Modeling Rome?     

   Exhale. The shutdown is over, at least for three weeks. Affected government employees will receive their back pay, and hope this never happens again.

   We don't know if the political will exists for our elected leaders to play nice between now and February 15. When tribes eat, sleep and drink in their own camps 365 days a year, mutual interests may be hard to come by. 

   Psychologists say, if people never associate with those of different viewpoints, none will enlarge their thinking patterns. 

   Edward Watts, in Mortal Republic, tells how Rome's government had checks and balances that led to negotiated settlements. But in time, opposition turned violent.

   When people search for a way out, dictators offer themselves. Well, that can't happen here...can it? 

   While we struggle internally, there is a great divide globally. Take bankrupt Venezuela. The U.S., Canada and a dozen other nations want Nicolas Maduro gone. Russia, China and Cuba back him up. That tells us something.

       Jimmy