The shutdown continues, with perhaps some indications of movement on the Republican side on the debt ceiling. Greg Dworkin updates us on the crazy AP story that wasn't about Terry McAuliffe, and the state of that VA-GOV race. On the shutdown/debt ceiling front, Republicans are getting serious backlash from their constituents. Ted Cruz commissioned his own poll, found the same thing everyone else has found, and somehow divined a win. Republicans fracture between those trying to pivot away from Obamacare as the focus and those who remain dug in. Then, two surprising stories of court outcomes in #GunFAIL cases. From South Carolina, the "stand your ground" defense succeeds (for now, anyway) for a man who says he was shooting at a threatening gang of teens, but instead killed an innocent bystander. And from Maryland, a not guilty verdict in the bench trial of a man who decided to use live shotgun ammo as part of his costume in a Halloween event, and ended up shooting a 16-year-old kid. Finally, more on the right wing coordination on the shutdown fight. David Weigel in Slate argues that the Kochs have less to do with it than other stories have alleged. And Lee Fang in The Nation says there are bigger and badder gangs driving things.
