New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s snub from the Conservative Political Action Conference is dumb—he’s the most popular Republican governor in the country—but it makes sense: In the course of governing a blue state, he’s had to take positions that run counter to the national party. CPAC’s decision to exclude Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, on the other hand, makes no sense at all.

Today is the first day of the rest of your sequester, and the cuts are already coming—undocumented immigrants released from detention, furloughs on military bases, agencies scrambling to determine whom they won't be serving and what they won't be doing. The optimistic take on all this is that in a country where people regularly shout at their members of Congress, "Tell the government to keep its hands off my Medicare!", this could be an education. Start cutting back government services, and citizens will come to an understanding of some of the good things government does for them. Then that in turn will make the next crisis less likely, since the public won't stand for it.