Alex Rogers on Utah Senator Mike Lee, the man behind the shutdown curtain. Roy Edroso on Rightbloggers' shutdown post-mortem: Hope, despair, conspiracy theories. Did race play a role in shutdown? Michael Tesler on how Republicans' votes on the shutdown deal were associated with racial attitudes in their districts. Jonathan Chait on how the shutdown was not a failed strategy — it wasn’t a strategy at all. Paul Krugman on the damage done. What was “essential” and what wasn’t: Mattea Kramer and Jo Comerford on the government shutdown in perspective. Robert Reich on what to expect during the cease-fire. George Packer on how the Republicans are still winning. Wait, Republicans now want Obamacare to function? Aside from any policy details, Republicans really want to stick it to Obama; keeping in place policies Obama hates makes them happy, irrespective of the content of those policies — that is a real form of leverage. Jon Lovett on how the GOP slowly went insane: The current moment in politics came about slowly, not suddenly, but it doesn't make it any less of a national emergency. Simon Johnson on the long march of the American Right. Heath Brown interviews Robert Horwitz, author of America’s Right: Anti-Establishment Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party. Can Rand Paul learn to tell the truth? The Kentucky senator and presidential hopeful has charisma, fundraising power, and new ideas — now if can only resolve his sticky habit for bending the facts.
