What the Shutdown is All About

Kevin Drum is absolutely correct:

The Republican Party is bending its entire will, staking its very soul, fighting to its last breath, in service of a crusade to....

Make sure that the working poor don't have access to affordable health care. I just thought I'd mention that in plain language, since it seems to get lost in the fog fairly often. But that's it. That's what's happening. They have been driven mad by the thought that rich people will see their taxes go up slightly in order to help non-rich people get decent access to medical care.

That's a pretty stirring animating principle, no?

I wish Obama could be as clear about it when he talks to the press.

Update (10/1/13):

Obama says, "I know it is strange that one party would make keeping people uninsured the centerpiece of the agenda, but that apparently is what it is."

It's going in the right direction, Barack, but really needs to be pounded, again and again.