Government Shutdown

Yep, they did it folks.   The House, the Senate, The President.  They shutdown sections of the federal government. 
I've been watching the mainstream media, from CNN to FOX.  I've been watching Facebook comments and links.  I've been reading and listening. 
Anger, frustration, worry, fear, and a lot of finger-pointing.
So, who is to blame?  Here is my take on who is to blame and how much fault do they actually carry?
The President,  you bet!  He's the top dog and in any business, the buck stops at the top (or should).  He gave the actual order to shut it down.
The Senate, of course!  It is controlled by the Democratic Party, which seems hell-bent on being against anything the Republican Party proposes.
The House, absolutely!  It is controlled by the Republican Party, which seems hell-bent on being against anything the Democratic Party proposes.
The American people?  Beyond a shadow of a doubt!!  WE, the American People, are to blame for this shutdown.  We, by whichever statistical margin you wish to cite, voted these people into office.  WE BLEW IT.  And, in our society today, we don't want anyone to point that out.  We want to blame someone else for every problem and ailment that comes down the pike.  It isn't our fault, our actions are a results of someone provoking us, hurting us, etc.....EXCEPT....................  Except what???  That is wrong.  We are accountable for our actions and how we react to those around us.  WE ARE.  Not others.
We voted those disagreeable, arguing, belligerent, stuck-in-their-party-rut, uncompromising, salary-guaranteed, buffoons into office.  We believed every word when we voted. 
Maybe some of us just believed a good set of lies disguised as pretty promises, wrapped up for us to infer that they were actually working for our healthy well-being, our ability to provide for ourselves, our ability to get others to provide for us.  Did you just catch that? 
Are we wanting to provide for ourselves or wanting everyone else to take care of us?  Did that impact your voting?  Who would give you the most??
And now, some are screaming for pity because those who get the entitlements (which, are misnamed, since they are not earned at all, they are, in fact, handouts), may not be receiving them with the government shutdown.  But,

• WHO voted for people who would just keep handing out? 
• Who voted for those who would create jobs so we could feed ourselves?
• Who voted for a healthcare plan which had not even been read and studied before it was approved?
• Who voted to fund those who lay around in families for generations collecting government checks (i.e., taxpayer money) and food stamps, etc.?
• Who voted for abortion (i.e. the killing of unborn children)?  Who argues when unborn children are murdered by the murdering of their pregnant mothers -- and the file charges against a killer who killed an unborn baby?
• Who vetoed an immense project known as the Keystone Pipeline which would have created jobs and used our own natural resources instead of paying for exorbitant foreign oil?
• Who voted to keep the minimum wage stagnant?
• Who voted for our 'leaders?'

WE, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, DID.  If you voted for the leaders, you voted for all these things.  You and I caused this mess and we are starting to pay dearly for it.  We can't blame Canada.  We can't blame the European Union or China or Mexico.  WE VOTED for these buffoons who, by law, continue to collect their paychecks while our government is shut down.  (Granted, some are refusing their checks and some are donating checks during the shutdown to charity, but overall, they will receive their checks and pay tax on them no matter what they do with them, because, by law, they get paid.)
WE, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, SHUT DOWN OUR GOVERNMENT.  WE VOTED THESE SO-CALLED LEADERS INTO OFFICE - consisting of Democrats, Republicans, and a few others.  WE DID THIS. 
Quit finger-pointing.  Accept responsibility and encourage your representatives, your senators, and your president to start listening. 
Don't let skewed surveys, polls, and statistics, along with media-slanted PR pushed ideas taint your intelligent ability to discern what is right, what is wrong, and who has to be impeached, voted out, and recalled.  In fact, while you're at it, let the media know we want factual reporting without bias and the personal slants of the reporters.  We want stories that stick to the facts and only the facts.   
Quit allowing yourselves to be entertained by the press.  Their job is to report facts, not entertain.
Our job is to use the brains God gave us.  We quit using them a long long time ago and it's time to quit babying ourselves and grow-up. 
We caused this mess.  We can stop it.  It will not happen overnight.  Have you ever watched a house that has been subject to a natural disaster?  Repairs do not happen overnight and sometimes the building has to be brought down to its bare foundation with new strong timbers placed. 

• We need to go back to our constitution and read it daily and start to live what we say we believe in.  Here is the full transcript:  http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html  .
• Pledge Allegiance to Your Flag, not your leaders.    ""I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."  Read the history of our Pledge through the years at this link:  http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm  .
• Remind yourself daily of the words coming from our Declaration of Independence:  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"  You may read the full text here:  http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html  .

To quote Woody Guthrie's song, "This land is your land, this land is my land."  WE, who come from so many different ethnic backgrounds, need to work for our fellow man as well as ourselves. 
Our constitution guarantees each of us life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  It does not promise us utopia; it allows each individual to pursue whatever his or happiness goal is.  It allows us our lives and our liberty.  That is tantamount to granting us the ability to work and provide for ourselves, it does not say giving it all to those who don't want to work.  It seems today that some (many) in our society find their pursuit of happiness to be pushing for laws so that those who do work will provide for those who do not.  I do not believe that is what our hard-working founders had in mind; they did not create a welfare state.  They created the best governing system the world has ever seen.  Today we are on the verge of destroying even the principles upon which this system was founded.
If you love where you live, if you love your country, if you love yourself, this is going to take a lot of hard work by ALL of us.  WE CAN FIX OUR COUNTRY.