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Monday, October 07, 2013

Stories to Watch: 10/7/13

The White House says they'll be ready to negotiate with House Republicans over the debt limit sometime between never and never ever. The reason is simple: if the President does, Republicans will come back every time and demand more and more crap. This approach turns the constitutional process on its head, allowing Republicans to wield a de facto line-item veto over pretty much anything they want. Republicans should appreciate this, since they probably aren't going to be out of the White House forever (just the foreseeable future) and a Democratic House could just as easily and rightly hold a GOP president hostage over, say, gun control or abortion rights. If it doesn't stop right here, right now, it never stops and democracy -- already beat to shit by Republican gerrymandering -- takes a blow from which it might never recover.


For his part, Boehner keeps defending his position by saying that there aren't enough votes in the House to pass a clean CR and get government running again. This is almost certainly bullshit -- and Pres. Obama called him on it. "Hold a vote," he said in a speech. "Call a vote right now. Let's see what happens." This is a variant on the two words that tend to destroy conservative arguments: "prove it."


Which brings to mind the GOP Debt Limit Truthers, who are busy telling the craziest lies about how default would be no big deal to anyone willing to listen. The debt limit posturing is a bluff and this sort of talk is a tell. The reason they're talking down default is because they're tanking in the polls and want to calm everyone down a bit. They wouldn't stand a chance of dodging blame for default, because all of these crazy lies would instantly be exposed as crazy lies. To have disaster happen after they assured everyone that everything would be fine would only make their position like a billion times worse -- so they have no intention of finding themselves in that situation. If push comes to shove, Plan B is to cave.


A federal judge tells Very Important Douche Darrell Issa that his very important "Fast & Furious" witchhunt is not so very important that it can escape the government shutdown.


More evidence that Sen. Ted Cruz is beloved by very few.


Stocks fall as it becomes clear that the shutdown isn't going to be a mere momentary thing.


Actual headline: "Nebraska Decides 16-Year-Old Must Give Birth Because She Isn't 'Mature' Enough For An Abortion." Not mature enough for an abortion, but mature enough to be a mom, because that sort of reasoning makes perfect sense to the mentally helpless dipwads on the right. Three cheers for limited government that doesn't get between a patient and her doctor, right?


Finally, you don't only have to be a gullible fool to watch Fox News, you also have to be a gullible fool to work there,


[cartoon via Truthdig]

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