Gazpacho: "What Did I Do?"

By Michael J.W. Stickings

One question I get a lot is, "What's your favorite band from Norway?" I always reply, "Gazpacho, of course. They're amazing. Not just my favourite Norwegian band but one of my favorite bands period. If you've never heard them, you're really missing out."

Okay, I've never gotten that question. But the rest is true.

In 2012, Gazpacho released its seventh studio album, March of Ghosts, on the great post-prog label Kscope. Here's what it's about:

While Missa Atropos [the band's previous album, from 2010] can be viewed as a concept album, following the story of one person leaving everything behind, [keyboardist] Thomas [Andersen] sees March of Ghosts much more as a collection of short tales; 'The idea was to have the lead character spend a night where all these ghosts (dead and alive) would march past him to tell their stories.'

Characters include Haitian war criminals, the crew of the Marie Celeste, a returning American WWI soldier who finds himself in 2012 and the ghost of an English comedy writer who was wrongly accused of treason and who will sit for eternity listening to gramophone recordings of the broadcasts he did on enemy radio. As lead singer Jan-Henrik [Ohme] explains, 'They are short stories. They are a march of ghosts. They are tales that need to be told.'

The English comedy writer in question is P.G. Wodehouse, perhaps best-known now as the creator of Jeeves, and the song is "What Did I Do?":

'What Did I Do?' is based around the story of the English writer P.G. Wodehouse who was accused of treason after a series of broadcasts he did on German radio during WWII. He was interned as a foreign national by the Germans and spent some time in prison camp before finally being released at 60.

After he was released he stayed for some time at a country estate where he was informed of what crimes the Nazis were guilty of and how impossibly stupid it was to agree to broadcast on their radio.

It is his ghost we hear sitting on the porch listening to the gramophone recordings of the broadcasts trying to understand why these simple funny narratives had caused such an uproar. The song also deals with our level of involvement in society. Are we by birth under any obligation to take part in whatever political or social system we are born into?

A great question asked by a great band in a great song on a great album. Here's the video:

Listening to Now: Sheryl Crow

By Richard K. Barry

This one is for Michael, who loves his country music.

P.M. Headlines

(Boston Globe): "Pentagon: Most furloughed civilians ordered back"

(New York Times): "Some in G.O.P. try to pick and choose amid spending fight"

(Dave Weigel): "How Democrats got a spine: The Republican Party taught them how to be uncompromising"

(TPM): "Arizona is only state to stop welfare checks during shutdown"

(New York Times): "U.S. says Navy SEALs stage raid on Somali militants"

Behind the Ad: John Boehner is a big crybaby

By Richard K. Barry

Who: House Majority PAC (a Democratic super-PAC)

Where: John Boehner's congressional district (OH-8th)

What's going on: In this 40-second spot call "Temper Tantrum," Boehner is attacked for the government shutdown. The ad will air only during the NFL game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the New England Patriots this Sunday.

The line to remember: “Speaker John Boehner didn’t get his way on shutting down health care reform. So, he shut down the government and hurt the economy." 

What is unstated is Boehner's tendency to turn on the waterworks himself, not that there's anything wrong with that. 

On the Hustings

(National Journal): "Women see GOP drifting further from them"

(Newsday): "Hillary Clinton to consider presidential run 'sometime next year'"

(Los Angeles Times): "Rick Perry: California's bad on every front. Vote for me?"

(Real Clear Politics): "N.J. debate underscores Booker-Lonegan divide"

(Washington Post): "Wendy Davis faces very long odds in the Texas governor’s race. Here’s why"

Republicans are so damned annoying

By Richard K. Barry

The Hill writes today that Republicans have settled on a message to attack Democrats on the shutdown.

Polls show more people are blaming the GOP for the shutdown than the White House, but Republicans think their work on a stream of bills that would fund specific parts of the government is helping them build a narrative of Democratic intransigence.

[...]

“Republicans have figured out a strategy, by sending rifle-shot bills to open different parts of the government, that has put Democrats into a box of saying no. By voting no repeatedly it allows Republicans an excellent messaging opportunity of painting Democrats as refusing to negotiate,” says Ron Bonjean, a top GOP strategist.

I get that in politics it's not typically a good idea to overestimate the intelligence of the American people, but how stupid do you have to be to be fooled by this?  Republicans first shut down the government and then argue that they ought to decide, piecemeal, what gets funded and what doesn't. 

