The Commentariat -- Dec. 17, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon Update:

Kelsey Snell of the Washington Post: "The House on Thursday passed the tax portion of the year-end budget deal as Congress seeks to quickly wrap up its remaining business with members itching to head home for the holidays. The vote was 318 to 109.... House Republicans provided most of the needed votes, 241, to pass the tax package, which House Democratic leaders oppose because they say it is too expensive and does not do enough for low-income workers.... The House vote on the appropriations package, which will occur Friday morning, could be close. If both bills pass the House, they will be rolled into one package that the Senate is expected to clear for the president's signature as early as Friday afternoon."

Lolita Baldor of the AP: "U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter acknowledged on Thursday that he used a personal email account to conduct some government business until 'a few months ago.' 'I should have known better,' Carter told reporters traveling with him in Irbil, Iraq, the regional capital of the Kurds. "It's not like I didn't have the opportunity to understand what the right thing to do was. I didn't do the right thing.'" ...

... Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday that his committee would conduct a review to determine whether Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter had sensitive government information on the personal email account he used to conduct a portion of his government work. 'With all the public attention surrounding the improper use of personal email by other administration officials, it is hard to believe that Secretary Carter would exercise the same error in judgment,' Mr. McCain, a Republican, said in a statement, adding that his committee had requested copies of Mr. Carter's emails to conduct the review." ...

     ... CW: Okay, Sen. McCain. That's fine. Now where's the outrage on the Times story about the Pentagon covering up & dismissing charges that Navy SEALS abused prisoners & killed a detainee? Isn't that worse? ...

... Mark Mazzetti, et al., of the New York Times: "While fighting grinding wars of attrition in Afghanistan and Iraq, [Navy SEALS] Team 6 performed missions elsewhere that blurred the traditional lines between soldier and spy. The team's sniper unit was remade to carry out clandestine intelligence operations, and the SEALs joined Central Intelligence Agency operatives in an initiative called the Omega Program, which offered greater latitude in hunting adversaries.... Its activities have also spurred recurring concerns about excessive killing and civilian deaths.Afghan villagers and a British commander accused SEALs of indiscriminately killing men in one hamlet; in 2009, team members joined C.I.A. and Afghan paramilitary forces in a raid that left a group of youths dead and inflamed tensions between Afghan and NATO officials. Even an American hostage freed in a dramatic rescue has questioned why the SEALs killed all his captors." As an old Navy man, Sen. McCain, you might want to look into just how this team operates & if the claimed indiscriminate killings really is "keeping us safer."

Yasmeen Abutaleb of Reuters: "Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who opened fire on a San Bernardino holiday party earlier this month, were buried Tuesday in a quiet, graveside funeral. Many of those who attended mosque with the couple refused to attend, two mosque members said."

*****

GREAT commentary & links from everyone yesterday & Tuesday. Thank you all so much. Also, thanks to the woman in Danbury, Connecticut, with the reindeer antlers on the hood of her car. If not for her, I'd still be in Danbury. But I'm not. I'm home! Glad Nisky Guy made it, too -- AND in time to contribute.

Today in Responsible Government. David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "Congressional negotiators introduced a sweeping year-end spending and tax-break package Wednesday that bursts through previously agreed budget limits with $66 billion in new spending for 2016. It also makes permanent an array of tax benefits at a cost of adding more than a half-trillion dollars to the deficit. The legislation, which President Obama is expected to sign, showed Republicans and Democrats reluctantly bowing to the unsatisfying realities of a divided government." ...

... Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "The White House gave a thumbs-up on Wednesday to a sweeping year-end deal on taxes and government funding." ...

... Uh-oh. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "The $1.1 trillion omnibus bill includes language that would dramatically increase the number of visas available for foreign workers, setting off alarm bells among conservatives and labor unions. Congressional leaders quietly slipped the provision into the 2,009-page funding bill, with rank-and-file lawmakers only discovering it Wednesday morning. The move immediately sparked protests from both ends of the political spectrum. The provision could more than triple the number of H-2B visas for foreign workers seeking jobs at hotels, theme parks, ski resorts, golf courses, landscaping businesses, restaurants and bars. The move is intended to boost the supply of non-agricultural seasonal workers." ...

... Mike DeBonis & Kelsey Snell of the Washington Post on what-all else is in that big ole spend-and-give-away package. ...

