With all the insanity swirling around D.C. today, you may have temporarily forgotten that the United States government is in its third day of shutdown. How did that happen? Well, it turns out that a game of shutdown chicken may have been the plan all along.

On Fox News last night, Rep. Michele Bachmann confirmed Rachel Maddow's suspicion that Republicans were happy about the government shutting down, telling Sean Hannity "this is about the happiest I've seen members in a long time."

On Wednesday, local news station WPSD 6 caught Republican Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul discussing the GOP's government shutdown strategy on a hot mic.

Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN), a member of the House Committee on the Budget, was invited to discuss the government shutdown on this morning's CNN Newsroom, but the congressman seemed far more interested in hitting on the host instead.

In an astounding confrontation that took place yesterday at the World War II Memorial in DC, a Tea Party congressman from Texas appeared to blame the Park Service for denying veterans access to the facility — and then made a Park Ranger apologize for the shutdown. "How do you look at them and ... deny them access?" Rep. Randy Neugebauer asked the unidentified Ranger in an incredible exchange that was caught on camera by NBC Washington.

Over on the New Yorker's website, Ryan Lizza identifies a "suicide caucus" consisting of eighty right-wing Republican representatives whose hard-line position on Obamacare and the budget has given us the government shutdown. But what about the suicide caucus' suicide caucus?

Native Americans are some of the underrecognized victims of the shutdown: "In South Dakota, Yankton Sioux Tribe Vice Chairwoman Jean Archambeau said the shutdown means money for heating assistance won't be coming this fall. 'I don't know what we're going to do,' she said."

Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus will reportedly soon announce an offer to fund the operations of the World War II Memorial for 30 days, to literalize his party's effort to turn the aging veterans of the war into a partisan political commodity.

Many restaurants in the DC area are offering "shutdown specials" to furloughed employees so long as government remains closed, but members of Congress looking to take advantage of the budget deals will find that their business is often less than welcome.

In solidarity with the government's shutdown, Conan O'Brien decided to temporarily lay off all his non-essential staff members.

The government shutdown is already affecting millions of people in a variety of ways, but for some of America's most vulnerable citizens, the abrupt lack of public services could literally be a death sentence.

Wednesday morning, the White House announced that President Obama had cancelled plans to visit Malaysia and the Philippines next week because of the government shutdown. Obama is, for now, still planning to visit to Brunei and Indonesia, where he will attend the APEC summit and and the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Malaysia and the Philippines in Obama's place.

The House voted down three focused government funding bills today. The bills would have funded national parks and veterans affairs, and allowed D.C. to temporarily spend its funds without congressional approval. The White House was against the bills, calling them "piecemeal." The GOP will now say Obama hates veterans.

ThinkProgress has a roundup of how foreign media is writing about the shutdown. France: "Jefferson, wake up, they’ve gone crazy!" Germany: "[Republicans] are not only taking their own party to the brink, but the whole country." Russia: "The 'Elephants' Are Robbing the U.S. Government."

Earlier today, we asked how the government shutdown has affected you. More than 600 comments later, we've heard from government workers, students, concerned family members, non-profit employees and dozens of others. Here's what they said.

Addressing the partial government shutdown that went into effect last night and the first day of open enrollment in the Affordable Care Act, President Obama just a few minutes ago praised his cornerstone healthcare legislation while also making it clear that he thinks some of the House Republicans are total assholes.

In this photo tweeted by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Republicans sit across from empty chairs (again with the empty chairs) meant to symbolize absent Democratic leadership from the Senate. Or something.

As you've probably heard, this morning the federal government shut down for the first time in 17 years. We're interested in how the shutdown has affected or will affect you.

The House just voted 228 to 201 to keep the government open while delaying Obamacare's individual mandate and canceling insurance subsidies for members of Congress. Senate Democrats have promised to reject the bill within an hour. We're three hours away from shutdown.

Passport need renewing? Psyched for that totally amazing weekend you have lined up in Yellowstone? Well, John Boehner has some bad news for you: Unless the Senate agrees to delay the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (AKA ObamaKillsUCare) for an entire year, House Republicans will most likely let the government shut down on October 1st. Fun!