I just read Krugman and I see that he says essentially what I wrote earlier today, but he ends on a far darker note, which I've brooded about for months:
What Republicans have just gotten away with calls our whole system of government into question. After all, how can American democracy work if whichever party is most prepared to be ruthless, to threaten the nation’s economic security, gets to dictate policy? And the answer is, maybe it can’t.
What we're witnessing now is a fast-motion replay of the 1820-1850s sectional crisis, in which a backward, utterly reckless and piously psychotic political party was willing to take down the Union in the cause of its own provincial interests.
What the contemporary GOP is playing isn't just political hardball; it's the once-unique antebellum version of American roulette. Each time the chamber fails to load, we breathe some relief; on the other hand each time the chamber fails to load, we're merely one chamber closer to blowing our brains out.
Have a nice day.