... Everything Old Is New Again. (But It Wears a Beard.) Jim Newell of Slate: "When Paul Ryan was handed the speaker's gavel in late October, he pledged to restore normal order to the People's House and eliminate the sort of backroom deals that rank-and-file members complain are shoved down their throats at the 11^th hour. So, late Tuesday night, Ryan unveiled a few thousand pages of consequential tax, spending, and regulatory legislation costing roughly $2 trillion and gave Congress and the public two whole days to review everything.... The agreement Ryan reached with fellow congressional negotiators also looks much like one [former Speaker John] Boehner would have reached.... Republicans made all sorts of business tax breaks permanent without any new way to pay for them, so, hooray!"

Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that it would raise short-term interest rates for the first time since the financial crisis, a decision it described as a vote of confidence in the American economy even as much of the rest of the world struggles. The widely anticipated announcement -- that the Fed would raise rates to a range between 0.25 percent and 0.5 percent -- signals the beginning of the end for the central bank's stimulus program. Fed officials emphasized that they intended to raise rates gradually, and only if economic growth continues. Short-term rates will rise by about one percentage point a year for the next three years, Fed officials predicted. Interest rates on mortgages and other kinds of loans, and on savings accounts and other kinds of investments, are likely to remain low for years to come."

Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Cuba and the United States reached an agreement Wednesday night that will allow U.S. commercial airlines to begin operating flights to the island for the first time in decades, according to U.S. officials with knowledge of the discussion."

Our American Heroes Abroad. Nicholas Kulish, et al., of the New York Times: In 2012, Navy SEALS apparently beat to death an Afghan detainee & abused other. The Pentagon covered up the incident. "Even before the beatings, some of the SEALs had exhibited troubling behavior. According to the soldiers and Afghan villagers, they had amused themselves by tossing grenades over the walls of their base, firing high-caliber weapons at passing vehicles and even aiming slingshots at children, striking them in the face with hard candy." ...

... BUT Wait! We have more important things to discuss:

... Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter relied on a personal email account to conduct a portion of his government business during his first months at the Pentagon, according to White House and Defense Department officials and copies of Mr. Carter's emails obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Carter continued the practice, which violated Defense Department rules, for at least two months after it was publicly revealed in March that Hillary Clinton had exclusively used a personal email account as secretary of state, the officials said.... In a written statement on Wednesday, a spokesman for Mr. Carter said that the defense secretary had determined that he had been wrong to use the personal account."

** Christie Smythe & Keri Geiger of Bloomberg: "A boyish drug company entrepreneur [Martin Shkreli], who rocketed to infamy by jacking up the price of a life-saving pill from $13.50 to $750, was arrested by federal agents at his Manhattan home early Thursday morning on securities fraud related to a firm he founded.... Federal prosecutors accused Shkreli of engaging in a complicated shell game after his defunct hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management, lost millions. He is alleged to have made secret payoffs and set up sham consulting arrangements. A New York lawyer, Evan Greebel, was also arrested early Thursday. He's accused of conspiring with Shkreli in part of the scheme." CW: But, but, I thought Capitalism Was Awesome. Could this possibly mean that regulations are a good thing? ...

     ... Update. Here's the New York Times story, by Stephanie Clifford & Andrew Pollack.

** Adam Goldman, et al., of the Washington Post: "U.S. law enforcement officials said that gun charges are expected to be announced Thursday against Enrique Marquez, who bought the assault rifles used in the deadly San Bernardino attack. It is not clear if Marquez, 24, has been arrested yet."

Michael Memoli of the Los Angeles Times: "President Obama will travel to San Bernardino on Friday to join in mourning the 14 victims of the Dec. 2 mass shooting that he has called an act of terrorism, the White House said Wednesday."

Emma Green of the Atlantic: "Williamson County, Tennessee, embodies demographic stereotypes about the South: The county just south of Nashville is overwhelmingly white, Christian, and Republican. But this fall, a curious controversy emerged there. Parents and school-board members have voiced worries about alleged Islamic indoctrination in the public schools.... How has Islamic indoctrination become a point of controversy in a county that's chock full of churches?... In the absence of Muslim neighbors, it's easier to see those who practice Islam as fundamentally foreign, and to elide their faith with violence."

Evan Halper of the Los Angeles Times: "The fortunes of the wonder fuel that promised to help clean the environment, secure America and save small family farms have steadily dwindled as environmentalists, food advocates and auto enthusiasts sour on its promise. Now that fuel, corn-based ethanol, finds itself threatened with a defection that was once unthinkable: Iowa voters." CW: Ya coulda fooled me. I spent a lot of time at gas pumps these past couple of days, what with dragging that trailer up the East Coast, & every place I filled up, no matter the brand, promised to put up to 10 percent ethanol in my tank.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.

