Only one week until the government shutdown because the tea baggers need to be in the spotlight for as long as possible. The thing is, we've been here before.
An actual government shut down in the 90s was a disaster for the Republicans which makes seeing Newt Gingrich on the Sunday morning shows acting like an expert statesman all the more hilarious. People forget that he was run out of the Congress by Republicans. And the tea baggers have already tried this fiscal brinksmanship themselves, and failed miserably.
This time around Obama isn't even pretending that he give them anything, not even the courtesy of pretending that they are his equals. That has got to so burn under their white sheets and hoods.
Round two will be the debt ceiling disaster, it's unclear exactly when that will happen. The TV schedule has it for October 15, but that's just a guess, or more likely it's all just for show. In reality, Obama can simply ignore the debt ceiling if he wants to, or he may wish to orchestrate the total humiliation of the Republicans with some sort of default. That's assuming the more mainstream Republicans won't simply join with Democrats and pass the legislation that is needed as they did the last time around.