So far, it's not working as a Fox News poll shows 42 percent of voters blaming the GOP, with 32 percent blaming Democrats, while a CBS poll found the split at 44 percent to 35 percent.

The thing that is potentially dangerous, as Bonjean points out,  is that every time a vulnerable Democrat votes no on any "re-funding" proposal, a campaign ad is being written. 

All that being said, I'll ask along with everyone else, what's the endgame?

Debt ceiling crisis options

By Frank Moraes

Yesterday, Adam Liptak wrote an interesting article in theNew York Times, Experts See Potential Ways Out for Obama in Debt Ceiling Maze. It discusses three ideas—two of which you have probably heard before. And the one new one is kind of dumb. Still, I think it is important to discuss them.

But before getting to the specifics, I should note: the White House could not be any clearer that none of these ideas is valid. And I think we should believe them. There are two sides to this. One the front side, they have to say that to put pressure on Congress to use normal order to raise the Debt Ceiling. But on the back side, I'm sure that Obama is concerned that if he does anything that is considered even slightly shady from a Constitutional perspective, the House would almost certainly vote to impeach him. Just the same, I think this is typical cowardly Obama, because the Senate would never have the votes to convict. What's more, the Republicans would end up looking really bad, impeaching two consecutive Democratic presidents over trivial issues that they more or less created. But I think that Obama might change his tune if we are on the verge of default.

Read more »

Just the usual casual bigotry and abject stupidity on full display at Fox News

By Michael J.W. Stickings

When I first read about this at New York's Daily Intelligencer blog, I thought it must be a joke:

[F]rom the moment it was decided to pair the hosts of Fox & Friends with Hispanic meteorologist Maria Molina for a segment on National Taco Day this morning, the derp was inevitable.

It was inevitable that Brian Kilmeade would ask Molina, "What are tips we need to know to do it correctly? You grew up on tacos, correct?"

It was inevitable that Steve Doocy would pause from stuffing his face to chide, "She did not grow — she's Colombian."

It was inevitable that Molina would inform both hosts that she was Nicaraguan and tacos are not a Nicaraguan food. And it was inevitable that Elisabeth Hasselbeck would chime in, "But if you did — if you did grow up on tacos..."

Such are the laws of the physical universe.

But, no, it's no joke. This actually happened. Because it's Fox News. And because Fox & Friends in particular is populated with morons.

A.M. Headlines

(Chicago Tribune): "Washington enters fifth day of shutdown, no end in sight"

(The Hill): "GOP finds its shutdown message"

(New York Times): "Boehner urges G.O.P. unity in ‘epic battle’"

(New York Times): "Pent-up demand for health insurance'"

(ABC News): "Karen continues move toward northern Gulf Coast"

Listening to Now: Jack Johnson - "I Got You"

P.M. Headlines

(Politico): "Bad blood: Four feuding leaders"

(Greg Sagrent): "Dems move to force Republicans to reopen the government"

(Robert Costa): "The emerging offer"

(Jonathan Chait): "Yes, the White House is ‘winning’"

(San Jose Mercury News): "Red Cross helping Sandy victims still in NY hotels"

GOP losing government shutdown battle

By Frank Moraes

As I was waiting around at the San Francisco VA, I picked up a copy of the SF Examiner and I was very surprised to see the political cartoon above. It isn't the cartoon itself—I know of lots of liberal political cartoonists. But what was the Examiner publishing it for? And then right next to it was an editorial, "GOP Needs to Stop Obamacare Fight for Good of Nation."

It was two years ago when I last read the Examiner. (I don't go out of my way; it's a terrible paper.) And at that time, three of the four editorials were from the Weekly Standard. The Examiner has been a very conservative paper since it became free and changed to tabloid format. It could be that that the paper just changes with the winds and it is now liberal. I didn't see anything else that indicated a partisan take on the news—one way or another. But it seems clear that if the Republicans have lost the Examiner, they are losing this battle. Bad.

At the beginning of the government shutdown, I was a little worried. As I reported after the first day, the press was framing the issue in the Republican way. They were pitching it as a negotiation. One would never call a blackmailer's demands a negotiation. But it seems to have turned around. It isn't just the Examiner.

