Late Tuesday, the leaders in the United States Senate achieved a breakthrough in their negotiations to reopen those parts of the government that have been shut down for more than a month. Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer agreed on a framework by which they can give structure to the utter futility that is the most obvious characteristic of the national government in the wake of the president*'s hissy-fit.

There will be two votes on two different measures. One would give the president* his $5.7 billion for his big, beautiful, stupid wall. The other would not; instead, it would be a "clean" continuing resolution that will provide funding for those parts of the government currently either closed down or not paying their people. Now we have "bipartisan proposals." Now there is regular order to the chaos. From The New York Times:

While both measures faced long odds, they could usher in a more cooperative tone; if both fail, as expected, the votes could prompt the two sides to negotiate a bipartisan compromise. With the shutdown now in its fifth week, and 800,000 federal workers facing the loss of a second paycheck on Friday, the pressure is growing on parties to reopen the government.

Both of these bills will lose in the Senate. There's no chance that Mitch McConnell will develop a civic conscience between now and Thursday. There's only a slightly bigger chance that the Democrats might fold but, even in that case, the proposal with the money for the wall is as dead as Kelsey's nuts in the House, no matter what how hard Problem Solvers With No Labels fluff themselves in front of microphones. This is action taken for action's sake. It's shadow puppets on the wall.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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