From Pew Research, perhaps the most depressing thing you'll read all week about The Shutdown That Will Not Die:
About as many say they would blame the Republicans (39%) for such a standoff as say they would blame Obama (36%), with 17% volunteering that both would be equally to blame.
Of course the actual percentage of Americans who would genuinely blame Obama is <1; the percentage above (36) is merely our nation's statistical slice of the Obama-deranged, whether mildly or moderately or severely. The symptoms are identical: uncontrollable urges to bellow to anyone who will listen--such as some nice man from Pew--that it's all Obama's fault. All of it--even outright, incontrovertibly Republican shutdowns of the United States government.
So, 36, that's the percentage among us who are officially fucking nuts.
But that 17%? Independents, no doubt--they the ineffably clueless who try to conceal their ignorance by waving a dismissive and seemingly knowing hand at the whole lot in Washington. Both houses and plagues, that sort of thing. "Balanced" cynicism as political sophistication. Hip disgust.
Damn it's depressing.