The Armenian Pope

On Oct. 1, when 800,000 federal workers were put on leave, the American magazine Vanity Fair introduced a new online rubric — “A World Tour of Countries with Governments More Functional than Ours.” The first stop is Armenia. The section promises to run the alphabet, a country per day and go all the way to Zimbabwe — or at least get as far as it can before the government goes back to work. Regarding Armenia as a choice for the letter A, there was some degree of negligence. There are seven countries starting with the letter A in the United Nations’ list* that precede Armenia and could make a much better example. Besides, for some unknown reason, the article is coupled with a picture of Uzbek women picking cotton.

But even Vanity Fair’s unrefined satire gets it right. Because right now any critical remark pointed at the American government sounds right. National parks and monuments, from the Grand Canyon to the Statue of Liberty, are closed to visitors. TV stations show disappointed war veterans who were turned away at the entrance of the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. and businessmen whose international deals fail because their passports aren’t ready on time to make the trip they need.

If the chaos remains, gradually it will take over all government services with the exception of the most crucial — security and infrastructure. The government machinery has been paralyzed by the unwillingness of the House of Representatives to pass even a temporary budget. The tea party activists among the Republican lawmakers took advantage of the situation trying to topple Obamacare, the health care reform that went into effect on Oct. 1.

The actions of the right wing may be aggressive, but are not unprecedented. The American administration has been shut down 17 times since 1976 due to budget arguments (last time was in 1995 to1996). The difference now is that a relatively little fraction of Congress was able to impose its stubborn will without giving any hope that something constructive could be accomplished. The members of the tea party are held accountable only by their right-wing, ultraconservative constituency; they could afford the luxury of ignoring the circumstances. Or so they believe.

After the Senate failed to reach a compromise, the White House refused to go the tea party way. Republicans blamed Obama for finding enough time to play golf, to call the Iranian president and to meet the Israeli prime minister, but not to meet with the majority leader in the House of Representatives. Democrats replied that the president has no one to negotiate with while those same majority leaders are held hostage by their own party’s extremist element and have no control over it.

That doesn’t mean that guilt is shared equally. When asked in surveys, a large majority of Americans say that Congress, not the president, is responsible for the deadlock. About 10 percent of voters approve of the legislative body, which is a record low.

The tea party relies on the commitment of their hardcore electorate and the short memory of everyone else. That’s why they can afford to ignore the moderate Republicans and block the executive power as a result. What matters to them is that they’ve been able to demonize Obamacare. Most Americans are not familiar with the almost 1,000-page document, but half of them are against it when asked.

A reform of the health care system is absolutely necessary. No one can tell for sure if Obamacare will lead to permanent positive results in this deeply troubled area — it is hard to tell unless you give it a certain time. The fact is, the U.S. spends twice as much as Norway, the nation with the next highest health care budget, and still has average results. Never mind the fact that one in seven Americans don’t have health insurance, which is a shame for the wealthiest nation on Earth. Obamacare is at least an attempt to change the odds and should be given a chance.

Another crisis is looming as we approach Oct. 17, when Congress is due to vote to raise the debt ceiling. The negotiations would be even tenser as a failure would mean a bankruptcy for the U.S.

This has never happened before. The lack of responsibility could easily drag down the world economy. And when this happens, go complain to the Armenian pope that it was the tea party’s fault.**

*List of countries by Human Development Index

**Translator’s Note: “Go complain to the Armenian pope” is a Bulgarian expression referring to a complaint falling on deaf ears.