Joel Stein: Seal of Approval

The government shutdown helps those who help sign off on wine labels

Illustration by Tomasz Walenta for TIME; Getty Images

The shutdown has proved that America can get by without a federal government but not without our billionaires and celebrities. John Arnold donated $10 million to Head Start. The late Zachary Fisher's charity is sending death benefits to military families whose checks are delayed. Stephen Colbert wedded a couple whose ceremony at the Jefferson Memorial was canceled. And TIME.com (a celebrity insofar as it has more Twitter followers than Tom Cruise) replaced the National Zoo's panda cam by pointing a webcam at a stuffed animal sitting near the writers' cubicles and, I'm guessing, paying it the same amount.

Clearly,...

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