Welcome to the Eric Erickson Show podcast, Our Three.

Greetings conversationalists across the fruited plane. It's Eric Erikson here, and I am glad to have you with me.

The phone number is 877973-425 if you want to chat.

Happy to have you. NBC News is just now reporting that Kevin McCarthy has decided not to set up a vote on the GOP's shutdown plan,

which means we got a government shutdown in 11 days

if he can't come up with a way to get Republicans in the House to back his plan.

We'll spend more time on that later.

I want to talk about something else.

It is inevitable.

I tell you people, it happens, and I know some of you don't believe me,

some of you, when I tell you this, you're going to instinctively understand this.

It doesn't matter how I say it.

It doesn't matter how many caveats I put on.

It doesn't matter how gracious I am in saying it.

It does not matter.

If I talk about kids being raised by single parents,

I am guaranteed to get hate mail from a single mom who feels

disrespected. And I honest to God believe it says way more about them than me. I try not to be

insulting. I try to be understanding. I try to be gracious. I try to acknowledge

that very few people want to be a single parent. I have a friend of mine who's a great pastor,

First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina, Derek Thomas, who is my favorite

seminary professor. And he said one time

...