Read more »

Behind the Ad: Ann Kirkpatrick gets a challenger

By Richard K. Barry

Who: Andy Tobin

Where: Arizona 1st congressional district

What's going on: Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick has represented the district since 2013 and had previously represented the same district from 2009 to 2011. She was defeated by Republican Paul Gosar in the 2010 election. George W. Bush got 54% of the vote in this district in 2004. John McCain also carried the district in 2008 with 54.42% of the vote while Barack Obama received 44.25%. It's generally considered a swing district. 

Republican Andy Tobin, who is currently the Arizona House Speaker, began his candidacy by attacking Kirkpatrick in a press release:

There could be no harsher reminder of why we need new leadership in Washington. Arizona is under attack by the federal government, and Ann Kirkpatrick is part of the problem. Kirkpatrick is so committed to protecting ObamaCare and supporting Nancy Pelosi, she has literally voted to shut down the Grand Canyon.

The Tuscon Weekly describes the race like this:

CD1 is now represented by Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, who won a close race against Republican Jonathan Paton last year. While the district has Democratic edge, some of those Democrats are conservative rural types who might cross over for the right GOP candidate, so it's a competitive district.

The ad is of the general "here's who I am, and here's why I'm running" variety:

On the Hustings

(Roll Call): "5 Senate fundraising reports to watch"

(Washington Post):  "Montana Lt. Gov. John Walsh (D) to run for Senate"

(Des Moines Register): "Kent Sorenson resigns from Senate: Investigation into Bachmann payments finds 'probable cause' he broke ethics rules"

(Real Clear Politics): "Ex-Bush aide Griffin to seek N.C. House seat"

(The Hill): "Dem super PAC hitting nine House Republicans on shutdown"

Cracks among the cracked

By Mustang Bobby

First it’s just a little tremble. Then a pebble falls. Then a twig snaps. Then you feel a little movement, and soon the ground is shifting. Then pretty soon the whole thing gives way and it’s down the mountain we go.

In a Capitol rattled by a shooting on the grounds that killed a woman and injured a police officer, tempers have flared and pressure appears to be mounting to resolve a stalemate that has shut large parts of the government, sidelined 800,000 federal workers and forced more than one million more to work without pay.

As the shooting incident was still unfolding, Representative Tim Griffin, Republican of Arkansas, took to Twitter to imply a connection with the shots fired outside the Capitol and the heated words inside. “Stop the violent rhetoric President Obama, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. #Disgusting,” he wrote, only to delete the message later.

There were signs on Thursday, however, that some lawmakers were willing to work together to end the dispute. About 20 Republicans and Democrats signed on to a proposal that would reopen the government, finance it for six months and repeal the health care law’s tax on medical devices, a provision that has bipartisan opposition.

Representatives Charlie Dent, Republican of Pennsylvania, and Ron Kind, Democrat of Wisconsin, framed it as a compromise that both sides should be willing to accept to reopen the government.

“It’s important that we accept incremental progress when we can,” Mr. Dent said. “What we’re talking about here is leadership.”

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, approached Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, to try to open talks, also centered on the medical device tax as a face-saving victory for Republicans looking for a graceful way to back down.

I think I just heard a twig snap.

Note to Chuck Schumer: Do not let them have a graceful way out. Make it public, make it uncomfortable, make them pay for it.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

Quote of the shutdown from a Republican congressman without a clue

By Michael J.W. Stickings

In case you missed it, here's the genius quote from Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN):

We're not going to be disrespected... We have to get something out of this. And I don't know what that even is.

Yup, that pretty much sums it up. The Shutdown Republicans who control their miserable party obviously don't have a fucking clue what they're doing.

Except that they're going to keep on doing it, as Rep. Tom Cole explained:

When asked if House Republicans would vote on a "clean" continuing resolution, he said, "Why in the world would you do that?" Cole said of the clean funding bill. "That's basically, at this point, a surrender to the Democratic position."

Petulance, ignorance, bitterness, anger, hatred, vindictiveness, stubbornness, and contempt for the democratic process and even for the American people.

This is the Republican Party.

Republicans still denying health care to millions of Americans

By Michael J.W. Stickings

From the Times:

A sweeping national effort to extend health coverage to millions of Americans will leave out two-thirds of the poor blacks and single mothers and more than half of the low-wage workers who do not have insurance, the very kinds of people that the program was intended to help, according to an analysis of census data by The New York Times.

Because they live in states largely controlled by Republicans that have declined to participate in a vast expansion of Medicaid, the medical insurance program for the poor, they are among the eight million Americans who are impoverished, uninsured and ineligible for help. The federal government will pay for the expansion through 2016 and no less than 90 percent of costs in later years.

