[hackuser]

I've heard others say that, but I don't understand: Other than the 2008 recession, which was a much worse one than its predecessors, what is any worse than earlier periods?

If you are thinking of 9/11, before that we had the Cold War, against an enemy many orders of magnitude more dangerous and damaging.

I almost think that conservatives who sell crisis, to justify all sorts of things from civil liberties restrictions to wars, have unfortunately been believed.

I do think our government has functioned extremely poorly since 2000, as the GOP has put ideology before responsible governence. I know people will think I'm partisan, but how else can you characterize voting, multiple times, to not only shut down the whole government but actually trying to make it default on its debt?

[lmm]

Those of us who grew up in the '90s naturally compare to that. No Cold War, "the end of history", little in the way of foreign wars (and a remarkably successful one in Serbia where it felt like we were the good guys and were successful with it), an economy so successful that the Clinton administration was having to make plans for what would happen if the Treasury stopped issuing bonds, what felt like a hopeful technological future...

[hackuser]

It's amazing that one small organization and one isolated, small event (in terms of world history; it wasn't the fall of Rome or WWI) changed so much.

I would argue that our reacttion is what changed us, not what they did.

[seehafer]

> but how else can you characterize voting, multiple times, to not only shut down the whole government but actually trying to make it default on its debt?

A last ditch effort to try to bring some sanity to a budgeting process so broken that the the national debt has doubled since Obama became President.

[hackuser]

> sanity

Defaulting isn't sanity and would make our economic and fiscal problems far, far worse.