House GOP Preparing to Give Up  —  I'm being told by several sources that Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor are plotting to give up trying to either defund or delay Obamacare.  —  This comes at the same time the Obama administration admits it will be months before their Obamacare website …

Gallup: Cruz's favorability rating plunges  —  Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) favorability rating has collapsed as the public has become more familiar with him, according to a Gallup survey released on Thursday.  —  The survey found that 26 percent have a favorable view of the Texas Republican, against 36 percent unfavorable.

Obama Should Just Give in to the Republicans  —  President Obama should give in.  Yes, this mess is all the Republicans' fault.  Yes, it's outrageous that they can hold the government hostage in order to reargue a law that's been voted on, signed, enacted, and upheld by the Supreme Court.

We're not gonna take it!  Americans use 1st Amendment to storm shutdown barriers  —  Taking their lead from the veterans who first pushed through the barricades to visit the World War II Memorial, Americans nationwide are defying the federal government shutdown, tossing aside traffic cones …

Scarborough: A NYT Editor Told Me Krugman's Column Is ‘Their Biggest Nightmare’ (VIDEO)  —  MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said Thursday that a public editor at the New York Times considers liberal columnist Paul Krugman's work to be an ongoing “nightmare.”  —  During a segment on “Morning Joe …

Cory Booker's father, 76, dies  —  Newark Mayor Cory Booker's father died Thursday morning after battling to recover from a recent stroke.  His death comes just days before the New Jersey Democrat faces voters in the state's Oct. 16 special Senate election.

PolitiFact to launch PunditFact, checking pundits and media figures  —  PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking website of the Tampa Bay Times, will soon launch PunditFact, a site dedicated to checking claims by pundits, columnists, bloggers and the hosts and guests of talk shows.

John McCain regrets ‘wacko birds’ comment, worries about GOP infighting  —  SENATE REPUBLICAN PARTY TEA PARTY PENNAVE JOHN MCCAIN SEQUESTER  —  Sen. John McCain said Thursday that he's worried about the Republican Party's future and the infighting that is dividing it, calling efforts …

What the Virginia governor's race tells us about the 2014 midterms  —  Against trend, Democrat Terry McAuliffe is set to win.  After running a ‘strong conservative’, Republicans should take a hint  —  I'm hesitant to read too much into elections that don't occur during the midterms or presidential election years.

The Final Insult in the Bush-Cheney Marriage  —  In the final days of his presidency, George W. Bush sat behind his desk in the Oval Office, chewing gum and staring into the distance as two White House lawyers briefed him on the possible last-minute pardon of I. Lewis Libby.  —  “Do you think he did it?”

Obama Just Made a Terrible Mistake on Egypt  —  In a certain sense, the Obama administration's decision to withhold much of the $1.3 billion in annual aid given to Egypt isn't surprising.  U.S. law mandates cutting off aid to countries in which a coup has taken place, and the Egyptian military's ouster …

Los Angeles Police Dogs Only Bit Blacks And Latinos In The First Six Months Of 2013  —  A new report on the Los Angeles Sheriff Department Canine Special Detail finds that the number of minority individuals bitten by police dogs has dramatically increased between 2004 to 2012.

Conservative Media's Tribal Loyalty Weakens the GOP  —  Instead of rewarding smart political strategy or policy substance, right-wing outlets celebrate those who are merely in a state of conflict with Democrats or liberals.  —  The strategy that House Republicans have imprudently embraced in recent weeks has many causes.

McAuliffe among investors in Rhode Island insurance scam that preyed on dying people  —  Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe was one of dozens of investors with a Rhode Island estate planner charged with defrauding insurers by using the stolen identities of terminally ill people …

Paul Ryan hints at a way to end the political paralysis  —  IS THERE a way out of the political standoff that is paralyzing government and endangering the global economy?  At the moment, it hardly seems so.  But we see a glimmer of hope in suggestions from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).