For the past couple of months I have been in the thrall of a game called Candy Crush Saga.

It’s about matching little colored thingies on your iPad or phone. I am not going to explain it in any more depth because that would just make this whole discussion more humiliating.

However, if you stick with me, I am going to try to use it to make a sweeping point about public policy, ending with some severe questions about the political career of Chris Christie.

About the game: It’s been played about 150 billion times over the past year. There is no reward for winning; you just advance to another level in an ever-growing chain of chocolate mountains and lemonade lakes.

I told you this was embarrassing. I used to be addicted to playing BrickBreaker on my cellphone, and I now recall those days as my own personal version of Athens in the Age of Pericles.