I have a basic question for Republican Congresspeople. Are they prepared to accept the consequences of their dangerous games?
They surely can't be so benightedly incompetent as to be unaware that there are violent people in the world who long to inflict terror and pain on U.S. soil. Nobody is that ignorant. The republican "leadership" must know a few other basic facts:
The Department of Homeland Security keeps us as safe as humanly possible from those terrorists, but Congress is in charge of paying all the bills to ensure the DHS works properly. They are holding that money hostage to a lesser political aim. AND: They have invited the head of the other biggest target of the same terrorists HERE right after they stop paying those bills, seemingly to expound on how best to destroy them on the largest international stage they can manage. What could go wrong?
This is when the republicans sagely say, "We have the utmost faith and respect for our fine people who work tirelessly to keep the Homeland safe. No effort or expense will be spared to keep Netanyahu's visit as secure and safe as possible."
Some brain trust candidate will probably even write a bill to carve out an exemption to fund the necessary security details for the big event.
(Don't worry. He'll bring his own security.)
The bigger picture, though, begs the question. By throwing the Department of Homeland Security into disarray, does the Republican leadership in the House accept responsibility for potentially forcing errors in our Homeland Security?
Now I don't think anybody expects a huge change in the everyday activities at any of the major players at DHS. They are crucial components in our modern government, and even a temporary funding shut-off will likely have very little effect on their day-to-day operations. But there's a guarantee that some percentage of their current brainpower and resources will divert to contingency planning and resource re-allocation in the face of this political hackery. I'm sure that some of it already has. Responsible people don't let such threats as being completely defunded in a few days go unaddressed. So, it is like the last government shutdown. We did not "default," but it caused real financial pain and greater debt burden to the U.S. Similarly, there are guaranteed to be real un-intended consequences to this ploy. This time it could be a truck-load of homemade explosives slipping under the under-manned radar. (I refuse to go all "mushroom cloud" hyperbolic)
Last time, Boehner allegedly learned that he couldn't wiggle off the hook; Republicans took the blame for the financial fallout. That was painful enough.
Now that they want to jerk our national security around for the sake of lesser gains. My guess is they either haven't thought through the potential horrors of their actions, or they think any blame will be directed at the President. Either way, they may be setting us up for a massive failure where we all lose.