Those excluded will be stranded without insurance, stuck between people with slightly higher incomes who will qualify for federal subsidies on the new health exchanges that went live this week, and those who are poor enough to qualify for Medicaid in its current form, which has income ceilings as low as $11 a day in some states. 

If you're poor, the Republicans basically don't give a shit about you -- unless they think they can somehow manipulate you into voting for them, and even then they don't.

They truly are a cruel and vindictive bunch of class warmongering thugs.

A.M. Headlines

(New York Times): "Rattled Congress seeks way out of its standoff"

(Wall Street Journal): "GOP begins search for broad deal on budget"

(Salon): "Republicans finally confronting reality: They’re trapped!"

(USA Today): "China launches charm offensive as Obama cancels Asia trip"

(Yahoo! News): "Mississippi blues: The cost of rejecting Medicaid expansion"

Reality is not your friend, Republicans

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Salon:

After struggling for weeks and weeks in stages one through four, Republicans are finally entering the final stage of grief over the death of their belief that President Obama would begin offering concessions in exchange for an increase in the debt limit.

The catalyzing event appears to have been an hour-plus-long meeting between Obama and congressional leaders at the White House on Wednesday. Senior administration officials say that if the meeting accomplished only one thing it was to convey to Republican leaders the extent of Obama's determination not to negotiate with them over the budget until after they fund the government and increase the debt limit. These officials say his will here is stronger than at any time since he decided to press ahead with healthcare reform after Scott Brown ended the Democrats' Senate supermajority in 2010.

There's evidence that it sunk in.

Yes, and this is why we're now hearing more nonsense about a Grand Bargain, as the Republican leadership is desperate to come away from this self-created disaster with something, anything with which to claim even just a trace of victory.

The only thing that might change Obama's position is if Boehner decided to sprint into his waiting arms, burning his bridges to House conservatives behind him. If Boehner wanted to finish the budget deal he almost reached with Obama late last year, revenue and all, then throw in a debt limit increase, and a budget for the government, Obama wouldn't freeze him out. But it doesn't sound like that's what Boehner has in mind.

And Republicans wouldn't allow it anyway. Boehner is fucked, you see, and so is his wretched party, as long as the president stands firm.

Listening to Now: Paul Desmond - "Autumn Leaves"

By Richard K. Barry

P.M. Headlines

(CNN Politics): "Woman shot and killed after chase near U.S. Capitol"

(Washington Post): "GOP aides: Boehner tells colleagues he will avoid a default on federal debt"

(Democracy Corps): "Inside the GOP: Report on focus groups with Evangelical, Tea Party, and moderate Republicans"

(Daily Beast): "GOP donors revolt against Republican-led government shutdown"

(TPM): "McConnell, Rand Paul caught on hot mic talking shutdown strategy"

The marching morons

By Carl 

Apocryphal or not, the image of lemmings committing mass suicide is ingrained in our culture, so much so that we may borrow it to describe the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives:

As the shutdown lingers, some Republican moderates are openly frustrated that tea party darling Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas appears to be calling the shots on what House Republicans do next. Cruz was one of the first to suggest passing narrow bills that fund those government agencies or functions that generate any public backlash.

"I think the leadership is committed to play the Cruz strategy all the way out," California Rep. Devin Nunes told reporters, before adding "if you can call it a strategy."

For two days, GOP leaders have pushed through a series of piecemeal spending bills for floor votes that would fund things like veterans affairs, national parks and medical research. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Wednesday they plan to continue doing this.

"We've got ways to ease the pain on people," Cantor said. "We agree on a lot around here. We ought to fund that, and then we ought to sit down and talk about that which we don't.

Apparently, lemmings aren't blind. They're just wimps.

Congressman Cantor, you brought this upon yourself. No point in getting weak-kneed now that your own supporters, Teabaggers and fiscal conservatives, are feeling the pain. Hunting season is upon us, yet hunters out west can't go into national parks legally. Poor children with cancer, many of them who live near toxic waste sites and other highly carcinogenic locales in red states where environmental regulations are "lax" to be polite, are without last hope now that the NIH is closed.

Read more »

Mitt Romney says something clever

By Richard K. Barry

Mitt Romney has been critical of the GOP's approach of shutting down the government to attack Obamacare, as have many Republicans. He has also flattered himself by saying that if he'd been elected president not only would he have given opponents of the ACA a single spokesman, but he would have reached across the aisle to Democrats.

