Notes From Perry Street: ‘Papal Conclave’ needed to end Government Shutdown

By JOHN A. WINTERS, Publisher

What this country needs is a good old fashioned Papal Conclave.

Like when the Catholic Cardinals all get together to elect a new Pope. They swear secrecy, give up their cell phones and are locked up in an area of the Sistine Chapel. And they stay there until they elect a pope.

You can read up on what all goes on in there; heck there is even a movie about electing a Pope called Conclave. Basically, the cardinals vote by secret ballot until a majority is reached. And a simple majority doesn’t cut it. Two-thirds of the Cardinals have to agree on the new Pope.

Beside no cell phones, there is no Netflix, Hulu and the food is edible, sort of.

What this country needs is a good old fashioned Papal Conclave. But instead of Cardinals, let’s get all the U.S. Senators and Congressmen together. No phones, no television, no staff, crappy food and a cot to sleep on.

And they have to stay there until they get America back to work and open the government. As of this writing, it has been more than 30 days.

Let’s point fingers at the guilty. Damn Republicans, why won’t they come to the table? Wait, it’s the damn Democrats who won’t come to the table. Someone needs to be the parent and tell all of them to go to their rooms until they can behave.

I would bet a nice sum that if all the elected officials were allowed to vote by secret ballot, things would be very different. No one looking over another’s shoulder, no group of officials herding behind the majority or minority leader in lock step while on camera.

No, just everyone voting their conscience … if they still have one and haven’t been brainwashed by their respective mind-control party.

It is sad. This is sad. This is their job and they are all failing at it. Another reason for term limits. Oops, did I say that?

And so government employees aren’t being paid. Food programs are shutting down. Think about that … more than 40 million people who rely on help from the government to EAT are going to starve. Talk about food insecurities.

So let’s do our part. Food pantries and kitchens and other non-profit groups need our help more than ever. People who have worked all their lives suddenly aren’t sure where the next dinner is coming from.

Got extra food? Please drop it off. This is Thanksgiving, a time of being thankful for all that we have. And Pilgrim and Indian school plays of course.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Winters Media.

Until next time.