Kinda busy today finishing the script for the first issue of a new comic book series I agreed to write. I think the publisher is going to officially announce it next week at the New York Comic Con and once they do, I'll tell you about it here. This is not the secret project that I mentioned back here. That one involves a forthcoming Blu-ray/DVD release that should be divulged shortly. Some of you have already guessed what it is but I am unable at this time to confirm or deny.

I'm more fascinated than I probably oughta be about how this Shutdown Melodrama will play out…and now it seems to be merging with the pending battle over raising the Debt Limit. This whole thing stopped long ago being about what was good for the country and it's now about Winning and Losing. If I had to bet on how it will all end, I'd bet Obama will get 90% of what he wants and Republicans will feverishly try and spin their 10% as a "win." But I also think it's a lose/lose situation for everyone and that The System needs serious reform so that the folks we elect to govern can actually do some of that. I don't expect that to happen.

I like my new iPhone 5S even more this morning than I did last night. I don't know why though the Apple people don't have an easier way to export data from one iPhone and input it into another. It would seem to me that they like the idea of folks upgrading so they could make it simpler and faster. I need to find a good case for my new acquisition and I also want to buy a little stand/charger that will hold it even when it has that case on it.

On with my day. Back to you soon.

• House GOP considers merging Shutdown and Debt Limit fights. Because everything else they've planned has gone exactly as they hoped.

I upgraded to one of these today…the iPhone 5S. I had a 3G and going from that to this is like trading in Fred Flintstone's car for a new Lexus.

This posting would be funnier if I had something to complain about but my visit to the Apple Store was swift and easy. I had a bit of trouble once I got home with making all my apps and settings appear on the new device but a quick call to the Apple Support Team solved the problem. So I've spent some of the evening playing with the thing — and figuring out what I can make Siri do and what I can't make her do. I have the feeling there's some perverted question I can ask her that will evoke the response, "Sorry, I'm not that kind of app."

So far, I like my new phone. I don't like the necessity of buying a new case and new chargers and new cables and such but such is the curse of technology. I'll let you know if I have any problems with it.

• John Boehner's starting to act like the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. "Your leg's off!" "No, it isn't!"

David Weigel describes the last twelve hours before the Shutdown. Doesn't sound to me like anyone here has ever played Stratego™ and learned to think a move or two ahead.

Jonathan Chait explains the Republican strategy, not just with regard to the current shutdown but with everything, lo these past years.

So here we are: Obamacare is open for business and the United States of America is not. Lovely. Playing Armchair President for a minute, I think Obama oughta hit them hard on the point that if the entire House of Representatives were to vote on a clean spending bill, it would probably pass. And the U.S. government has been shut down, a lot of damage has been and will continue to be done, because John Boehner and/or the forces holding him at knifepoint, won't allow that vote of the entire House.

I do have this mental image (with sound) of Boehner on the phone to Obama or maybe Harry Reid, saying, "Look…you've got to give me some sort of concession we can hold up as a victory so we can back off this position."

Back in 1969, ABC was trying a lot of unique programming ideas. One of them — well ahead of its time — was Music Scene, which was a combination music show, talk show and sketch show, hosted by David Steinberg. It was one of the then-rare attempts to attract a young adult audience to prime-time TV…and here was another unusual thing about it. It was a 45 minute series. Not a half-hour. Not an hour. 45 minutes.

There was a lot of talent involved, including Lily Tomlin who went from Music Scene to Laugh-In. Here's the episode for 1/12/70, which turned out to be the last one, edited down to only include the scenes with guest host Groucho Marx…

• House Republicans will not fold. How do I know that? Because Dick Morris was just on CNN confidently predicting they would.

Yes, yes. I understand the Hastert Rule is not a law and that it can be ignored at any time. My point is that it should be. And House procedures should be changed so that if a bill does have the support of a majority of the total body, it gets voted on and, presumably, passed. That's what John Boehner oughta allow but a good part of his party would want to kill him for giving away an unfair advantage they shouldn't have.

If I understand it correctly — and on any given topic, there's always a good chance I don't — the problem presently before Congress is caused by a thing called the Hastert Rule. It's named for Dennis Hastert, a Republican who was the Speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007. He formalized a practice that had been informally used before him, sometimes by Democrats. Basically, the way it works is that since the majority party can more-or-less control which bills are voted upon, no bill gets the floor for a vote unless a majority of the majority party is for it. This is to prevent bills from passing that would pass if put up to an open vote.

An example. There are 435 members of Congress. To pass, a bill needs 218 votes.

Let's say there's a bill to outlaw the making and selling of cole slaw…and by the way, don't you think it's about time? Or no, better still, let's say there's a bill to outlaw the strangling of puppy dogs. Those are more or less equal in my mind but we'll go with the puppy dogs. Let's further say that there are 234 Republicans in the House and 201 Democrats…which was what we seem to have at the present time.

Let us say that 134 Republicans are in favor of puppy-strangling and 100 are opposed to it. Please understand that these are just hypothetical numbers based on no polling…kind of like the stuff most politicians put in their speeches. In truth, the number of Republicans who support puppy-strangling is probably much, much higher and don't call me and argue the point, Roger. I'm kidding. Let us say all 201 Democrats are opposed to puppy-strangulation and yes, I know that's giving at least a couple of them the benefit of the doubt.

If Congress worked the way I was taught in Fifth Grade, it would be simple: 301 Congressfolks are for the bill. 134 are opposed to it. The bill carries overwhelmingly. That's how Democracy works.

But it doesn't work that way since the Hastert Rule became a way the majority can render the minority impotent. Since the bill does not have the support of the majority of his party, the current Speaker, Mr. Boehner on whose shoulders the dread government shutdown now seems to rest, would not allow the bill to come to a vote.

Does anyone besides me think that's not what the Founding Fathers had in mind? That 134 should prevail over 301?

The numbers are not absolute but it looks like the funding bill that keeps the doors open on the United States of America without crippling Obamacare does have the support of the majority of Congresspeople. It just doesn't have the support of the majority of the majority party.

The Hastert Rule is not going to be abolished for this. It probably will not be abolished ever because whoever's in the majority is not going to want to give it up and the party in the minority can't do it. But it oughta be outlawed. A majority of Democrats and Republicans who agree with one another should trump a majority of whichever party happens to have the most seats at the moment.

Here's a simple lesson on how Obamacare will work. For some reason, they left out the part where the Death Panels get to vote to kill Grandma…

We hear a lot about Neville Chamberlain. It seems like every time someone compromises or decides some battle is not worth the fight, the person gets labelled as Neville Chamberlain trying to appease Hitler. Sometimes, the name is even invoked by people who don't have a clue what Prime Minister Chamberlain did to earn his dubious place as a historic analogy. Here's one such example.

Personally, I think it's sometimes smart to walk away from a battle you can't win or one that isn't cost effective (and not necessarily in terms of money) to win. I have worked with self-destructive people who think otherwise.

Anyway, Nick Baumann has done some research on the subject and the story of Neville Chamberlain, he says, is not exactly what people think it is when they're trying to lambaste someone for not going all-in on a war.

Kurt Eichenwald on the Affordable Care Act. In a strange way, the hysterical, fact-free attacks on Obamacare are making me feel more confident it will work.

• My advice to both parties in Washington: Leave the government up and running and shut down the folks who make Miley Cyrus videos.

David Frum on why the now-almost-certain shutdown will hurt Republicans.

One does get the feeling that this whole battle has very little to do with Obamacare and everything to do with the G.O.P. saying, "Damn it! Even if we don't control the White House and the Senate, we can still run this country as if we did!"