On March 1 members of Congress announced they would not be making a deal to prevent sequestration, prompting the beginning of a historic period in American governance. The next day the Missoulian carried an Associated Press story about the noteworthy event -- on Page A7.
One could argue that all the good real estate in the paper that day was devoted to the rape trial of a former quarterback, or that Montana is far removed from Washington, D.C. In reality the placement of the story likely mostly says that the ability of 535 people to bring the nation to its knees for reasons not easily understood no long qualifies as “news”. Well – that’s not totally true: judging by the placement of the story in the paper, it is slightly less important than a decision to keep an ex-Manson follower in prison and slightly more important than the comics.
In a lot of countries, presidents faced with similar situations -- parliaments and congresses full of semi-savages, losers, and misfits -– simply dissolve the governing bodies and start afresh. Such a perfect solution does not appear possible here, but I wonder if it were to happen in America if it would be so important as to get even A7 ranking.
[signed]
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