IF THE GOVERNMENT CAN’T MOW THE LAWN, no one can!

COWARDS! I was online earlier today at the Senate web site looking for email/telephone/fax numbers to contact my Senators. Here's what I found:

I thought it strange, but Sen. Kaine has always made email contact difficult. So I tried my other Senator, Mark Warner. Same thing.

But ... try a Republican Senator. I checked theTexas senators, Cruz and Cornyn. There web sites are up and running; the email contact forms are available. My wife checked a number of other senators, and the rule seems to be this: if your Senator is Republican, no problems; if your Senator is a Democrat from a deep blue state (think California), no problem; if your Senator is a Democrat from a red or purple state (e.g., Virginia), big problem. It's not the shutdown slowdown, the cowards are afraid to hear from you.

One teeny, tiny little problem they missed: you can still find their district office phone and fax numbers on their home pages ... and I have a fax modem!

RAISE MY DEBT LIMIT. Where are the grandkids when you need them?

OBAMA: for the first time in 17 years, Republicans shut down the Federal government. Oh?

MENS REA: Lois Lerner sent confidential taxpayer information through private emails. Sometimes I have to wonder if that isn't a good thing given the government's repeatedly demonstrated incompetence at protecting citizen privacy.

POOR BABIES: Shutdown leaves lawmakers reusing their towels at House gym. Maybe they can learn how to use a washing machine like the rest of us....

EDUCATION: Middle school bans footballs, baseballs, cartwheels, fun games of tag.

Standing will be permitted, at least temporarily.

NOBEL 'PEACE PRIZES' a specialty.

SHUTDOWN THEATER: your role is to panic get pissed off and take back your government.

SOMEONE needs a shave.

CLOSED. And unlikely to reopen in the near future.

BEYOND THE GLITCHES: Will young and healthy Americans pick Obamacare? Probably not; almost certainly not at the prices they'll be expected to pay.

GUN WATCH: Police Officers Three Times More Likely to Murder Than Concealed Carry Permit Holders. I'm not convinced the '3X' number is very meaningful; what is meaningful is the proof that people with CCW permits are far more law abiding than the general population.