FLASHBACK: The Media’s Long His­to­ry of One-Sided Shut­down Cov­er­age

Here’s a fact: The polit­i­cal brinks­man­ship that results in a tem­po­rary gov­ern­ment shut­down is always the result of two sides refus­ing to budge — each pre­fer­ring to go beyond the dead­line rather than capit­u­late on a core issue. It’s always the same: One side wants some­thing fund­ed or passed into law, and the oth­er side refus­es; or, one side wants some­thing de-fund­ed or repealed, and the oth­er insists upon the sta­tus quo. Either par­ty could end the impasse by com­pro­mis­ing; thus both deserve equal blame for the lack of a solu­tion.
But gov­ern­ment shut­downs of the last thir­ty years have been unfair fights, with Democ­rats booste …