WASHINGTON, D.C. Dec. 29 (DPI) – As the shutdown of some government agencies enters its second week, the result of yet another short-term funding impasse, Americans are growing increasingly de-sensitized to the ploy.

Google “trending news” and “trending headlines” and note that fewer than one in ten articles are related to this government shutdown, which stems of course from Trump’s insistence on funding for a border wall, and with the Democrats, and their new majority in the House of Representatives, staring him down.

One solid explanation of the government shutdown appears, of all places, on a New Zealand news site, which points out that US politicians have shrewdly taken at least some of the sting out of shutdowns by keeping national parks and other public facilities open. Many parks are still feeling the effects, though.   What’s more, the US Postage Service keeps on delivering mail, another reassuring sign to the citizenry that all is still normal.

Then, too, there is the ongoing debate over whether government employees forced to stay home during the shutdown should receive back pay – in all previous shutdowns, including the two earlier this year, they have received all back pay once the impasse was resolved.

Still, the situation heading into 2019 poses great risks for both political parties, and for the nation, despite citizens beginning to feel government shutdowns are less important or significant. Shutdowns are reminders to the world that the US democracy is less and less capable of managing its affairs reliably and consistently. And heading into a year in which the US central bank is raising interest rates, and debt levels have tripled over the last 20 years, American credibility and creditworthiness is at stake.