My guess is that the only reaching across the aisle Romney would have done would be to grab Democrats by the balls. As for Republicans lacking focused leadership, he said this:

When you don't have a president, every congressman, every senator, every governor, thinks they're the spokesman for the party. And the one that lights their hair on fire is the one that gets on the evening news.

On that, Romney has a point. In today's GOP, everyone is in charge so no one is in charge. And I would add that as much as Republicans criticize Obama for not negotiating, it's difficult to negotiate when there is no clear understanding of where the power lies.

On the Hustings

(Qunnipiac University): "de Blasio landslide buries Lhota in New York City, poll finds"

(Politics PA): "SP&R poll: Corbett approval negative, 58%-33%"

(The Hill): "Shutdown fight spreads to VA governor's race with ads targeting federal workers"

(Roll Call): "Bill Shuster stomps Tea Party challenger in early GOP poll [PA-9th CD]"

(Real Clear Politics): "Clinton dominates '16 Poll; GOP hopefuls clustered"

Ali Ezzatyar talking Iran on Al Jazeera

By Michael J.W. Stickings

As some of you may know, one of our contributors at The Reaction is Ali Ezzatyar, a lawyer who is currently the executive director of the Berkeley Program on Entrepreneurship and Democracy in the Middle East. (Yes, he mostly writes about the Middle East for us. His understanding of the region is, needless to say, extensive. For example, back in June he wrote about Turkey's protests and Erdogan's authoritarianism.)

Here is Ali on Al Jazeera America recently discussing the apparent thawing of relations between the U.S. and Iran, as well as the worsening state of the Iranian economy. Suffice it to say, the guy knows what he's talking about.

Obamacare is actually really popular

By Michael J.W. Stickings

The Republican-caused government shutdown is about a lot of things, and Obamacare is just one of them. Yes, Republicans want to defund it, or delay it, or whatever, but they also hate government -- except when it comes to law and order to protect their beloved property and make sure people are in their proper place in the social order (basically, there are the rich and the help) and when it comes to enforcing their theocratic moralizing (particularly with respect to women's health).

But Obamacare is still at the center of this mess, and Republicans want to kill it not just because they hate government but because they know, or at least the more perceptive among them do, that it could turn out to be a huge electoral boon for Democrats for years to come -- Republicans are desperately trying to disenfranchise Democratic voters, as you know, but what if voters generally come to reward Democrats for providing expanded access to health insurance while also reducing costs?

Republicans are obviously running out of time. And, really, there's no time left. Obamacare is now in place, for the most part, and it will only further cement itself in the social fabric over time. So this is very much a last-ditch effort to kill it by shutting down the government and, as we'll soon see again, holding the country, and indeed the global economy, hostage over the debt ceiling, threatening what would likely be a massive economic catastrophe just to get their way.

And one thing that seems to be driving them, and giving them the confidence to continue their fight, is Obamacare's supposed unpopularity. The polls say so, and of course their right-wing echo chamber is filled with hatred and venom for anything and everything associated with President Obama, even a market-oriented health-care system that is essentially Republican in origin. All they hear -- from each other, from their constituents, from Fox News and the rest of the conservative media establishment -- is that Obamacare is, in a word, evil.

Are they right about that? Is Obamacare really so unpopular that Republicans could actually stand to benefit from killing it by any means possible?

Well, it depends how you look at it, but, basically, no.

Read more »

The Expendables

By Mustang Bobby

There seems to be no limit to the shamelessness of the Republicans. Via Dave Wiegel at Slate:

The heartbreaking predicament of the Honor Flights emerged yesterday as a flash point for anti-shutdown anger. Quickly, inevitably, the story of elderly World War II veterans taking trips to see their memorial in D.C. became a political cause for Republicans. (I spent the morning at the memorial, with a story coming later today.) On Tuesday, Park Police put up very little resistence when a Mississippi-heavy crew of Honor Flight vets showed up and Mississippi Rep. Steven Palazzo moved a flimsy fence to let them in. Later in the day, conservatives glommed on to reports that the Park Police—i.e., the Obama administration—would handcuff future veteran-tourists.

[...]


At the memorial, Park Police put up no resistence to the protesters, allowing congressmen and Honor Flight organizers to move a fence and then telling reporters that the whole affair was a First Amendment exercise. That didn’t stop a series of congressmen from hectoring Park Police and demanding answers, as if they were not, themselves, capable of ending the shutdown.

