National Park Service employees remove barricades from the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013. Barriers went down at National Park Service sites and thousands of furloughed federal workers began returning to work throughout the country Thursday after 16 days off the job because of the partial government shutdown.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Letter of the Day: Americans lost

Americans lost

EDITOR: The shutdown is over, and everyone is breathing a sigh of relief. Members of Congress have retired to their offices, kicked off their shoes and poured themselves a double scotch. While enjoying their libation, they congratulate themselves on the hard work they did to save the country. All the while, the media tell us who won, who lost. The only thing that matters is that the American citizen lost. Our Congress failed us. Our president failed us. All done to make one party look better than the other.

President Barack Obama could have kept the parks and memorials open. No, like a petulant child, he closed them to show us what evildoers the Republicans are. In the Senate, leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell sniped at one another but eventually came up with a deal. In the House, Speaker John Boehner wallowed in cluelessness and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi continued her nonsensical blathering. They all should be ashamed of themselves for their failure as leaders.

Instead of kicking this down the road, do you think they could have truly worked on passing a meaningful budget? I am so sick of them all.

NATALIE BRUBAKER

Petaluma

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