The U.S. government shutdown, now a month in, lurches on with no apparent end in sight. With politicians firing verbal shells across a new “No Man’s Land,” almost a million federal workers are facing the cruel consequences of not being paid, and unsure how long it will be until they are — not forgetting innumerable others who are suffering because government services they count on are unavailable. 

Enough! Is it too much to expect that opposing politicians from the legislative and administrative branches conclude that they care more for the people of this country they are supposed to represent than they loathe each other? I’m betting that federal employees are disgusted by all the posturing; they just want the government to reopen so that they can go back to work and get their paychecks. 

There is no honor in this standoff, and no winners, but there are some real losers, and it’s not the victims of this travesty. It’s those on both sides who are toying with the lives of innocent, hardworking people in order to build their power base and score political points, and their shame will stick to them long after the shutdown is over. 

Anne Carr Bingham

Salem