Collision course: CR and debt ceiling  —  A harsh reality began setting into Capitol Hill on Tuesday: The U.S. government may not reopen until the two parties reach a deal to raise the national debt ceiling.  —  Hours after federal agencies shuttered their doors for the first time in nearly two decades …

Veterans Plot To Expand Revolt Against Government Shutdown  —  They might tear down the barricades at the Lincoln Memorial next — and pee on the trees — to protest Washington dysfunction.  “People here need to be thinking about serving their country and not their own sorry butts.”

The real story of the shutdown: 50 years of GOP race-baiting  —  A House minority from white districts want to destroy the first black president, and the GOP majority abets them  —  On the day the Affordable Care Act takes effect, the U.S. government is shut down, and it may be permanently broken.

White House turns to star power for ObamaCare boost  —  The White House is turning to local politicians and celebrities Wednesday to promote the second day that uninsured Americans can purchase coverage on the ObamaCare exchanges, following a launch that featured intense interest — and serious technical glitches.

Unskewing Obama's Sexuality  —  Dean Chambers, the man who helped “unskew” polls during the 2012 presidential campaign to show Mitt Romney was actually leading, now says President Obama is gay.  —  “I think Sullivan is right, but not for the right reason.  I do believe that Barack Obama is in fact our first gay president.

Remarks by the President on the Affordable Care Act and the Government Shutdown  —  PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good morning, everybody.  At midnight last night, for the first time in 17 years, Republicans in Congress chose to shut down the federal government.  Let me be more specific: One faction …

The Saddest Paragraph You'll Read About the Government Shutdown Today  —  With NIH furloughs, children with cancer are being turned away from clinical trials.  —  You've heard about the Pandacam, the closed monuments and national parks, and the furloughed federal workers.

President Obama shortens Asia trip  —  President Barack Obama is canceling part of his planned trip to Asia this weekend because of the government shutdown, the White House announced on Wednesday.  —  Obama called the presidents of the Philippines and Malaysia on Tuesday night …

Perry: Wife Misspoke About Abortion  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right, and his wife, Anita, arrive for his state of the state address in the house chambers at the state capitol, on, Jan. 29, 2013, in Austin, Texas.  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry today owned up to an “oops” moment that wasn't even his.

Staunch Group of Republicans Outflanks House Leaders  —  WASHINGTON — They have had their fleeting moments on cable television.  Their closed-door run-ins with Speaker John A. Boehner spill occasionally into the pages of Capitol Hill newspapers.  But outside their districts …

Two Russians Walk Into a Parliamentary Crisis...  What is a president in a presidential constitutional republic to do when faced with an intransigent, bull-headed faction among his people's representatives?  —  Well, Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first democratically elected president …

Grayson blames shutdown on GOP literally drinking on the job  —  “Many of them seem loaded,” the liberal congressman says, charging his GOP colleagues smelled like alcohol  —  In a Tuesday interview, Rep. Alan Grayson charged that Republican House members have been literally intoxicated …

GOP “Anarchists” Now Talking About Reopening...National Parks?  —  National Review reports on plans by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to push small continuing resolutions (CRs) funding a bunch of junk at current levels.  The idea, apparently, is to drive home the notion that the GOP didn't want to shut …

Why Boehner doesn't just ditch the hard right  —  Robert Costa is the National Review's Washington editor and one of the best-sourced reporters among House Republicans.  Like many others, I've relied on his reporting in recent days about how House Republicans are strategizing around the government shutdown.

The Nullification Party  —  I've been trying to think of something original to say about the absurdity now transpiring in Washington, DC.  I've said roughly what I think in short; and I defer to Fallows for an important dose of reality against the predictably moronic coverage of the Washington Post.