I really don’t like writing about politics; it’s not my métier. I prefer, and am much better suited to, writing about music, books, TV, basketball, and other trivial but crucial matters. But at times like this all my angry energy needs a place to go, and so it’s either write about it or go down to the Plaza and start screaming at strangers.

After four years of Sleepy Joe and his boring competence, I had forgotten what it’s like in the maelstrom of the Shitheadstorm, where the news cycle is about two hours long and to go to the dentist is to risk missing major developments. Yesterday, for instance, in the morning That Fucking Guy announced that he was unilaterally and illegally shutting off several trillion dollars of federal funding. There followed several hours of utter chaos as millions of people ran around wondering if they’d be able to go to school or get health care the next day.

It was at this point that I went to have the molar that had cracked in half removed. I blame TFG for this condition, which was precipitated by a great deal of pre-election tooth-grinding. By the time the procedure was done — and it really didn’t take long at all, it’s kind of disturbing how easy it is to have your teeth removed; the idiom “like pulling teeth” is outdated — a judge had stayed the order till Monday and people had calmed down a bit, though they were still wondering What It All Means.

What it means is this: If the Executive branch is allowed to usurp the Legislative branch’s power over the budget, Congress is completely irrelevant and might as well dissolve itself. The dictatorship we’ve been told we’re hysterical for worrying about will then be a reality, unless the Supreme Court does something — which is unlikely, since it was their granting of omnipotence to the president that created this problem in the first place. And even if they did, as Andrew Jackson famously pointed out, they have no means of enforcement. Since everything the president does is now by definition legal, why would he give a shit?

That’s the bad news. The good news is, well… we are living in Interesting Times. The five days between now and Monday promise to be very dramatic, and who knows what might have happened by then? America: The Reality Show is going to be can’t-miss viewing for the foreseeable future. This is not promising for my mental or dental health, but it is what it is; time to grit your teeth and Fight the Power.