I haven’t written much about the government shutdown debacle of the past 2+ weeks, partly because of the Thumper Rule (“If you can’t say something nice…” Not that I ever really follow that rule.) I am still gathering my thoughts about the almost-literally-last-minute deal that seems to have kicked the can down the road a bit.

Paul Waldman at The American Prospect has a quick guide to the deal that outlines the various points and offers “an easy-to-digest set of opinions you can adopt as your own.” This should appeal to conservatives who believe that liberals are incapable of independent thought. (If that last sentence describes you, please keep reading, just in case I decide to put some erotic pictures of guns at the end of this post.) Here are his points with the conclusions. Read the whole article for his full analysis: Continue reading →