Hashtag Government: Republicans and Democrats spent a lot of energy yesterday pinning the blame on each other for the government shutdown with Twitter hashtags. President Trump offered “#DemocratShutdown,” which just doesn’t sing.  The Democrats are pushing “#TrumpShutdown.” The Republicans are going with “#SchumerShutdown” after Senate minority leader Charles Schumer, and you have to admit that it has an attractive alliteration.

Maybe the most important words yesterday came from legislative affairs director Marc Short, who said the White House will not negotiate until the Democrats agree to let the government re-open. There’s nothing like an ultimatum to stiffen everyone’s position.

The Democrats are holding out for the resolution of DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals that protects nearly 800,000 young immigrants from deportation. The two parties had an agreement this past week, and the approval of President Trump, until he changed his mind and it all blew up in the infamous “shithole” meeting at the White House.

Schumer said, “Negotiating with this White House is like negotiating with Jell-O. It’s next to impossible.”

Short said, “We will not negotiate the status of 690 thousand unlawful immigrants while hundreds of millions,  of taxpaying Americans, including hundreds of thousands of our troops in uniform and border agents protecting our country are held hostage by Senate Democrats.”

It all played out against the backdrop if the second Women’s March in Washington and across the country. Hundreds of thousands of people marched in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and many smaller cities.

The first March took place last year in an act of mass outrage against the election of President Trump. Yesterday, though, Trump played it as an occasion to celebrate him. He tweeted, “Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!”

That’s not what they were marching about.

Permawar: Gunmen stormed the Intercontinental, the biggest hotel in Kabul, trapping hundreds of hotel guests. There was an explosion, which caused a fire. Afghan forces were being held at bay while they planned a rescue operation.

The Nuclear Games: North Korea is sending 22 athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics, including women hockey players who will be on a joint North/South Korean team. The North is also sending alpine and cross country skiers, a figure skating pair, and short track speed skaters.

The entire North Korean team will be vastly outnumbered by their cheerleaders.

Final Four: Jacksonville plays the Patriots tomorrow afternoon, followed by an evening game between the Vikings and the Eagles to determine who goes to the Super Bowl.

The big story of the day is that the Patriots’ unstoppable quarterback Tom Brady is nursing a mysterious injury to his right hand and has been listed as “questionable” for the game. Brady is reported to have cut a knuckle on his throwing hand in a collision with a running back. He’s been wearing a glove.

It’s hard to believe Brady won’t play in this crucial game. The Patriots’ crafty coach Bill Belichick never lets on what he’s thinking.

The Obit Page: Dorothy Malone, the sultry blonde actress who starred in the 1960s prime-time soap opera “Peyton Place,” has died at age 92.

Malone broke out opposite Humphrey Bogart in the 1946 detective film, “The Big Sleep.” She was a bookstore clerk who shares a bottle of rye with the detective Philip Marlowe on a rainy day. In an improvised move that just about melted the screen, Malone takes off her glasses, pulls down a window shade and says, “Looks like we’re closed for the rest of the afternoon.” —French chef Paul Bocuse, a prime mover in the nouvelle cuisine movement of the 1960s and 70s and one of the original celebrity chefs, has died at age 91. Bocuse updated traditional French cooking with new ingredients, lighter sauces, and innovative flavors. He put an emphasis on visual presentation.

As Nouvelle Cuisine spread, the results were mixed. Some chefs served what amounted to a plate artfully decorated with morsels of food.

Bocuse was a relentless self-promoter, clearing a path for the self-promoting ceelbrity chefs of today. “You’ve got to beat the drum in life,” he told People magazine in 1976. “God is already famous, but that doesn’t stop the preacher from ringing the church bells every morning.”

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