So the long shutdown nightmare is over – whoops, not completely. At least we have a two-month respite. Perhaps during that time logic, civility and sanity will prevail. One can always hope for the best. In the meantime, we can briefly be spared the countdown on television as to how many days until we are in some other crisis.

Elizabeth Woodvile. Image via en.wikipedia.org

I have been watching The White Queen, a BBC series all about the War of The Roses. It does remind me of how humans can be so absurd. The White Queen tracks a period of time toward the end of the competition between the Yorks and the Lancasters over who would rule England. Battles were fought, people died, the power switched back and forth until two women made an agreement that their children would marry and unite the two sides — from the marriage of Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York. Elizabeth of York is the ancestor of every ruler of England since Henry the VIII. So the marriage arranged by Margaret Beaufort and Elizabeth Woodville in the 1400s created a direct line of monarchs until today. About 600 years of history created by two women not fighting, but by being logical.

So at the end of the day, two women brought an end to a long and arduous war. Perhaps that’s a lesson we should learn? We can’t do it quite the same way — marriages of convenience are frowned upon in our society in today’s world. However, we can have more women elected to office in the hopes that the female ability to multi-task, not let their ego drive them totally, and willingness to sit down and compromise (every mother and wife knows how to do that) and then see if some sanity will return to our government.

Margaret Beaufort. Image via en.wikipedia.org

Now, don’t misunderstand. I do not want to eradicate all men from positions of power. It is just while watching mostly males bringing our government to a screeching halt for no real reason, I had to turn to the non-news stations to find sanity and there I found the BBC series. The parallels were just so obvious that I had to watch every week for 10 weeks to see the conclusion. It was worth every minute not only for the fun of comparing the 1480s to 2013, but also because of the great acting and scenery. I am certain it will be available on every possible avenue so be certain to find it and watch it. (It has the added delight of no commercials!)

In the meantime, before there is another series to keep us amused when reality is too depressing, let’s hope the women on Capitol Hill are working their magic so, come December, there will be no crisis interfering with the holidays and no reason for our pension funds to have another hit.