The silver lining of the sequester

>>> this is the view from rockefeller center ahead of the dreaded snowquester. it turns out the snowquester like the namesake was a bust, right? not so fast. we knock mocked the sequester. the dumb policy with the even dumber name. they couldn't come up with an awesome name? we mocked the politicians who were involved in coming up with the sequester. did they actually think that after failing to find a long-term compromise in the debt ceiling 2011 showdown, the super committee that came out of that debt ceiling fiasco, the fiscal cliff, and debt controlling show down part deux, that the sequester would actually force a deal? in the words of amy poehler and tina fey , really, really? just when we had written off the sequester as a new absurd low, it looks like the see dwes ter may be alive and kicking and dare i kay it working towards its intended purpose. but, but, but, you protest, the sequester cuts already happened and the only thing we have to show for it are more budget crises on the horizon. calm down, let me explain. the whole concept was to create a forcing mechanism for a grand bargain. by the way, in addition to renaming the sequester we really ought to rename the grand bargain. big "f"'ing deal maybe? number one, the president invited 12 senate republicans to dinner. number two, those senate republicans accepted.

>> whoa.

>> number three, and this is the most shocking of all, the republicans actually said nice things about the dinner rather than bashing the president as campaigner in chief leading from behind, not serious, et cetera , et cetera . it's like a sequester miracle. look, i know, it's still early days but i think maybe, just maybe, the sequester really did set up the conditions for some sort of a big "f"'ing deal by making both sides uncomfortable. democrats are uncomfortable with the size of the cuts overall in the sense that they are running out the clock . republicans are uncomfortable with the size of the cuts to the defense department , particularly those republicans in defense-heavy districts and are actually kind of ready to move beyond just being the party of no forcing budget crisis after crisis. maybe they're ready to become the party of no pre-k. i know it's a little early to say but it's possible washington has made a policy so dumb even they can't stand it. next thing you know, john boehner will be praising the president as a hawaii-born patriotic christian american who loves capitalism and is a partner in fiscal discipline and the president will be praising boehner as one of the greatest speakers in history, channeling tea party nihilism into productive, i will be on " dancing with the stars ." that