Political Quotes

“Many of us have fond memories of the classic 1950s James Dean movie ``Rebel Without a Cause.'' Who can forget Dean's tragic Jim Stark--who, in rebelling against his parents, the police, and other like-minded ``conformists'', spends the film putting his friends in harm's way as he tries proving his worth to the town tough guys. Jim gets in a switchblade fight. He nearly drives off a cliff during a game of chicken. In the end, his friend Plato is killed after Jim leads his friends to an abandoned house where they live in their own fantasy world where they don't have to justify themselves to anyone. As we finally bring to end this reckless government shutdown, I must say that this plot feels eerily familiar. It would seem many in the House of Representatives, in their inchoate rebellion, would have rather driven our Nation and the economy off a cliff than sit down and talk like grown-ups. Even former Republican governor Tim Pawlenty recognized this troubling behavior and said that the actions of his fellow Republicans in dealing with the debt ceiling reminded him of a group of rebellious teenagers--out for a night on the town--pulling quote, a ``dine-and-dash.'' These rebels without a cause paralyzed our government and wreaked havoc on Virginia's economy. It is estimated that the shutdown has cost Virginia's economy more than $200 million a day. That's $1 billion a week.…”