The maxim is that politics is the art of the possible. Well, I guess that holds true if you consider "the possible" to include possibly proving that we can put a bunch of adults in a room to solve a problem and not come up with a solution.
I actually hope we do shut the government down today. I don't care how close they are to a deal. The supposed smart folks on all sides have proven without a shadow of a doubt that they are not capable of acting, and perhaps thinking, beyond the school yard shenanigans that they love to play with each other. Shut it down and better yet, send them all home. All sides. It's time to start anew and the only ones who don't realize the game is over are those who are still playing as if it mattered. Of course those in the media and elsewhere that are enabling this kind of behavior and not covering it as the folly and travesty that it is should be sent home as well.
Everyone is maneuvering for the post game analysis so that they can assign the appropriate political blame. There's no need to wait. They all deserve blame. And shame.
