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This is the political scene, a weekly conversation with New Yorker writers and editors about politics.

I'm Dorothy Wickendon, executive editor of The New Yorker.

It's Thursday, October 10th, the 10th day of the government shutdown.

Incredibly, the House is still courting government default

by refusing to raise the debt ceiling.

We can't make extortion routine as part of our democracy.

Democracy doesn't function this way.

And this is not just for me. It's also for my successors in office.

Whatever party they're from, they shouldn't have to pay a ransom either for Congress doing its basic job.

That was Obama at a White House press conference on Wednesday.

To talk about the even more dire situation in Washington this week,

I'm joined by Hendrick Hertzberg, Ryan Lissa, and John Cassidy. John, I want to start with you because you made a rather

...