I was away for a while.

So in the 52 days since I last posted, a few things have happened. First, Tbogg returned from retirement. Second, the raging crackpot wing of the House Republican caucus followed the lead of the raging crackpot wing of the Senate Republican caucus (pretty much just Ted Cruz) in threatening to take the ball an go home.

In the context of a game (it really is, in a political sense), we can view all the proceedings thus:

1. Wishful-thinking-based-polling tells the Republicans they will defeat the Affordable Care Act
2. “Negotiations” are held
3. Democrats spinelessly capitulate on all fronts, allowing Republicans to weaken ACA to something extremely friendly to “the healthcare industry”
4. Votes are held, with the greatly watered-down legislation passing both houses
5. The President signs ACA into law
6. People who don’t appear to understand the Constitution challenge its Constitutionality, taking the case to the Supreme Court
7. Oddly enough, the extremely Corporation-friendly Supreme Court declares the extremely Corporation-friendly law “Constitutional”
8. Looking around for other ex post facto means to pretend all of the above never happened, someone thinks to dust off the two decades old Newt Gingrich gambit
9. The Republicans say that they will now refuse to do the one required task of their job description: pay the bills
10. Blame the black guy

Now, in the context of sport, we could look at it thus:

1. Before the game, one side continually reduces the value of the prize
2. The game is held
3. The expected side wins
4. The losing side cries foul and demands a review by the refs, knowing the refs are “their guys”
5. The refs allow the decision to stand
6. The losing side puts the trophy in a closet, while sitting in front of the closet door holding the ball and rocking back and forth
7. Nobody’s getting the prize until the losing side can further “negotiate” down its value
8. No games of any type will be played until these demands are met
9. Losing side is puzzled at booing from the stands

As always, a sizable fraction of the American populace is still of the shit-your-pants-at-the-approach-of-a-brown-person bent. For this reason, two things occurred. First, military were exempted, helping to hide how financially precarious is the situation of many. Second, most DoD civilians are recalled, as their absence makes the military mission difficult in many places and nearly impossible in others.

These people must be the most embarrassing companions imaginable in Las Vegas. I doubt, though, that the bouncers in Las Vegas will be as accommodating as the American Press Corpse.