What’s wrong with them?

The senseless standoff that led to the government shutdown epitomizes the worst of Washington: an ethos that being able to blame the other side for failure is as good, if not better, than getting something done in a bipartisan way. Throw in a lack of leadership and a lack of trust among people who were elected to run the country, and the result is a lost weekend of politicians scrambling to save face.

What a shameful exercise: apportioning blame instead of appropriating funds to keep the government afloat. Perhaps the most distressing aspect of the entire mess is that the Republican and Democratic leaders were not all that far apart if they were good to their word. Therein lies the problem.

Neither side should be exempt from culpability, but President Trump’s role — or lack thereof — merits particular attention. This is the man who insisted that President Obama be held accountable for a 2013 shutdown, because a president has “got to get everybody in a room and he’s got to lead” and that history is only going to remember “who the president was at that time.” Trump is also the 2016 candidate who sold himself as the master deal maker.

In this case, a vacillating Trump proved the deal complicator and ultimately the deal killer.

The complication was Trump’s move to rescind Obama-era protections for 800,000 young adults who were brought into the country as children, the “Dreamers.” Trump has claimed to empathize with their plight, and called on Congress to put into law the protections Obama made by executive order. Without congressional actions, deportations of Dreamers could begin in March — and Democrats, not trusting Trump or Republicans to act before the deadline, have insisted that such protections be included in the stopgap spending bill.

Trump had demanded that any such legislation must also include funding for his U.S.-Mexico border wall. Yes, that is the same wall that candidate Trump had promised would be paid for by Mexico.

Just when it seemed that a compromise was in the works, the deal blew up in a contentious White House meeting on Jan. 11 that included Trump’s caustic derision of immigrants from Haiti and Africa. Trump took a U-turn in tone and substance, suddenly accusing Democrats of hurting the military with their intransigence and advocating unchecked immigration.

The debate only degenerated from there, leading to the partial government shutdown when the clock struck midnight Saturday. It was the first government shutdown with one party in command of the executive and legislative branches. However, Democratic leaders can’t be let off the hook either. Their allor-nothing posture on the Dreamers contributed to the standoff.

It was telling that the first signs of movement Sunday came not from the White House or congressional leadership, but from about 20 centrist senators from both parties who were working up a compromise to keep the government running through Feb. 8.

Their efforts offered the only hope in a capital crib where leaders were blaming when they should have been leading.