Republican Shutdown Open Thread, Day 3

Republican Shutdown Open Thread, Day 3

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This, from Esquire's Charles Pierce, is a classic:
In the year of our Lord 2010, the voters of the United States elected the worst Congress in the history of the Republic. There have been Congresses more dilatory. There have been Congresses more irresponsible, though not many of them. There have been lazier Congresses, more vicious Congresses, and Congresses less capable of seeing forests for trees. But there has never been in a single Congress -- or, more precisely, in a single House of the Congress -- a more lethal combination of political ambition, political stupidity, and political vainglory than exists in this one, which has arranged to shut down the federal government because it disapproves of a law passed by a previous Congress, signed by the president, and upheld by the Supreme Court, a law that does nothing more than extend the possibility of health insurance to the millions of Americans who do not presently have it, a law based on a proposal from a conservative think-tank and taken out on the test track in Massachusetts by a Republican governor who also happens to have been the party's 2012 nominee for president of the United States. That is why the government of the United States is, in large measure, closed [Tuesday]. We have elected the people sitting on hold, waiting for their moment on an evening drive-time radio talk show. We have elected an ungovernable collection of snake-handlers, Bible-bangers, ignorami, bagmen and outright frauds, a collection so ungovernable that it insists the nation be ungovernable, too. We have elected people to govern us who do not believe in government.
Foxtail Highlights Wilmington’s Ethics Problem

Foxtail Highlights Wilmington’s Ethics Problem

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Monday night's marathon hearing of the City Council Joint Committees turned out to be the longest Council Meeting ever. You'll recall that this meeting was convened to probe how it happened that the City paid for WPD, WFD and Public Works resources used at the Foxtail Festival. I was there until about 10PM, so missed some of the later testimony. It was demoralizing sitting through this -- between the deflection attempts by Velda Jones-Potter, the disregard of the City's Ethics policy by pretty much everyone including members of City Council and the clear lack of command and control within the Administration. The meeting room was standing room only and many of them came sporting safety orange shirts. Not sure what the shirts were meant to do -- for a minute it looked like I had stumbled into a convention of the traffic safety folks that wave you through traffic at construction zones.
A different kind of temper tantrum

A different kind of temper tantrum

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You know when your toddler throws a temper tantrum because you told him or her that they cannot have something they want, like a toy or something random in the super market? And then there are times when they just freak out for no fucking reason discernible to any thinking rational person? Nothing calms them. They don't know what they want. They want something, and they are furious about not getting it, they just don't know what it is. Obviously, Republicans are acting like petulant children having a temper tantrum. That is not in dispute by anyone with an IQ above 5. But I thought it was because we Democrats and the President told the Republicans they could not have something they really really wanted. But now...
Refreshing candor from Fox’s Erick Erickson

Refreshing candor from Fox’s Erick Erickson

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This Red State diary departs from the usual GOP talking points about this shutdown being the President's fault due to his unwillingness to compromise.
This is About Shutting Down Obamacare By: Erick Erickson (Diary) | October 2nd, 2013 at 11:42 PM | 2 Congressmen, this is about shutting down Obamacare. Democrats keep talking about our refusal to compromise. They don’t realize our compromise is defunding Obamacare. We actually want to repeal it. This is it. Our endgame is to leave the whole thing shut down until the President defunds Obamacare. And if he does not defund Obamacare, we leave the whole thing shut down. After all, if the government is not spending any money, when we collide with the debt ceiling in two weeks, we should not have to worry since the government is spending so little money. This shutdown is about Obamacare. Congressmen, do not take your eyes off the ball. This is not about a grand bargain to restructure the tax code, reform entitlements, or raise revenue. This is about shutting down Obamacare.
John Carney still hoping for a bi-partisan Kum-ba-yah sing along

John Carney still hoping for a bi-partisan Kum-ba-yah sing along

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Just as Republicans live in a Fox News bubble of dis-reality, John carney has his own DC bi-partisan bubble which the simple fact that Republicans are fucking shit up cannot penetrate. As you read this bullshit, keep in mind the fact that John Carney's "Republican friends" all voted for John Boehner to be speaker and continue to support Boehner in his quest to fuck shit up.
When you’ve lost Tom Friedman…..

When you’ve lost Tom Friedman…..

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.... you really should just give up everything. On the other hand, I am given some pause when Tom Friedman sounds like me....
What is at stake in this government shutdown forced by a radical Tea Party minority is nothing less than the principle upon which our democracy is based: majority rule. President Obama must not give in to this hostage taking — not just because Obamacare is at stake, but because the future of how we govern ourselves is at stake.
We Don’t Care How Difficult a Bind You are In.

We Don’t Care How Difficult a Bind You are In.

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I keep hearing from Republicans that they really need to be rescued from a crisis from their own making from the Democrats and President Obama. I keep hearing about how much of a bind they are in, and damn it, those meanie Democrats will not help them out. I agree with the Washington Post editorial board:
[By] minimal standards, this Congress is failing. More specifically, the Republican leaders of the House of Representatives are failing. They should fulfill their basic duties to the American people or make way for legislators who will. We don't come to that view as rabid partisans. On many of the issues stalemating Washington, we find plenty of blame to go around. We've criticized President Obama's reluctance to pursue entitlement reform. The last time the country reached the debt ceiling, we urged both sides to compromise on revenue and spending in the interest of long-term fiscal soundness. This time, fiscal responsibility isn't even a topic. Instead, Republicans have shut much of the government in what they had to know was a doomed effort to derail the Affordable Care Act.... Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Budget Committee chairman and former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and their colleagues may be in a difficult political position. Honestly, we don't much care. They need to reopen the government and let it pay its bills.