Dan Primack of Fortune: "For nearly a week, the media and political worlds have been wondering who paid $140 million to purchase Nevada's largest daily newspaper, The Las Vegas Review-Journal. The primary buyer had taken great pains to remain anonymous, but Fortune has learned from multiple sources familiar with the situation that it is Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp.... Adelson, a major Republican Party donor who hosted Tuesday night's debate at his Venetian property, had been widely rumored to be the buyer including by employees at the Review-Journal itself, which this morning ran a front-page story that detailed Adelson's ties to Michael Schroeder, a regional Connecticut newspaper publisher who was the only person listed on regulatory filings related to the sale." ...

... CW: Somehow I missed the news that Adelson was the lovely host. If there was any question in anyone's mind as to whether or not the GOP is bought & paid for, the question now has a definitive answer. ...

... Ravi Somaiya & Sydney Ember of the New York Times have more on the secret purchase. ...

... Brian Stelter of CNN Money: "'I have no personal interest' in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson said Tuesday night, in his first public comments about the mysterious sale of Nevada's biggest newspaper. Speaking with me on the sidelines of the CNN debate, Adelson batted away speculation that he is one of the new owners of the newspaper. He repeatedly indicated that he is not. He seemed to be enjoying the guessing game."

Paul Lewis of the Guardian: "The fierce debate over screening visa applicants in the wake of the San Bernardino attacks was thrown into question Wednesday after the head of the FBI said the married couple responsible for the shooting did not, as has been widely reported, make public social media posts supportive of jihad. FBI director James Comey said there is no evidence to suggest the couple, who killed 14 people in California this month, were part of a terrorist cell and that while they had communicated 'a joint commitment to jihad and to martyrdom', those were private messages rather than open social media postings." Thanks to Ophelia M. for the lead. ...

... All the News That's Fit to Invent. Kevin Drum: "So where did this notion come from, anyway? The answer is a New York Times story on Sunday headlined "U.S. Visa Process Missed San Bernardino Wife's Zealotry on Social Media." It told us that Tashfeen Malik 'talked openly' on social media about jihad and that, 'Had the authorities found the posts years ago, they might have kept her out of the country.' The story was written by Matt Apuzzo, Michael Schmidt, and Julia Preston. Do those names sound familiar? They should. The first two were also the authors of July's epic fail claiming that Hillary Clinton was the target of a criminal probe over the mishandling of classified information in her private email system. In the end, virtually everything about the story turned out to be wrong.... Coincidentally or not, their source(s) have provided them with two dramatic but untrue scoops that make prominent Democrats look either corrupt or incompetent." ...

... CW: Yes, and ain't it another amazing coincidence that the Times published this fake story perfectly timed to give the GOP presidential debaters an easy-to-understand "example" of how President Obama's "politically correct" ISIS strategy is completely stupid?

Thanks to Ken. W. (and his daughter-in-law) for this message brought to you by more owners of the GOP:

Presidential Race

Rebecca Traister of New York: "This moment, this election, these years represent the death throes of exclusive white male power in the United States.... And while the resistance may be symptomatic of death throes, a rage at the dying of the white male light, it nonetheless presents a very real threat -- there is the possibility that the old and angry may triumph over the new and different.... If [Hillary Clinton] wins, she -- and we -- will be forced to do battle with this rising, chilling, ever more open threat from those who feel enraged that their country is no longer their own. I fear that there's a lot more terror ahead of us."

Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton on Wednesday picked up the endorsement of the billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who gave his backing to her while calling for increased taxes on the country's highest wage earners. Mr. Buffett began his remarks at an event in Omaha with some stark statistics. In 1992, the top 400 wage earners in the United States made an average of $48.6 million each, compared with $335.7 million in 2012, Mr. Buffett said, using the most recent statistics available based on income tax returns." ...

... Monica Alba & Alex Seitz-Wald of NBC News (Dec. 15): "Hillary Clinton further detailed her plan to defeat ISIS Tuesday, and specifically spoke to the threat of homegrown radicalization in a city that has been on the front lines, while also warning that Islamophobia is not just offensive but harmful to American national security."

