As of this writing (Saturday, January 20 at about 2:00 pm ET), the federal government has shut down. Although the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art are open this weekend, we don't know what will happen on Monday.
Obviously, if the museums are shut, this blog will go silent as well. I've scheduled a couple of posts for the coming week, but once they're up, that's all there is.
Needless to say, I'm not happy about this sorry state of affairs. My brother and many of my friends are federal government employees, and although I'm confident they will be paid eventually, they won't get a paycheck until all this is over, through no fault of their own. In addition, I have friends who are government contractors, and they won't get paid at all. Compared to what they're facing, my inability to go to museums at lunch time and post on my blog is hardly worth mentioning.
I hope that this is resolved quickly, for the good of everyone: government workers, contractors, museum visitors and those who depend on the work of the government - which is all of us.
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