Heroes and Villains of the Shutdown

Moon over Jupiter Inlet
Jupiter, FL
November 5, 2025

 I was thinking, while flying home the other day, about some of the heroes I had met during the past week who are affected by the government shutdown. And then my mind turned to the villains. The villains, sadly, are not necessary to this story, but they serve to highlight the actions of the heroes.

And so, my heroes:

Federal employees who continue to be vilified by the villains, specifically and especially:

TSA agents and staff, they were professional and cordial in all of my interactions with them. I tried to thank each one personally for being on duty

Air traffic controllers, I could not, obviously, thank them in person, but my flights flew without incident

Other Federal employees who remain on duty without pay. Without them chaos would ensue 

Military men and women standing on guard for our country 

And the villains:

Executive Branch leadership who continue to be unwilling to negotiate an end to the government shutdown while flying around the world ISO a Nobel Peace Prize. 

Speaker of the House who may be the most disingenuous of all time by keeping the republicans home so as not to be able to negotiate an end to the shutdown. He keeps telling the great lie that the democrats created the shutdown, but the truth is that a take it or leave it position is not a negotiation. 

Representatives in Congress who continue to hurt Americans by denying access to affordable medical care 

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list.

Oh yes, and speaking of denying medical care, I just learned that tele-visits are a victim. 

Because Congress did not extend authorization for some of those expanded telehealth flexibilities beyond September 30, 2025, a number of payment/coverage conditions reverted (or are in flux) as of October 1, 2025:

• The “home” as an originating site for many non-behavioral/mental health telehealth visits under Medicare will no longer be allowed (in traditional Medicare) unless covered by a separate exception.  (Chat GPT)

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL