A Volleying Shutdown — CLOSED

Doomsday approached for the umpteenth time as the ants scurried about their day—too busy to notice and too detached from the desire for truth.

The powerful elite, with suits and gavel in hand, began their ritualistic verbal volleyball match. Like clockwork, each side attempted to lobby and spike the ball with one powerful blow, hoping to injure their opponent while winning their game.

Letters were written. Posts were made. Machines whirred to life as they summoned the great and powerful multi-media OZ. The floating heads spoke from scripts set before them, penned by minds coaching the players in this political sport. The words—crafted for the agendas of whichever team the spectators were expected to cheer—were written in a language unknown to most of those watching.

One keen observer, however, had warned long ago: “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful.” (George Orwell)

Tick-tock—the pendulum swung as this “never before” doomsday occurrence approached. And then the clock struck midnight, signaling the start of the finals in this national tournament.

Match after match, the scoreboard lit up, yet the points never reached the total required to end the game.

The tournament continued. The players did their duty. OZ continued to speak in riddles, relying on tricks and illusions to exploit the people’s fears, feeding poison into the already-infected gossip of preconceived hate.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks stretched into the longest finals tournament in American history.

The game grew into something far more than a match between two teams fighting over their visions of American governance. It became a tug-of-war for the very soul of the American dream—two entirely different philosophies pulling in opposite directions.

One vision defended checks and balances, protected individual liberties, and upheld a God-given system of rights with a focus on the people’s long-term well-being.

The other vision embraced elite-guided community liberties, a government-granted system of rights, and a focus on the party’s long-term agenda.

And woven into the struggle were demands that sought, once again, to rob the citizen Peter to pay an illegal Paul.

For many watching the highlights on their chosen station, the situation appeared as a one-sided attack on the American people—either orchestrated by a party of crooks hungry for power or by a single individual dreaming of becoming a king.

But which one is correct?

Are either correct?

This so-called game feels like a messy blur, full of finger-pointing, bias projection from the great and powerful OZ, and a struggle for dominance over the sovereignty of the nation—especially the sovereignty of the individual.

Yet beneath the noise, beneath the verbal smog, behind the curtain, lies a simple truth—a reality many refuse to research or accept: the players have met more than a dozen times—fourteen, as of this writing—to end the match and reopen the government.

Every single attempt has failed.

But why?

A score of 60 is required before the game can end.And that score has not been reached.

Fourteen times. Fourteen attempts. Fourteen blocks.

Each followed by OZ’s dramatic commentary, readying the crowd for another spike.

Did the players forget how to cast the score?

No. They didn’t forget.

They dug themselves so deeply into their party’s long-term agenda that compromise—especially when it concerns the legal citizens of this nation they were elected to represent—has become a four-letter word.

The fallout from this grandstanding, this lights-and-cameras performance orchestrated by the man behind the curtain, has taken its toll.

Reported: Nearly 900,000 federal employees have been furloughed, with roughly 700,000 more forced to work without pay. SNAP recipients feel the strain even more intensely. Workers have been stranded mid-project. Airports report delays and cancellations. Economic pipelines have slowed to trickles as the political stalemate kinks the hose feeding the nation’s lifeblood.

What has been done?

One team pushed a “clean” continuing resolution—temporary funding, no policy add-ons, an opportunity to unkink the hose for legal citizens. It would reopen the government, eliminate pork from the buffet table, expose hidden agendas, and refocus priorities on the people they claim to serve. Their message was simple: reopen first, then return to the court and volley for the other buffet items until everyone is full.

The other team insisted this was not enough. A “clean” bill, they argued, would ignore the healthcare needs of millions, including those who slipped into the stands without tickets. It would hinder a major healthcare overhaul won years ago by a one-sided vote whose victory chant—“We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it”—still echoes through the arena.

So many plays have been made. So many tricks from OZ. So many spectators injured in the stands that truth now appears impossible to discern.

The noise is deafening.

One side chants, “Reopen now and help the citizens; negotiate afterward.”

The other chants, “No negotiations—help everyone now; reopen afterward.”

Both teams acknowledge that families are hurting, losses are mounting, and the legal public will feel the effects if the shutdown continues.

Yet in a stunning moment, one team openly admitted the strategy behind the suffering—revealing the long-term agenda embedded into the playbook all along.

Their message, spoken plainly for those willing to hear it: no.

Yes, families will suffer.

Yes, loss will continue.

But this is “one of the few leverage times we have.”

To reopen the government now—to pay the troops, the TSA agents, the law enforcement officers—would “lose our leverage.”

And as long as the shutdown continues,“Every day gets better for us.”

It was an admission not of incompetence but of intention.

This game is not—and never has been—only about money.

It is about power, unbalanced priorities, and a hidden long-term agenda.

A secret once buried deep within the playbook has now been revealed… but not all will see it.

The longer the game continues, the more the spectators will pay the price.

A price some are willing to impose, even if the cost is borne by others, all for the sake of securing the coveted “W” in this tournament.