The government shutdown that's been engineered by the Republican Party at the behest of Donald

is wreaking havoc on federal agencies, and I think that is exactly as intended.

And here's the thing. The damage being done could be long-lasting and possibly permanent. That also

is exactly as intended. According to a recent CNN article,

air traffic controller staff shortages have surged in the shutdown's fourth week. This is causing

thousands of flight delays as well as grave safety concerns. More than 50 personnel shortages

were reported between Friday, October 24th and Monday, October 27th.

This temporarily stopped flights at major airports, including LAX and D.C.'s Reagan National.

Controllers deemed essential workers have to keep working throughout the government shutdown, but aren't getting paid.

This has led to the aforementioned staffing shortages,

exhaustion, and an uptick in sick days.

The FAA reported at least 264 staffing issues

since October 1st. That has quadrupled since the same period last year.

None of this is sustainable, of course. And it leads me to ask two questions. One, why are the

Republicans okay with continuing to put Americans at risk? Lying is typically one of the safest methods of transportation,

and it is becoming more and more dangerous every single day because of the shutdown.

Second, why is this country so disorganized and so dysfunctional that it cannot prepare contingencies

in the event of government shutdowns, which, by the way, have become increasingly common over

the years? This is the second one over which Donald has presided in his two terms.

Representatives of the National Air Traffic Controlers Association are addressing the media in order to sound the alarm.

Here's a compilation of some of these appearances which was posted on the group's Twitter account.

October 28th, we see a $0 paycheck. And so we will say, but they'll receive pay eventually.

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