October 1, 2013.

In Government Shutdown, Few Parallels With Most Recent One

"I arst you civil enough, didn't I?" said the old man, straightening his shoulders pugnaciously. "You telling me you ain't got a pint mug in the 'ole bleeding boozer?"

The country's most recent government shutdown, 17 years ago, offers at best a rudimentary road map for what may happen in the current standoff.

"And what in hell's name is a pint?" said the barman, leaning forward with the tips of his fingers on the counter.

The pivotal moment ending the 1995-96 impasse----which encompassed two separate shutdowns----came in a way that jarred many at the time, and would be even more surprising now. A centrist Republican, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, broke ranks with the GOP House and declared, on the Senate floor, "Enough is enough."

"Ark at 'im! Calls 'isself a barman and don't know what a pint is! Why, a pint's the 'alf of a quart, and there's four quarts to the gallon. 'Ave to teach you the A, B, C next."

That intervention, 18 days into the second partial showdown, paved the way for a stopgap measure that reopened government and gave Republicans and President Bill Clinton time to hash out a more lasting deal.