Does the reopening of the World War II memorial to vets after the shutdown show politicians are making it up as they go along?

In a series of "calculated publicity stunts" to "make the effects of the shutdown worse than necessary", President Obama has erected "barry-cades" around national monuments and posted guards to keep veterans away from memorials; threatened military chaplains with arrest if they say mass; tried to close Mt Vernon, a private monument; instructed park service guards to "make life as difficult" as possible for visitors; and forced private businesses near national parks to close.

Even more perniciously, in an effort to make the shutdown "more visible and hurtful", the president has elected to curtail some of the most urgently needed government services: Amber AAlerts for missing children; call centers for veterans; head start programs; food assistance for mothers with infants; Fema assistance and the National Weather Service. Meanwhile, Obama continues to fund the White House website feature that posts "glamour shots" of himself, and has personally offered to pay to keep the museum of Muslim culture open.

Welcome to the government shutdown of 2013, where a leader calmly elected on his assumed loyalty to the basic goals of his party suddenly is out to destroy the lives of America's least fortunate; where the opposing party has taken up the mantle of social reform; and where 70-year-old battlelines over the role of government come down to arguments over what some overworked cop or consternated vet said to some spotlight-whoring congressman on the national mall.

The version of the shutdown in those first two paragraphs is what you'll hear if you enter the echo chamber of Fox News, sites like Hot Air and the Daily Caller, and the press office of Senator Ted Cruz. No matter that the government shutdown is not directed by the president but by more than 150 individual agencies acting on contingency plans published for all to see. No matter that the National Park Service's contingency plan for the Capitol region calls for 661 police staff to remain on duty – more than they needed in 1995 for obvious reasons (and not just to keep green paint off Abe). No matter that Amber Alerts never shut down after all, or that the Muslim culture museum doesn't really exist. No matter that the president's party is defined by its commitment to social welfare programs and the other party by its commitment to cutting them.

The shutdown has become another political football to be punted back and forth between the parties. It’s fantasy football, obsessional to those who play, ignored by people who don’t, which in this case includes most of the public. The point is not to score on the facts, but to win in whatever messy way.

Make no mistake: the administration is playing, too. After ridiculing and threatening to veto legislation in the House of Representatives to fund slivers of government, the White House consented to sign one such bill awarding furloughed federal employees back pay. Less than a week after furloughing an estimated half of its civilian employees, the Defense Department suddenly claimed the authority to send many of them back to work. When congresswoman Michele Bachmann and company succeeded in making the White House look bad for shutting veterans out of the World War II memorial, the administration came up with a legal exception to allow the vets to visit. If the exception existed, why were the fences there in the first place? At times it really does seem as if they're making it up as they go along, depending on the political winds.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Veteran Eugene Morgan, left, of Arkansas, with US Representative Michele Bachmann and Texas Representative John Carter during Morgan's visit to the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The national park service – the division of the Department of the Interior that oversees the national monuments – did not reply to an emailed request for comment as to how closure and enforcement decisions are made. The voicemail of an NPS spokeswoman advised that she had been "furloughed" and "cannot check phone messages until the government reopens."

The expectation of the beltway media is that the shutdown will drag through the week, until the looming threat of a Treasury default inspires a compromise. Then the government will reopen and all the services that the president has so nefariously singled out for suspension will be restored.

At which point the two sides will face another budget battle. Which should be a great time for Republicans to secure more funding for veterans, low-income families and every other group on their growing list. If only the president doesn’t stick another barry-cade in the way.