It's Here...

And by that I mean both the shutdown and Obamacare.  I think it's informative to look at what the Democrats were saying shortly before:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) invoked Albert Einstein's definition of insanity as performing the same action repeatedly and expecting a different result.

You mean like refusing to negotiate on a law most Americans don't want?  That kind of repitition?

He panned the House-passed legislation for increasing the out-of-pocket healthcare costs of lawmakers and staffers.

“This time the House has attached a poison pill that would punish 16,000 congressional staff,” he said.

How about the poison pill that would punish roughly 300 million American citizens?  I guess that one doesn't matter so much to Reid & Co.

Reid declared earlier in the day that Senate Democrats would not accept any changes to ObamaCare. He said they would not even negotiate oven the landmark law until after Congress raises the debt ceiling, which is due to expire Oct. 17.

“We are not going to mess around with ObamaCare, no matter what they do,” Reid said.

“They should get a life,” he said of House conservatives. “It is the law, declared constitutional. The exchanges are coming on board tomorrow.”

Slavery was the law for a long time.  Maybe we should go back to that, Senator Reid?  Or how about women not having the right to vote?  That was declared Constitutional for a long time, too.  I guess he thinks we should go back to those rather than fixing problematic laws that the country has rejected, hmmm?

In reality, what we see here is a pure bully mentality.  I think it's also clear that they see Obamacare as the single most important piece of legislation in recent history.  Doesn't that make you wonder why?

It's the control they get through Obamacare that stokes their lust.  That matters more to them than anything else.  They fought and manipulated and cheated extremely hard to get it shoved into law despite the nation rejecting it, and they're not going to let go of it even if it means fire and brimstone coming down on everyone outside of Washington.

Speaking of control, let's take a look at some of the training given to the IRS, the arm of government that will be responsible for enforcing Obamacare:

As Obamacare enrollment begins, the Department of Health and Human Services has a helpful tip for the program's so-called Navigators: “Do not leave documents that contain PII [Personally Identifiable Information] or tax return information on printers and fax machines.”

“When faxing PII or tax return information, double-check that the recipient’s fax number is correct and that someone is able to pick up the faxed information immediately.”

• No fake smiles: "Do not pretend to smile, or produce a false smile; these are easy to spot and send the wrong messages." – Section 2.2.1
   
• Listen: “By not listening you can become very frustrating to consumers.” – Section 2.2.3
   
• Apologize: “Apologizing when things go wrong demonstrates that you care about consumers and their experiences.” – Section 2.2.4
   
• "Be Memorable - For the Right Reasons." – Section 2.2.6

Knowing that the people enforcing this law need this kind of training really makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, doesn't it?  Like nothing at all could go wrong.

But of course, even President Obama openly acknowledges there will be "months" of glitches and problems.  As in, the website where the exchanges are accessed not working, maybe?  You know, small things like that.

I want to emphasize, though, that this shutdown will be painted by the Dems and the media as the most severe crisis since...well, ever, if you're inclined to believe them.  Don't buy it.  I refer you to my previous post, and I would also like to point out that during this horrendous crisis most federal employees will not only keep working, but keep getting overtime, comp time, and 'Sunday time,' and if past shutdowns are any indication those who are furloughed will likely get back pay once this all blows over.

Don't buy the hype.

As Heritage puts it:

To President Obama and his allies, the government takeover of health care is an “essential” function that should move forward, despite deep disagreements about its effect on the nation. This debate isn’t over, nor should it be until the American people are protected from having their health care in the hands of government.

A government shutdown isn’t the end of the world, but an Obamacare shutdown would be a great beginning for real health care reform.

I couldn't agree more.