It’s likely that in the past couple of days you’ve sat down with your roommates, friends, significant other, and/or confused house-pets to talk about the Kabuki theater playing out in Washington. The government shutdown has affected us here at The New Criterion as well: We’re still waiting on press images for Karen Wilkin’s fantastic review of the Kerry James Marshall show in D.C. Apparently the people who handle publicity requests at the National Gallery of Art aren’t considered “essential personnel.” We beg to differ.
But when you get tired of ranting to those closest to you, it never hurts to have an insider’s perspective. Right now, over at the social news site reddit, National Review’s Robert Costa is fielding questions about the shutdown, the looming debt ceiling face off, and all things beltway-related.
For readers new to reddit, the site is a series of discussion boards where users can post and comment on stories, images, and videos. Costa’s currently reporting from the Capitol, so his responses come in bursts, but he’s promised to continue updating the thread throughout the day. His analysis and readers’ discussion are certainly worth a look as the situation continues to develop on the Hill.