Credit: Will Corwin

1508347444-img_0789.jpg

Will Corwin

As the partial government shutdown continues, Movie Madness is offering free movie rentals to furloughed government employees.

Starting today, the Portland video store will join several other local organizationsโ€”the Portland Japanese Garden, the Oregon Zoo, and the Oregon Children’s Theatreโ€”in their attempts to slightly alleviate the severe financial and psychological pressures that have been placed on government employees by a broken bureaucracy that has utterly failed them.

As of now, there’s no end in sight for the unnecessary, cruel, and nakedly performative shutdownโ€”which, as the longest in the nation’s history, continues to cause pain and suffering across the country and is a gigantic fucking embarrassment for everyone involved.

With honor and distinction, Erik Henriksen served as the executive editor of the Portland Mercury from 2004 to 2020. He can now be found at henriksenactual.com.