Boing Boing Staging

How U.S. media would report on shutdown if it were happening in another country

Slate’s Joshua Keating indulges in some clever speculative fiction: how would American media report on the shutdown if it were taking place in another nation? “The capital’s rival clans find themselves at an impasse, unable to agree on a measure that will allow the American state to carry out its most basic functions,” he writes. “A young fundamentalist lawmaker from the restive Texas region, known in the past as a hotbed of separatist activity,” led the “rebellion.”

Activity in the legislature ground to a halt last week for a full day as Ted Cruz insisted on performing a time-honored American demonstration of stamina and self-denial, which involved speaking for 21 hours, quoting liberally from science fiction films and children’s books. The gesture drew wide media attention, though its political purpose was unclear to outsiders.

Exit mobile version