Stunned Republicans React to Canceled Vote  —  Referring to his plan to preemptively send the Senate a House-passed bill, Speaker John Boehner told his conference this morning that he'd “rather throw a grenade than catch a grenade.”  But with his right-wing troops abandoning him again it was the speaker left holding the bomb.

House Republicans Show Themselves To Be Dangerously Incompetent, Again  —  House Republican leaders canceled plans to call a vote Tuesday evening on a Republican plan to raise the debt limit and reopen the government.  They couldn't round up enough Republican votes to pass it.

Hearsay from Hillary Clinton: On Joe Biden and the Osama bin Laden raid  —  Former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton was in town today.  A few Secret Squirrels, and some not so secret, agreed to be our sources, given that her speech to the National Association of Convenience Stores was encapsulated by a cone of silence.

Graham Admits Republicans Went Too Far  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told TPM that he was “proud” of Speaker John Boehner's handling of the fiscal crisis but thought Democrats should have been more flexible with Republicans.  —  Said Graham: “We won't be the last political party to overplay our hand.

Exclusive: Glenn Greenwald Will Leave Guardian To Create New News Organization  —  The reporter who broke the NSA story promises “a momentous new venture.”  A “very substantial new media outlet” with serious backing, he says.  Updated.  —  Greenwald in Rio de Janeiro in July.  —  Sergio Moraes / Reuters

McCain: ‘Republicans Have To Understand We Have Lost This Battle’  —  With the government shutdown in its third week and the United States dangerously close to the debt limit, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) urged members of his party on Tuesday to stop digging.  —  “It's very, very serious,” McCain said, as quoted by the New York Times.

Obama vows veto over Vitter measure  —  President Barack Obama told House Democratic leaders Tuesday that he would veto debt-ceiling legislation if it includes a provision pushed by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) and House GOP leaders that would cut health subsidies for congressional …

Three Theories of House GOP Brinkmanship—And One More  —  As we await the next development in the fiscal saga, it's worthwhile to look at three theories kicking around today for exactly why House Republicans are continuing to engage in economy-risking and popularity-damaging brinkmanship …

Judge in Landmark Case Disavows Support for Voter ID  —  It is the kind of thought that rarely passes the lips of a member of the federal judiciary: I was wrong.  —  But there was Richard A. Posner, one of the most distinguished judges in the land and a member of the United States Court …

As Good as It Gets?  —  ObamaCare supporters go through the stages of grief.  —  In a much-discussed post titled “Five Thoughts on the ObamaCare Disaster,” the Washington Post's Ezra Klein manages to cycle through the first three of Elisabeth Kübler Ross's five stages of grief:  —  • Denial.

Senate GOP Aide: ‘Ted Cruz And His Tortilla Coast Republicans Are Leading Us To A Default’  —  With the possibility of breaching the debt limit looking more and more plausible as House Republicans struggle to appease their caucus and come up with a plan to re-open the government and increase the debt ceiling …

Antonin Scalia: 14th Amendment Protects Everyone, Not ‘Only The Blacks’  —  During oral arguments on an affirmative action case on Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said the 14th Amendment protects everyone, not “only the blacks.”  —  The quote was tweeted by the New York Times' David Leonhardt:

Washington Bickering Has Killed Nearly 1 Million Jobs  —  It's just a “partial” government shutdown.  Threats of a U.S. government default are overblown.  The federal government is too involved in the economy, anyway.  —  These are some of the excuses used to justify repeated standoffs in Washington over federal spending.

Joe Lhota Doesn't Want To Be Lumped In With National Republicans  —  The majority of Tuesday night's mayoral debate between Bill de Blasio and Joe Lhota was spent covering the usual topics: charter schools, taxes, small businesses, well-paying jobs, the income gap, and stop and frisk policies.

A Bleak First Week: 99.6% of Healthcare.gov Visitors Did NOT Enroll in Obamacare  —  Since October 1st, Americans living in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. can purchase healthcare through exchanges as part of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare.)