Via Greg Sargent:

Paul Krugman: "Somehow there seems to be a pattern in this chart from the editor of PolitiFact, but I can't quite put my finger on it:"

Gail Collins watched the debate so we of lesser fortitude would not have to: "In summary: Kill the families. Screw the orphans. Carpet-bomb Syria, but in a targeted way." CW: It was hard to imagine, when I was a young person, that when I got all growed up here in the USA, we would have a viable candidate for president who was so insane that we could laugh at his plans to "carpet-bomb into oblivion" hundreds of thousands of Iraqis & Syrians. That's partly because Ted's "plan" does not involve actual carpet-bombing (because he doesn't know what carpet-bombing is or that the Pentagon would probably instigate a coup before they would approve it) & partly because we are in denial of such a bellicose ignoramus having any chance to becoming POTUS. Wake up, folks. "Dr Strangelove" is alive! Also, will "the sand glow" only in "targeted" areas?

David Sanger of the New York Times: "In a surprisingly substantive debate on foreign policy Tuesday night, Republican presidential candidates had a chance to present their alternative to what was portrayed as President Obama's failed approach to the upheaval in the Middle East. But in their effort to demonstrate their skills at analysis and leadership, the politics and history of the region often eluded them.... For most -- with Jeb Bush apparently an exception -- the strategy to defeat the Islamic State largely seemed to boil down to this: Drop your bombs first and figure out the diplomacy later, if at all."

"For Republicans, Bigotry Is the New Normal." Washington Post Editors: "THE REPUBLICAN Party, once small government's champion, is now the party that breeds presidential contenders who would monitor schools and mosques, shut down parts of the Internet and exclude certain immigrants for no reason beyond the faith they profess. In the GOP debate Tuesday, those ideas -- along with can-you-top-this rhetorical barrages aimed at illegal immigrants and Syrian refugees -- received a generally polite reception, with constitutional, legal and practical questions contemptuously dismissed as 'political correctness.'... Today the fringe candidates have stormed center stage, brandishing their zeal and hyperbole and, disturbingly, dragging the mainstream along with them."

Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The presidential debate ... crystallized the Republican Party's growing consensus on national security and its strikingly hawkish response to threats at home and abroad, with the candidates vividly channeling the alarm and fear coursing through the GOP base.... Using bellicose language at a moment of pitched voter anxiety, many of the candidates committed themselves to a confrontational set of policies that, while energizing conservative activists, could prove difficult to carry out internationally and pose the risk of a backlash from war-weary swing voters next fall.... Pollster Geoff Garin, who advises a super PAC backing Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, said the GOP debate opens the door for Clinton to be 'the strong and steady grown-up in the room.'"

I Know It Must Be True Because I Saw It at the Picture Show. Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post: Ted "Cruz and, to varying extents, other candidates onstage appeared to view the Middle East as a kind of set for 'American Sniper' -- a woebegone place of dusty towns crawling with bad guys and not much else. What else can explain the willingness to entertain such civilian casualties? What else can explain the rather strange talking point from Donald Trump, the current front-runner, that the United States should simply 'take the oil' lying around in Iraq and Syria?"

Sarah Posner of Religion Dispatches: "The Republican presidential field has forgotten all about how marriage equality is going to force them into intentional Benedictine communities, or how nuns and craft stores would have to pay 'crippling' fines rather than violate their religious convictions. They've been blinded by another kind of fear. [The Tuesday] debate, which was focused on foreign policy, further revealed the Republican field's selective use of both the First Amendment, and, in a brief and probably since-forgotten moment, the Bible." CW: The First Amendment protects the Christian religion (& Jewish religion, insofar as it jibes with Christianity.)

Thomas Edsall of the New York Times: "Despite what liberals might think, [Donald] Trump's success in capitalizing on voter animosity to immigration and to political correctness has shocked many conservative Republicans.... The extended aftermath of the financial collapse of 2008 has given Trump the opportunity to exploit a political opening: the shift to the right that predictably follows such crises.... The dynamic interaction of three current trends -- voter anger over immigration, over offshoring and robotization, and over damage wrought by the economic meltdown of 2008 -- has been crucial to Trump's success." ...

... CW: Edsall is carrying water for the GOP elite, who -- after giving lip service to & outright encouraging the basest instincts of their baser & baser base since the 1970s -- are now shocked, shocked that's there's extremism going on here. "Blah" people, "Kenyan" economics, "well, Obama says he's a Christian"; the gay "agenda" will ruin your straight marriage, "convert" your straight children & gays will have sex in your living room; women will abort their "babies" right up to their due dates & have sex in your living room with random partners, Planned Parenthood sells baby parts; Mexicans are taking all the good jobs, Muslims will impose Sharia law, Christians are losing their freedoms; etc., etc. etc. -- all this malarkey is coming from "establishment" candidates, the same fellows these so-called elites have been supporting for decades. ...

