Government has to be small enough so that it can fit beneath closed bedroom doors and crawl into our crotches.

You need to bone up on history. The theory of Lebensraum was that Germany needed more land for its farmers. They saw lots of potential in western Russia and the Ukraine (old usage). Therefore, they planned to drive out the Slavs - or starve them to death - so that the land in the East would be available for German colonists. By the way, aside from Hitler's discussion in Mein Kampf, this was not trumpeted to the world as an actual policy of the Third Reich, but was set forth in their Ostland Plan, which was not a public document.

Trump's rhetoric urges that illegal aliens coming from Central America be expelled from the USA and returned from hence they came. He's not talking of driving Mexicans out of Mexico to make room for American cattle ranchers and farmers or alternatively starving millions of Mexicans to death. His plan is impossible and no moderate Republican takes it seriously.

Personally, I find Trump to be a repulsive politician and am hoping that Rubio can get more traction. But no candidate on either side is without warts.

"According to a new study by the grammar-checking app Grammarly, supporters commenting on Democratic candidates’ Facebook pages made an average of 4.2 mistakes per 100 words compared to 8.7 mistakes for supporters of Republican candidates. "

Democrats crush Republicans in grammar; Chafee on top | OnPolitics

Pretty consistent with what we see on British Expats

I believe I used the word "reminiscent," not "identical," and I continue to feel that way.

Interesting, but meaningless. According to the article, Lincoln Chafee's supporters made the fewest grammatical errors. By the way, he's running as a Democrat, if anyone's noticed. Hillary's and Carly's supporters were tied at 6.3 errors per 100 words.

Trump's people had the highest number of errors, and also appeared to have the lowest educational attainment. But they still vote. Think about that and think about how vast the numbers of people just like them there are in this country.

Boom! Kevin McCarthy drops out of speaker race!

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/09/us...imes&smtyp=cur

Not a surprise after he revealed what was behind the curtain and said (what everyone already knew) that the whole Benghazi investigation was all just to damage Hillary Clinton politically.

Perhaps not a complete surprise, but the fact that such a large vocal bloc of members stood up and said "nope not you" indicates how dysfunctional the GOP is right now.

All this just before it's time to raise the debt ceiling again. This is going to be fun...

You're correct. The smart thing would be to play along with Obama until he's gone. Maybe they could then win the Presidency and hold the House and Senate - after that do whatever the hell they think will turn things around. But they're going to let him shut down the government over stupid stuff and lose the Presidency as a result. Sigh...

One thing: no one could be as maladroit, right out of the gate, as Kevin Owen McCarthy, R (CA). Almost anyone would be an improvement, but we'll see about that.

The RNC could be hilarious if this continues.

Did you see the other guys standing?

Yes, I did see the other guys standing...not good for the Rs.
I'm afraid I'm not getting quite as much schadenfreude out of it as you.

Ahem, if Congress doesn't approve an increase in the debt ceiling, that's not letting Obama shut down the government...

Apparently McCarthy isn't extreme enough.

I suggested they should give Obama no excuse for causing a shutdown - that could be either vetoing a budget or failing to raise the debt ceiling. No matter who is at fault, they will take the blame and that could cost the election.

The problem with McCarthy was that stupid comment that gave the Dems pure gold, undermining the Benghazi Committee's efforts. He may have been telling the truth, but it was stupid to even raise it - an unforced error. That is why he shouldn't be Speaker.

At least they are supposed to be vetting the Speaker candidates to make sure they don't get someone with a Hastert-problem, or something just as embarrassing.

Republicans must always be like Caesar's Wife, above suspicion, because the party usually doesn't circle the wagons. Democrats not so much, with some exceptions like Toricelli and Wiener. Menendez got himself indicted primarily, in my opinion, because he bucked Obama on the Iran deal.

The only reason there will be a shutdown is if the Republicans choose to go down the road of causing one.

Yeh, fancy being truthful about the true nature of the Benghazi investigations... really, the "unforced error" was having investigations merely to attempt to hurt Clinton's election chances.

Menendez was indicted four months before he came out against the Iran deal.