Slow down that shutdown

OK, certain dumb automotive metaphors are always going to have some -- ahem -- traction here in the Motor City. Stuff is going to rev up, whether it should or not. Things are going to reach high gear, whether they're kicked there or not. But what happens, we're entitled to ask, when you put the brakes on a shutdown?

As it turns out, A.J, Liebling addressed the point in 1947, discussing the coverage of postwar food prices:

The Herald Tribune ran a front-page head on September 26, saying: HALT IN SPIRAL OF PRICES LED BY MEAT, EGGS.  Leading a halt, I imagine, would be rather like winning a race at a standstill.

Can't wait to see what the shutdown does when you take the brakes off!