But, for the same reason that it makes no sense to impeach either President Obama or Chief Justice Roberts, it makes no sense to attempt to defund Obamacare. That reason is that it cannot be done. The world is full of things that ought to be done but cannot in fact be done.

The time, effort, and credibility that Republicans are investing in trying to defund Obamacare is a high-risk, low-yield investment.

Even if, by some miracle, the Republicans managed to get the Senate to go along with defunding Obamacare, President Obama can simply veto the bill.

There is a United States of America today only because George Washington understood that his army was not able to fight the British troops everywhere, but had to choose carefully when and where to fight. Futile symbolic confrontations were a luxury that could not be afforded then and cannot be afforded now.