Damn

Haven't seen a pope-induced regime change like this since JP2 hit Poland.

In Other GOP Leadership News ...

Kim Davis just became a Republican.

Lord of the Flies on Capitol Hill

While there are certainly internecine and factional rivalries in the Democratic party, it's all but impossible to imagine the outpouring of celebration, schadenfreude and smackdowning that is greeting the retirement of Speaker John Boehner. Even a kind word on the day of his retirement appears beyond the ability of most of those he led. Yes, there's been base clamoring against Nancy Pelosi and even more at certain times with Harry Reid. But it simply doesn't compare to the angry joy we're seeing now toward a quarter-century member of the House. The only analogue I can think of is the enmity that grew toward Joe Lieberman. But of course, by that time he wasn't even a Democrat anymore, let alone one of the party's top leaders.

Of course, it is of a piece with Boehner's tenure - a largely reviled and half-effective, never-ending and seldom-lauded effort to keep half his caucus from carrying through with the latest ridiculously self-defeating and often country-damaging gambit. Boehner's whole Speakership was, in a real sense, a permanent exercise in indignity. So the ending is not surprising.

Harry Reid Loves John Boehner

Harry Reid had some telling things to say this morning on the Senate floor about his working relationship with John Boehner.

Watch Live

John Boehner expected to publicly announce his resignation plans at 1 p.m. ET. Watch live.

Eating Their Own

Across town from the Capitol, the Values Voters Summit -- aimed toward religious conservatives -- is getting into full swing today in D.C., with speeches from most of the major GOP presidential candidates. Here's how the crowd reacted when Marco Rubio announced the new of John Boehner's resignation.

BREAKING

Reports emerging from House conference meeting this morning that Speaker John Boehner will resign from office at the end of October, giving up his seat and his speakership. Stay tuned ...

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Corrupting Everything

It's serendipitous because our current top story about prisoner-gerrymandering to oust a black member of Congress just landed this afternoon. But today's live chat in The Hive (sub req), with Eli Hager of the Marshall Project, delves further into the core issues here which are both mass incarceration and the perverse incentives created by the privatization of the prison system - which is inextricably tied to evolution of mass incarceration over the last 35 years. Check out the conversation. Fascinating stuff.

Amazing

White Republican says GOP can finally beat prominent black Democrat by adding more prisoners to her district!

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You Lie, Pope!

Rep. Steve King tells CNN Pope doesn't believe in the "nation-state", can't be trusted on immigration policy.

Live Chat at 3pm EST in The Hive

Criminal justice reporter Eli Hager will be chatting with Prime members at 3pm in The Hive. Hager is a staff writer for the Marshall Project, a nonpartisan news site focused on criminal justice reform. Eli’s primary interests are the criminalization of poverty in the United States and the politics of criminal justice. He also focuses on the intersections between criminal justice and education.

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This Is a Must Read

Amidst all of the coverage of Pope Francis' visit to the US this week I want to particularly call your attention to this piece by novelist and columnist James Carroll. It's about another time a Pope, Paul VI, addressed the United Nations. That was in 1965, almost exactly fifty years ago. That moment half a century ago has deep parallels to today and it also opened a breach between Carroll and his father - one, a young man studying for the priesthood and another, a top Pentagon general, who had himself once studied for the priesthood. Definitely give this a read.

There's a second part of publishing this piece for me personally, which is not connected to the piece itself but my own relationship to the author. I would be remiss if I didn't mention it. Like one billiard ball hitting another at a certain angle and in so doing shifting its own trajectory, we all have certain people in our lives who we encounter and, through the encounter, the trajectory of our own lives changes. For me, Jim is one of those people.

Read More →

Slouching Toward A Shutdown

With less than a week to go before the end of the fiscal year deadline, here's the latest on the shutdown prospects, including this observation from budget expert Stan Collender: “Boehner may need to allow a shutdown to occur for a few days to give the Freedom Caucus a victory before he can work with Dems on a clean CR."