After the 2013 government shutdown ended, Republican leaders made clear they had only been humoring Sen. Ted Cruz and his plot to defund Obamacare. “It was not a smart play. It had no chance of success,” then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said. Then-House Speaker John Boehner initially said the GOP had “fought the good fight.” But he would later say the plan “never had a chance” and even called the Texas senator “Lucifer in the flesh.” This is how shutdowns generally go. The side seeking a concession fights what they view as “the good fight,” and then they...