The Plum Line

Happy Hour Roundup

* The New York Times has an epic piece of reporting on panic inside and outside the White House over Obamacare’s rollout failures, with some Democrats insisting the Obama team doesn’t sufficiently understand what a threat this poses to the President’s legacy. That’s not my impression, but the fact that some Dems believe this is itself telling.

* Lucia Graves has a vivid and bracing look at just how bad the old health care system really was, which (again) is exactly why disapproval of Obamacare just doesn’t translate into support for GOP “repeal and replace” (with nothing).

* Obamacare foes have had a grand old time with the news that only five people enrolled on the D.C. exchange. Disaster!!! Sarah Kliff does the work and tracks down why there’s a good deal more to the story. Warning: Coverage of low enrollment numbers is going to be brutal.

* Some good points from David Atkins on why Kathleen Sebelius should not be fired: It would be rewarding the Obamacare saboteurs, who in turn wouldn’t allow her to be replaced, furthering their sabotage.

* Juliet Lapidos has an eye-opening rundown on all the damage done by the shutdown. Curiously, some on the right have been citing today’s jobs report as proof the shutdown wasn’t all that big a deal.

* Speaking of the jobs report, Brad Plumer on why the labor force is still shrinking. With lots of juicy charts.

* Jennifer Rubin has a nice takedown of the various arguments from conservative Christians against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, another reminder that there really are no good arguments against it, which is probably why its foes have been so mute of late.

* Steve Benen has a good recap of the “60 Minutes” Benghazi retraction, and a reminder that Senator Lindsey Graham used this report as a pretext to block every nomination in sight.

* Also, Kevin Drum asks some good follow-up questions of CBS, and suggests an internal probe would be appropriate; it looks like this story isn’t over.

* Ed Kilgore with a short and sweet post on the Benghazi transaction between CBS and Republicans.

* Good catch by Capital New York: Mayor Michael Bloomberg flatly dismisses GOP crocodile tears about the Obamacare rollout problems, and makes a colorful case that the long view on health reform is what really matters: “They made a mistake. So what?”

* And an excellent Francis Wilkinson piece on the enormous backlash that greeted a Guns and Ammo writer who dared to suggest that democratically elected government should play a role in helping ensure guns are used safely and responsibly.

What else?

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