President enters stage left, beaming loftily at the Chorus.

House Speaker enters right, arms crossed and scowling.

President silently opens his hands as if presenting a gift. Speaker shakes his head angrily.

President furrows his brow, points at his watch, and wags his finger. Speaker shakes his fist in the air and grimaces fiercely.

Chorus members cover open mouths in alarm and look nervously at their watches.

*    *    *

It makes for good theater, and the audience is enthralled. Will Democrats cave to Republican demands for stiff budgets cuts as a condition for raising the debt ceiling? Will Republicans compromise on taxes? Are they actually crazy enough to drive the United States into bankruptcy?

Given the breathless media coverage of the drama, you can be forgiven for thinking that you're witnessing a genuine conflict with serious economic consequences. In fact, what is you're watching is a charade--a dumb show, as it was called in Shakespeare's time.

A while back I wrote about Sam Antar’s decision to turn back to a life of crime due to crooked politicians like Darrell Issa and Michele Bachmann. Turns out, Issa may not leave anything left to steal:

Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and Bobby Riggs were each 5'-7" tall. Jimmy Connors was 5'-9 1/2".

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga -his father was Congolese but no one questions his French citizenship.