Nightmares and bedtime stories

IF SOMETHING that nobody wants to happen happens, who gets the blame? Divining the answer to this question has become part of the performance art of avoiding a government shutdown, a show which typically ends with a last-minute deal. The latest display in Congress is different. Both parties have reacted to the disappointments of previous negotiations by taking up positions that are mutually exclusive in the hope of preventing compromise. And the timing of the deadline, which falls on September 30th, increases the chances of an unintended screw-up with truly unpleasant effects when Congress is called on to raise the debt ceiling a few weeks later, in mid-October.