Over and over we have heard via the mass media that Republicans would be blamed for the so-called government shutdown.

We heard, ad nauseum, that Congress was gridlocked, couldn’t get anything done, and that Americans were tired of it and frustrated.

Some learned television commentators actually wept as they intoned that all Americans wanted was for representatives and senators to get along with each other. Others implied that it is simply unpatriotic for anyone in the House or Senate to vote for anything other than what the Democrats and the president wanted.

All the focus of the talking heads on television and the elite intellectual media, including pseudo conservative columnists George Will and David Brooks, has been on the House of Representatives. According to them, the Senate runs smoothly, while in the House only a few tea party types are responsible for preventing the government from functioning smoothly.

Of course, the House is controlled by nasty Republicans while over in the Senate progressive Democrats, aided by Republicans John McCain, Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham, rule the hen-house.

The consensus has been that if only a few more moderate Republicans would come over to the Democratic side, things would be hunky-dory.

In reality, Democrats are to blame for the so-called government shutdown (actually, over a million government workers will still go to their jobs and pretend to work; the pay of those who are “laid off” is likely to be atoned for in the next few months) and here’s why.

If a few Democrats in the Senate would switch sides that body could pass a bill repealing Obamacare sent to them from the House.

If a few Democrats would act responsibly the House could override any veto by President Obama.

So who is to blame for the shutdown?

It’s liberal Democrats, moderate Republicans who think like liberal Democrats and moderate Democrats scared to buck their liberal leaders.