Reporting the US shutdown, US newspaper foreign story style

How would US newspapers report the shutdown if it was happening in a different country?

Six years into his rule, Obama’s position can appear confusing, even contradictory. Though the executive retains control of the country’s powerful intelligence service, capable of the extrajudicial execution of the regime’s opponents half a world away, the president’s efforts to govern domestically have been stymied in the legislature by an extremist rump faction of the main opposition party.

Fascinating start to a new series from Slate.