Laughter is a precious commodity in these dark times, and I indulge myself whenever authoritarian elf Mike Johnson opens his mouth. I’m like that mirthful Mary Poppins character who sings, “I love to laugh, long and loud and clear.”

The hapless House Speaker is defending the Republican government shutdown — and the imminent result that millions of Americans will see their Obamacare premiums spike as much as 100% — by insisting that there’s no reason to panic because his party is on the verge of crafting better health care coverage.

“Republicans are the ones concerned about health care,” Johnson told reporters last week. “We have hundreds of ideas literally on the table… grabbing the best ideas that we’ve had for years, to put it on paper and make it work.”

If one definition of insanity

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