The spectacle of clowns like Michele Bachmann saying that it was the evil Obama administration that shut down the government is enough to make you want to throw things, and using World War II veterans as hostages is something that should land her and her followers in a cell at The Hague.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

A.M. Headlines

(CBS News): "Poll: Americans not happy about shutdown; more blame GOP"

(ABC News): "Analysis: Republicans get opposite of stated goals"

(The Hill): "Bank CEOs huddle with Obama"

(New York Times): "In showdown with G.O.P., a scrappy Reid plays hardball"

(NPR): "NSA head admits testing U.S. cellphone tracking"

(New York Times): "At least 62 passengers die in shipwreck off Sicily"

P.M. Headlines

(Boston Globe): "Sides meet on shutdown with no sign of yielding"

(Wall Street Journal): "Lawmakers look to break budget impasse"

(TPM): "With traditional GOP allies defecting, big business takes sides with Obama"

(Jonathan Chait): "Why the shutdown is leading to debt default; or, what happens when you take hostages without a plan"

(CNBC): "Obama to Wall Street: This time be worried"

(USA Today): "High volume spurs health exchange system crash"

The light at the end of the tunnel

By Carl  

Day 2 of the Republican temper tantrum, but the end is in sight. 

No, there’s no secret backroom negotiations. It’s merely the will of the American people being exercised. 

You see, nobody expected the volume of people who wanted – no, needed – to sign up for health insurance. "Needed," because under the old system insurance was unaffordable, healthcare doubly so. 

This is an initiative that is wildly popular, despite polling you may have seen, precious few of which segregate people who don't like Obamacare because they don't like Obama from liberals who don’t like Obamacare because it doesn't go far enough. 

Here's one that approaches the initiative from the perspective of people who really don't want national health insurance. As you can see, about a third of the nation supports repealing the bill, as flawed as it is. So when you read that "47% of people oppose Obamacare," keep in mind that about 15% of that wishes it went further. Add them to the consistent 45% that support Obamacare, and you have a grand 58% near-supermajority.

Read more »

Start of the government shutdown

By Frank Moraes 

I haven't had much to say about the government shutdown, because, hey, there isn't a lot to say. But after the first day, there are a few things. I have to admit to being a bit concerned about how the shutdown is playing in the press. Ed Kilgore provided a number of headlines that, intentional or not, feed the Republican narrative. The most obvious partisanship came from Fox News, of course: "Partial Shutdown Begins: Can Congress, White House Compromise?" That one's fun because it pushes the Fox News idea that is everywhere in their coverage this isn't a real shutdown but only a "slimdown." If only Newt had had the help of Fox News in 1995!

What's more generally worrisome about these headlines is that the Republican position is simply that they want compromise. But the issue here is not one of negotiation. This is extortion. It is wrong to say, "The parents don't want to pay any money and the kidnappers want two million dollars; why can't they just compromise?!" That's what's going on. None of the other headlines use the word "compromise," but they are all have similar "both sides now" coverage. For example, the Washington Post headline was: "In Shutdown Blame Game, Democrats and Republicans United: It's the Other Side's Fault." Because each side says that they are right, the good "objective" reports can't look at the actual facts and determine who is right. Our mainstream press is fully in the grip of postmodern analysis, "Who can say which side is right? It's just a matter of opinion!"

Meanwhile, in the trenches, we have Ted Cruz pushing the idea that we should just break up the Federal budget and fund the things we really like. You know, it's really sad that Yosemite is closed on its birthday, so let's open that. Of course, as Matt Yglesias correctly points out, the whole purpose (on both sides) is that a government shutdown is supposed to be painful. I'll go further: Cruz's idea is a typical conservative gambit. The idea is to restart programs that might hurt the rich and middle classes (e.g. the national parks) to take off the pressure to ever start back up programs that help the poor. He is an evil little man.

Read more »

On the Hustings

(Real Clear Politics): "Rick Perry: Implementing Obamacare 'a criminal act'"

(National Review): "Booker lead slips to six points"

(Politico): "Government shutdown: Red-state Senate Dems stick with their party"

(The Hill): "‘Alarm bells’ ringing over Republicans' flagging outreach efforts"

(Roll Call): "Lt. Governor explores House primary challenge in Missouri | #MO08"

Boehner's turds

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Well done, Daily News, very well done:

Obamacare vs. the Affordable Care Act

By Richard K. Barry

I still mostly think democracy is good idea, but there are times my faith is badly shaken. Here Jimmy Kimmel asks people if they prefer Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act with sadly predictable results.

