conservatives, and all others with whom they disagree or dislike.
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Speaking Of Fascists: It’s ironic that the Democrats relish calling Republicans fascists and Nazis when it’s actually the other way around.
Jonah Goldberg points out in his 2007 book, “Liberal Fascism”, that the Nazis declared war on smoking, supported abortion, euthanasia, and gun control. They loathed the free market, provided generous pensions for the elderly, and maintained a strict racial quota system in their universities. The Nazis led the world in organic farming, and alternative medicine. Hitler was a strict vegetarian and Himmler an animal rights activist. Sound familiar?
Democrats claim they know exactly what fascism is. They see it everywhere. Except when they look in the mirror.
Fascism isn’t an SS storm trooper marching through the town square, it’s your kid’s grade school teacher with a degree from an Ivy League school.
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Wait! What? Britain was once a haven for Jews, today it’s a country they should avoid and many are fleeing. Antisemitism is rampant in England. The crazed antisemitic mobs on U.S. Ivy League campuses pale in comparison to what’s happening in the UK where mobs screaming antisemitic slogans and waving Palestinian flag roam through the streets.
In an incident similar to Nazi Germany recently it was announced that no fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club will be allowed to attend its Europe League game against Aston Villa in Birmingham because of “safety concerns.” The Brits admit they can’t or won’t protect Jews from attacks by antisemites. The victims are being punished because the British tolerate the hatred.
It’s time to welcome British Jews to settle in America as they’re obviously not safe in a country that once welcomed and protected them.
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Pass The Salt: Journalist, author, and columnist John Derbyshire has about as much enthusiasm for the United Nations as does Donald Trump, who, in a UN address told the UN that he had worked with heads of state to end seven wars and never even received a phone call from the UN offering to help. The President added that instead of solving problems, the UN was creating them.
In a recent opinion piece Derbyshire offered a simple solution writing: “Withdraw from the UN, followed by razing the UN structures on American soil and sowing the ground with salt.”
He admitted later in his piece that he had been advised that salting the soil of the Manhattan waterfront property requires hard-to-get permits.
Republished with the author’s permission. Read The Dave Scott Blog– subscribe Free
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida.