... Chumps Won't Dump Trump. Paul Krugman: "... it's becoming increasingly plausible that [Trump] will go all the way. Why? One answer -- probably the most important -- is what Greg Sargent has been emphasizing: the majority of Republican voters actually support Trump's policy positions. After all, he's just saying outright what mainstream candidates have implied through innuendo.... I would, however, add a casual observation: at this point Trump has been the front-runner for long enough that it's very hard to imagine his supporters suddenly losing faith, because it would be too embarrassing.... For the Trump bubble to burst, many people ... would have to slap their foreheads and say, 'Wow, he's not a serious person! What was I thinking?' And very few people ever do that sort of thing."

Yay, Joe Scarborough has a Trump-Cruz conspiracy theory (begins about 35 sec. in):

Pamela Engel of Business Insider: "After [Richard Burr (R-N.C.).] the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said his staff was looking into whether Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) referenced classified information during Tuesday night's Republican debate on CNN, the committee issued a statement saying that is not the case." Thanks to P. D. Pepe for linking to an earlier story on this.

The GOP's hilariously inept, mendacious presidential candidates:

(Part 1) CW: Last winter, when it came out that Chris Christie had accepted a personal $30,000 gift from King Abdullah II of Jordan, he claimed it was all okay because he & Abdullah were friends & the Christie & Abdullah families just wanted to have a nice get-together. Usually, a person will remember the name of a friend -- especially if that "friend" also is, like, royalty! -- who gives him a $30,000 gift. Apparently, Christie, unlike the Donald, does not have "the world's greatest memory" -- because in Tuesday's debate, Christie said, "'When I stand across from King Hussein of Jordan, I say to him, "You have a friend again, sir, who will stand with you to fight this fight," he'll change his mind,' Mr. Christie said. It might be a tough conversation: King Hussein died in 1999; Mr. Christie would be talking with his eldest son, King Abdullah II."

(Part 2)

One of the things I would immediately do in addition to defeating them here at home is bring back the warrior class: Petraeus, McChrystal, Mattis, Keane, Flynn. Every single one of these generals I know, every one was retired early because they told President Obama things that he didn't want to hear. -- Carly Fiorina, during Tuesday's debate ...

... Jordyn Phelps of ABC News: "... Carly Fiorina said she did not misspeak during Tuesday night's debate when she said that Gen. Jack Keane retired early because he 'told President Obama things that he didn't want to hear.' But Keane, who served during the Bush administration, retired before Obama became president. Keane, now a FOX News contributor, came forward to say that Fiorina got the facts wrong surrounding his retirement. 'No, I have never spoken to the president,' Keane said on FOX News. 'That's not accurate, and I never served this administration. I served the previous administration.' When asked Wednesday if she misspoke, Fiorina dug in on the accuracy of her statement.... Gen. David Petreaus' retirement, for instance, followed revelations that he shared classified information with his biographer and alleged mistress. Gen. Stanley McChrystal ... retired soon after he was quoted directly criticizing the president and his policies in a 'Rolling Stone' article. Though McChrystal did have disagreements with the president, it was the publicity of the discord -- and not the internal disagreements themselves -- that preceded his early retirement." Emphasis added. ...

... Shakezula in Lawyers, Guns & Money: "Keane retired in 2003. When Obama was still in the Illinois General Assembly.... Good thing none of these dudes is dead or she'd be Vince Foster Conspiracy Theorying up a storm and we'd all die laughing. But the fact she has no idea why Petraeus was 'retired early' and thinks he should be brought back was even more of a howler than the initial claim about Keane. And while the chance that she'll be nominated ranks down there with the chance Ted Cruz will stop reminding everyone of that terminally damp guy who stares at girls on the train, don't expect to see the back of her until sometime after the election. Whoever does get the nomination may well pick her as VP. Unless team GOP stays confused about who it's running against and picks Dr. Carson." Emphasis added.

Paul Waldman: Marco Rubio is no Barack Obama. Even if he were, his timing is off & his party is totally not into change they can believe in.

Michael Gerson, former Dubya speechwriter, now WashPo columnist: All the GOP candidates screwed up -- except Jeb!" This would have been a good (and ethical) place for Gerson to mention his former job as a Bush hack, but he didn't. ...

... Tough Talk from Low-Energy Candidate. Alex Isenstadt & