As far as government shutdowns go, this one has so far lacked the round-the-clock chaos of its predecessors. There have been no dramatic late-night clashes on the floors of Congress, no steep stock-market plunges driven by panicked investors, no prime-time presidential addresses from the Oval Office. Even the running clocks on cable-news chyrons have disappeared.

But in the reality show that has replaced a properly functioning system of democratic governance, we are fast approaching the moment when a shutdown stops being a subject of political bluster and starts hurting Americans. And as much as President Donald Trump and his allies have tried to direct the damage from what he derisively calls “the Radical Left Democrat shutdown” toward “Democrat things,” the pain will soon be felt just a

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