Being jet-lagged and all, I did not stay up to watch Ted Cruz last night (indeed, what little awake-time I had was devoted to watching the Dexter series closer I missed on Sunday). But Lord knows the wiggy Texan’s performance art has gotten him the attention he craves. High-level demagoguery works like that.
Here are some midday news/views snacks:
* Senate votes unanimously to proceed to debate on the House-passed defund-Obamacare CR, setting up a final-passage cloture vote this weekend, after Democrats amend the bill to strip out defunding language.
* Meanwhile, Ted Cruz’s overnight talkathon, while not an actual filibuster, lifts him to third place on all-time Senate speech length list at 21 hours.
* At Daily Beast Patricia Murphy reports Senate Conservative Fund has run ads against seven GOP senators who have opposed Cruz/Lee “defund Obamacare” strategy, and may run ads against recalcitrant House members, too.
* Christian Right stalwart Dean Moore makes runoff against Establishment Conservative (and former unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate) Bradley Byrne in special congressional primary in Alabama.
* Lew identifies October 17 as drop-dead date for debt limit increase.
And in non-political news:
* Use of butane hash oil–called by some the “crack of marijuana”–spreading on East Coast.
I’ll try to keep a late lunch break brief, but here’s another musical tribute to Ted Cruz’s gabathon: Sisters of Mercy performing “Amphetamine Logic” in London in 1985.
