Furloughed Fed is writing with such eloquence: http://bettefrank.blogspot.co.il/2013/10/day-12-saturday-october-12-2013.html

 I haven't lived in the US for many year,  and am not awash with media reports all the time,  so F.F. is really bringing home the absurd insane side of it and giving me perspective from the inside.  From the view over here in Israel, it all seems too ridiculous to imagine. Why would anyone object to universal healthcare for all?  Why would people object to government oversite of the environment?  What is wrong with Americans? That's the attitude here, and I think in Europe. There is NO understanding of this deep-seated desire to hollow out government function.  We complain that our government is doing things the wrong way, but not that it shouldn't exist!  And we certainly LOVE our universal healthcare.

A very thoughtful and frustrated furloughed civil servant shares her experiences here:
http://bettefrank.blogspot.co.il/2013/10/day-6-sunday-october-6-2013.html

Definitely worth reading.