Trump's new approach to political democracy

After days of pointless argument back and forth between the Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, the great United States government shut down, unable to spend federal money to pay its workers. So perhaps it's not surprising that Trump asks for a change in the system under which there has to be a 60-vote majority in the Senate to end what is charmingly called a fillibuster; in other words,a total impasse between the two parties. With their own majority of only 51 in the Senate, the Republicans need to persuade nine Democrats to vote for them. It's a crazy system especially when there is such total and bitter division on almost everything between the Republicans and Democrats. So Trump's argument is, if we Republicans have a 51 majority in the Senate, then that should be enough. Let 51 be the key voting figure from now on and scrap the 60-vote minimum. Well, I can see his point. It does seem daft that if one party has a majority it can't get stuff through the legislative machine without having to browbeat some Democrats to go along. But that's the system and it's unlikely the Senate will change it because at some time in the future when a Democrat is in the White House enjoyng only a slim majority in the House and Senate, the Republicans will want to screw the Democrats under the 60-vote rule as much as the Democrats are screwing Trump at the moment. So the so-called nuclear option recommended by the president, changing the majority rule, will probably fall on deaf ears. The political system in Washington, as it stands now and as it has stood for a long time, invites gridlock every year because of the need annually for Congress to authorise federal spending. It's democracy gone mad. Obama had exactly the same problem, only he made it worse by signing the Budget Control Act, an attempt to cut the growing federal deficit which has put untold pressure on the biggest departments, notably the military and social services, causing many of the problems we now see before us. Unless there is a magic wand - and I'm pretty sure Trump doesn't own one - this political/economic gridlock is going to come up every year for the foreseeable future. I fear there aren't enough - if any - inspiring politicians around in the US, to persuade the Republicans and Democrats to get off their "me me me" butts and act like responsible, patriotic I-love-my-country-first human beings. Robert "Bob" Gates, long-term servant to the US in the Air Force, CIA (director) and Pentagon (Secretary of Defence) openly hated Washington, especially the annual logjam embedded in Congress. I suspect most people, especially Trump of course, have joined the I Hate Washington Club.