A Plausible, Good Deal

Peggy Noonan on the "strange shutdown":

Republicans, who hate big government, are fighting to keep it open, and Democrats, who love big government, are fighting to keep it closed.

The Republicans want to fund everything but Obamacare, which is a sacred cow to Democrats; hence the impasse.

In the short run everyone in Washington is looking bad, and the Republicans are looking worse. If this goes on much longer, however, the majority of Americans may find that they're getting along just fine if Washington is closed. Big government advocates are running a huge risk: benefits and taxes both stopping looks more and more like a plausible, good deal.