Shutdown 2013 - Quotes from the Foreign Press

So, needless to say (but I'm still going to say it, because that's what I do), we are in the midst of a government shutdown. This is just the second one I've seen in my lifetime...

...but it seems just as ridiculous so far as the first.

And I'm not the only one who sees it this way.



Here are some quotes from the foreign press about our current shutdown. A lot of these are from Talking Points Memo, but for the ones that aren't, their sources are cited.

"It's pretty unique, compared to their government there. They don't really know what exactly is a shutdown, so we have to explain what is. The U.S. economy is really important for the Korean economy as well, so we've been following this pretty closely. We want to inform our viewers what will impact on their lives."
-Min Sun Shaim, Seoul Broadcasting System

"This is a weird, messed-up feature of the American political system. I suppose the checks and balances obsession made sense 200 years ago. It makes no sense any longer."
"For a country that fancies itself the greatest democracy on Earth, the fact that a small band of outliers in one party can essentially shut down the federal government over a petty political brawl seems woefully undemocratic."
-Lee-Anne Goodman, Canadian Press

“The ‘Elephants’ Are Robbing the U.S. Government... The U.S. government may be left penniless on Tuesday.”
-Moscow Times

"After covering Washington for four years, the build-up to the shutdown felt almost predictable given the antagonism displayed from both sides. But I tipped it wrong. I was convinced someone would blink before midnight on Monday."
"We've been showing vision of the shut down monuments, the words of animosity being exchanged between Democratic and Republican leadership and the question over future economic stability. When the U.S. sneezes, Australia catches cold."
-Lisa Millar, Australian Broadcasting Company

“Jefferson, wake up, they’ve gone crazy!”
-Le Monde

“US shutdown has other nations confused and concerned. For most of the world, a government shutdown is very bad news – the result of revolution, invasion or disaster. Even in the middle of its ongoing civil war, the Syrian government has continued to pay its bills and workers’ wages. That leaders of one of the most powerful nations on earth willingly provoked a crisis that suspends public services and decreases economic growth is astonishing to many…Now, as the latest shutdown crisis plays out, policymakers in other nations are left to ponder the worldwide impact of the impasse.”
-Anthony Zurcher, BBC