Oy vey.

Declare Martial Law for Jesus

By Capt. Fogg

I don't know if you're getting your TV using an antenna, but if you are, it's a different world than the TVland you see on satellite or cable. Docked at a marina, looking for something to watch on the tube with no access to cable, one thing you'll notice is that there are a lot of Christian stations and a lot of boisterous preachers pounding away on the Bible. 6 to 1 on a Sunday afternoon in places like Vero Beach, Florida.

So if your idiot box is fed by an antenna, perhaps you know about Rick Joyner. Perhaps you have watched his internet program. Perhaps you've identified him as as much of a subversive seditionist as Luigi Galleani, as much of a terrorist as any of the bomb throwing anarchists of that day or ours. There was a time when Eugene Debbs was thrown in jail for simply mentioning his distaste for US involvement in a European war and Conservative fear of subversives has continued through the McCarthy era and into the present. Show up at a Quaker prayer vigil for peace in 1965, as I once did and you got yourself on an FBI list. George Bush era government agents were tapping the phones of Quakers not long ago and now, of course they can and they may be tapping yours and mine to make sure nobody is plotting terrorist acts.

Read more »

Republicans vs. children with cancer: The human cost of the shutdown

By Michael J.W. Stickings

It's bad enough that the EPA and other agencies are almost entirely closed, that the Social Security Administration has been stripped down to a bare minimum, that NASA has put most of its research on hold, that some programs that support those in need have been halted, that veterans may soon not get disability and pension payments, that the national parks and museums are closed, and of course that hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed, sent home without pay.

The shutdown isn't just some abstraction. It's directly impacting millions and millions of Americans, not to mention some pretty important things the government does (you know, like environmental protection).

And it's worse than you think:

At the National Institutes of Health, nearly three-quarters of the staff was furloughed. One result: director Francis Collins said about 200 patients who otherwise would be admitted to the NIH Clinical Center into clinical trials each week will be turned away. This includes about 30 children, most of them cancer patients, he said.

That's right: children with cancer.

And all because the Republicans, controlled by the far-right extremists who make up their new core and who dominate their base, are batshit insane.

A.M. Headlines

(Politico): "Collision course: CR and debt ceiling"

(New York Times): "House G.O.P. pushes piecemeal approach as Democrats stand firm"

(The Hill): "House votes down GOP's piecemeal spending bills"

(CNN): "Poll: Majority says raise debt ceiling"

(CBC News): "Obama cancels Malaysia visit after government shutdown"

Drunk Republicans?

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Salon:

In a Tuesday interview, Rep. Alan Grayson charged that Republican House members have been literally intoxicated while casting votes on the continuing resolutions that set the stage for today's government shutdown. Noting "a number of public reports that you can smell alcohol on their breath as they're voting gleefully to shut down the government and create chaos," Grayson said that he had personally witnessed GOP colleagues smelling like alcohol. "Many of them seem loaded," said Grayson. The Florida congressman declined to name names, saying, "it's the usual suspects," but that he didn't "really feel like getting that personal with people."

A spokesperson for Speaker John Boehner did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Politico reporter Ginger Gibson tweeted Saturday that she could "smell the booze wafting from members as they walk off the floor."

Grayson said he thinks on-the-job alcohol consumption by GOP House members has "been a problem all year long."

"It's a fact we all have to live with," Grayson told Salon, "and it's making them violent and abusive towards America."

Well, that would explain a lot, but for most people drinking booze doesn't turn them into right-wing extremists. So there are probably other reasons as well:

Grayson also blamed today's shutdown on Republicans' "anarchist ideology" and "blind hatred of government," saying they've become "the Captain Ahabs of 21st century American politics."

Well, it's more fascist than anarchist, but, yes, there is that blind hatred of government, although personally I wouldn't link them in any way to great American literature.

The point is, I don't think Republicans need alcohol to push their far-right agenda, nor to wage their relentless war against government, nor to wage their campaign of terrorism against President Obama, nor to shit all over the American people (other than their beloved plutocracy).

The alcohol probably just makes them even less coherent, and perhaps a little more violent as well.

P.M. Headlines

(NBC Politics): "Dems pledge to reject GOP 'piecemeal' effort to fund parks, vets"

(Washington Post): "Are House Republicans looking for a way out?"

