You know the Republican party has gone off the deep end when even mild-mannered David Brooks has trouble saying nice things about the GOP. His entire column on the debt ceiling negotiations is worth a read, but here’s the money quote:

If the debt ceiling talks fail, independents voters will see that Democrats were willing to compromise but Republicans were not. If responsible Republicans don’t take control, independents will conclude that Republican fanaticism caused this default. They will conclude that Republicans are not fit to govern.

The same could probably be said of Minnesota Republicans. By any reasonable measure, Dayton has already demonstrated his willingness to compromise. But the Republicans have only demonstrated that their rigid ideology is nearly indistinguishable from religion.

I’m more than willing to admit that Democrats have their shortcomings and blind spots. But after witnessing Republican governance in action over the last few months, I can’t understand why anyone of good conscience and reasonable mind would continue to support them. I get that the economy sucks and people are in a foul mood, but are even conservatives willing to tolerate a non-functioning state? Have we become so cynical about government that we are content to keep the reins of power in the hands of a group of people who are no longer a political party, but a cult?

For all our sakes, I really hope not.

After skimming through my blog entries from the last government shutdown, I’m struck by how blasé I was about the whole thing. Of course, I was able to use vacation time during that time and I wasn’t too worried about losing any income. Now, I’m officially laid off and will be filing for unemployment, which leaves me feeling decidedly un-blasé. Actually, I should do that now. Enjoy your 4th.

Less than 7 hours remain until a possible state government shutdown and I’m still not sure if I’ll be reporting to work tomorrow. GOP leaders spoke to reporters about an hour ago and expressed optimism that a shutdown could be avoided, but it’s in their interest to project optimism. Unlike Governor Dayton, they are up for election next year and voters may take out their frustration with this gridlock on them. I’m skeptical that a deal will be reached tonight, but I’d be happy to proven wrong.

What frustrates me most about this mess is that any final deal is unlikely to resolve the state’s structural deficit. This deal will probably include short-term fixes (Medicaid surcharges, accounting shifts, maybe gambling revenue) that will only patch up the hole until the next election. In two years, we’ll probably face another deficit and–depending on the composition of the Legislature at the time–another round of political brinkmanship over the continued operation of state government. A couple of decades ago, no state political leader would even contemplate allowing a shutdown to occur. Now, it’s becoming just another bargaining chip in service of ideology. This isn’t the kind of sane, responsible governance that has characterized Minnesota for so long.

We should be better than this.

Supreme Court Justice Scalia will never be mistaken for a geek, but his majority opinion in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn. is worth a read if you have an interest in videogames and 1st Amendment jurisprudence. The ruling strikes down California’s ban on the sale of violent videogames and Scalia makes a compelling, carefully reasoned argument for extending 1st Amendment protections to videogames while affirming that children also enjoy 1st Amendment protections from the state’s paternalistic instincts. He compares the current hand-wringing regarding videogames’ effects on children to previous episodes in American history when dime novels, movies, and comic books all took their turns as punching bags for anyone who feared our nation’s youth stood on the brink of degeneracy. And while Scalia can’t resist making a few of his patented rhetorical flourishes, the decision is free of the unfortunate histrionics that sometimes appear in his opinions (although usually when he’s in the minority).

We also learn that Justices Breyer and Alito are complete buzzkills who will never understand the pleasure of taking down a zombie with a headshot delivered by a double-barreled shotgun.