THE ATLANTIC: Take the Shutdown Skeptics Seriously: This is not a straightforward battle between a pro-human and a pro-economy camp.

We don’t know where we sit on that spectrum. So we cannot know what the best way forward is even if we place the highest possible value on preserving life and protecting the vulnerable.

That uncertainty means, at the very least, that Americans should carefully consider the potential costs of prolonged shutdowns lest they cause more deaths or harm to the vulnerable than they spare.

Except that every issue in America is now addressed by media-shaming of the deplorables. This is tremendously destructive to the social fabric, but also apparently irresistible.