(Politico): "Government shutdown: John Boehner’s private fight for Hill health subsidies"

(ThinkProgress): "Six headlines about the government shutdown that will destroy your faith in journalism"

(Wall Street Journal): "Health exchanges open for business"

Welcome, comrades!

By Carl

Is Obamacare. Vary nice! We are all socialists now, no? After all, that’s what we’ve been warned about since the bill was proposed. And passed. And affirmed by the SCOTUS. So get your little red book of the sayings of Chairman Mao out of the box you stashed it in back in the early 80s, put up your poster of Joe Stalin, and get ready to stand in line for bread and toilet paper!

Oh, and the government is shut down. So yes, really, get ready to stand in lines.

Or to quote John Boehner: "The House has voted to keep the government open but we also want basic fairness for all Americans under Obamacare."

Huh? “Basic fairness”? Isn’t that what healthcare reform provides? A lowering of medical costs? A lowering of premiums as competition is introduced into the marketplace? How is anything other than what we had NOT FAIRER????

By the way, socialism is coming to America, and the red states will be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 20th Century.

Here’s why:



(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.)

Behind the Ad: Texas Sen. John Cornyn goes all science fiction

By Richard K. Barry

Who: Senator John Cornyn

Where: Texas (web ad)

What's going on: Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, is up for reelection next year. In this ad, which is just over a minute long, a dystopian image of what will happen in Texas should it become a blue state is what we see.

Apparently the piece is a swipe at "Battleground Texas," a group led by Obama campaign veterans who would very much like to turn Texas blue. 

Should Democrats take over, the "Texas miracle" will be over, the ad intones, as more people leave the state than ever before with skyrocketing taxes and a lack of energy jobs due to new environmental regulations. And what's more, there will be higher taxes, higher unemployment and a government drowning in debt. You can count on it. 

And you might not even be able to shoot anybody for messin' with Texas. 

If nothing else, Cornyn gets high marks for successfully mimicking a really bad undergraduate film school project. 

On the Hustings

(Quinnipiac): "Dems up 9 points in 2014 Congressional races"

(New Republican): "Think 1996 was bad for the GOP? This time will be much, much worse"

(The Hill): "House Dems hitting House GOP with robocalls on shutdown"

(Roll Call): "A contracting company ad … for Congress? | #MN06"

(Washington Post): Cuccinelli highlights Obamacare fight"

Ken Cuccinelli's best buddy Ted Cruz

By Richard K. Barry

This is definitely worth a look. American Bridge, a pro-Democratic PAC, found this clip from last year in which Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli sings the praises of extremist GOP Senator Ted Cruz. So far, Cuccinelli has avoided talking about his party's dance with shutting down the government, which I've got to think would be fairly unpopular in a state with so many federal employees.

Cuccinelli said then that we need more Ted Cruzes. I wonder if he is still saying that in public?

What's opened, what's closed

By Mustang Bobby

Here’s a handy graph that tells you who gets furloughed and who doesn’t in the shutdown.

Each cabinet-level department and federal agency was required to identify essential personnel and determine which operations would continue if no deal were reached by Tuesday, the first day of the new fiscal year.

Although huge parts of the federal bureaucracy could be forced to close, many government functions would continue.

Senior Pentagon officials said on Friday that the more than 1.3 million active military personnel would remain on duty during a shutdown but would probably not receive their paychecks until a spending agreement was reached. The service members and civilians who stay on the job would be categorized as essential to the protection of life and property and to national security.

About half of the Defense Department’s approximately 800,000 civilian employees would be furloughed without pay.

[...]

The Food and Drug Administration would continue some vital activities, like product recalls and the inspection of imports, but would curtail many other food safetyactivities.

National parks and their visitor centers would be closed, but other Interior Department operations would carry on. Approximately 500 Fish and Wildlife Service employees, whose salaries are paid by a permanent appropriation, would continue caring for animals at parks and hatcheries. At the United States Geological Survey, employees would continue to monitor equipment to forecast floods or detect earthquakes and volcano activity. Native Americans would continue to receive benefits payments, and the Bureau of Indian Education would operate its schools.

At my office, things will go on as usual because we’re a local educational agency and our federal funds have already been appropriated or don’t need Congressional approval. But we’ll see if we can get anyone at the U.S. Department of Education to answer the phone.

(Cross-posted at Mustang Bobby.)