Government Shutdown Day 5
No way to run a country—"The Land of the Free is starting to look ungovernable. Enough is enough."
Washington enters fifth day of shutdown, no end in sight—Still deadlocked.
House Republicans predict government shutdown will go on for weeks
'I won't pay a ransom,' says Obama—He said members of Congress "don't get to hold our democracy or our economy hostage over a settled law. They don't get to kick a child out of Head Start if I don't agree to take her parents' health insurance away."
How Democrats grew a spine—"The intransigence of Democrats, from Obama on down to red-state senators, has surprised the GOP."
Dems move to force Republicans to reopen the government
How the shutdown hurts the economy, in one chart
US shutdown: 10 unexpected consequences
Tantrum
Angry Boehner Tells White House Shutdown Isn't a 'Damn Game'—Playing pissed.
John Boehner Blamed For Shutdown In New 'Temper Tantrum' Ad To Air During Sunday Football
Parenting Advice for Democrats: How to Handle the Republican Temper Tantrum
GOP
The GOP Doesn't Know It's Losing
The GOP's Misinformation Problem in Action—Cruz claims GOP has already 'compromised' by voting to defund and not repeal the ACA. Oy.
The Republicans Are Starting to Reek of Desperation—Ironically and desperately portraying the Democrats as the party of 'no'.
Dumbest extortion attempt ever: Republican scheme's perverse logic—"GOP's demands are putting the economy and American presidency on the line -- and now they can't back away from them." Salon
Why Republicans Shut Down the Government—"If you want to understand why the government is shut down or why elected Republicans would even consider doing something as reckless as using a debt default to extract policy concessions from the White House -- without necessarily even knowing which policy concessions they want -- Stan Greenberg has a memo for you."
Boehner Urges G.O.P. Unity in 'Epic Battle'—"Speaker John A. Boehner offered no clue on Friday as to how he expected Congress to get out of the dead end it has found itself in, with the government shut for a fourth day." NYT
Government shutdown puts squeeze on Republican moderates
Jon Stewart: Blaming GOP For Shutdown Like 'Blaming Floods On Water'
Tea Party
Darkness in Washington: Why Boehner Can't Defy the Suicide Caucus
Lupica: Speaker John Boehner needs to stand up to Republican Party zealots
32 Republicans Who Caused the Government Shutdown
'People don't fully appreciate how committed the tea party is to not compromising'
Opinion: The rise of the New Confederacy
Give the Tea Party Credit: Their Grassroots Tactics Worked—But it ain't no way to govern.
Flipside: Tea Party’s Ross Says Debt Worth Yielding on Obamacare—"U.S. Representative Dennis Ross, a Florida Republican, said he would support a broad spending deal that didn’t include changes to the health-care law, becoming the first Tea Party-backed House lawmaker to publicly back off the fight that has shut down the government for five days."
Fucks News
Fox News Got GOP Into Shutdown Mess, But It Can't Get The GOP Out
Fox News owns this shutdown—"What happens when right-wing media accept every illogical thing a Republican says? Logic gets thrown out the window."
Fox Absolves GOP Of Blame With New Spin: "Senate Shutdown"
Daily Show: Shutstorm 2013: America Sits on Its Balls - Bias on Bulls**t Mountain
How the Broken Media Helped Break the Government—"There's a direct connection between the shutdown and hyperbolic, partisan journalistic outlets driven more by profits than the search for truth."
Obamacare
Why The Administration Isn't Sweating Obamacare's Ugly First Week
Obamacare's Web site is really bad—Shuts down for the weekend. Sec. Sebelius says, "We’re building a complicated piece of technology and hopefully you’ll give us the same slack you give Apple." Good luck with that.
GOP Congressman: Massive Traffic To Obamacare Exchanges Was Members Of Congress And The Media—Grasping at strawmen.
Top Republican Calls For Replacing Obamacare With Obamacare
Right-Wing Media Ignore Georgia's Refusal To Implement Medicaid Expansion To Blast Obamacare
Shock and Awful: Conservatives Already Lying About Obamacare Enrollee Chad Henderson
Health care holdouts: Uninsured but resisting—One guy who doesn't believe government should get involved health care has kids covered by Medicaid. Cognitive dissosance.
Repercussions
Analysis: US reliability questioned overseas
Sen. Sanders: Shutdown Hits Federal Workers—Calls out those dirty Kochs.
More than 5K Ariz. families denied welfare checks
Ariz. Gov Rejected in Offer to Reopen Grand Canyon
Walker defies DC order to close down federally funded parks in Wisconsin
Watchdog files ethics complaint against lawmaker who confronted park ranger
National Fallout Over Comments From Senator Mike Lee—He's demanding a retraction for saying, "I’m working. I’ll continue to be paid."
Shutdown stopping flow of weather information as dangerous storms threaten nation
Hidden in National Weather Service forecast: P-L-E-A-S-E-P-A-Y-U-S—The word of the day is 'acrostic.'
Air Force Academy faces toilet paper shortage from government shutdown—This has gone too fucking far!
Debt Ceiling
Boehner Suggests Taking The Country Into Default Unless Republicans Get Additional Spending Cuts
Robert Reich predicts Obama will unilaterally lift debt ceiling rather than allow a U.S. default
Three Not-So-Crazy Ways Out of the Debt Ceiling Crisis
Absolutely everything you need to know about the debt ceiling
Confused About the Shutdown? Debt Limit? Here's Our Essential Reader
Zero Tolerance
Boys suspended for airsoft guns in yard—On private property and not in school, but an unidentified neighbor called 911 on him because even though she knew the gun wasn't real, she said, "I know that it makes me (uncomfortable), as a mom, to see a boy pointing a gun."
Kid Suspended for Pop-Tart Pistol Is Given Lifetime NRA Membership—If it puts the spotlight on idiotic school policies, so be it.
PA School Being Sued For Suspending 7-Year-Old Student 'Armed' With A Novelty Buzzing Pen
7th-grader suspended for having gun keychain
School asks officer not to wear uniform on campus—"There were some parents who were concerned about that fact that there was a fully armed officer on campus and they spoke to the principal about it."
Boy suspended after using finger as pretend gun
Rep. Setzler zeroing in on changing school zero tolerance law—"The idea that we trust a 16-year-old to drive a 5,000 pound car onto a high school campus and at 70 mph on I-75 but don’t trust them with a 3-inch lock blade knife in their glove box is madness!"
Schools
Father of Brooklyn teen who died on class field trip gets call asking why son has been absent
School district accountant accused of stealing $3 million in school lunch money by stuffing it in her bra
Sparkman High student facing charges for streaking at football game dead of apparent suicide
Sports
The Case Against High-School Sports—"The United States routinely spends more tax dollars per high-school athlete than per high-school math student—unlike most countries worldwide. And we wonder why we lag in international education rankings?"
Ole Miss students, including approximately 20 football players, disrupt theater department play—The play starred a gay lead.
Taking a stand: Union High coach suspends entire football team in lesson about character
Think of the Children!
New California youth football mercy rule inflames parental passions, but not in the way you think
Zeeland teachers set 'No Tag, No Chasing' policy for kindergartners
New York librarian fired after speaking up for child who read too much—"9-year-old Tyler Weaver was accused of 'hogging' the Hudson Falls Free Library summer reading contest after winning five years in a row. The library fired Lita Casey after she spoke up for her little friend."
Arkansas school district bans three students from returning to class because they may be HIV-positive Salon
School bans popular 'Hump Day' phrase