On this week’s round table, the G.O.P’s shutdown spiral.

On this week’s round table, the G.O.P’s shutdown spiral.

© Illustration by The New York Times; photograph by Gary Kemp Photography/Getty

It’s an unreal spectacle.

The White House is not the president’s property. Neither is the Smithsonian. Nor Washington itself.

We cannot let this dark moment consume us.

Even as the president is putting on a show, he’s also doing everything he can to reach his ultimate aim.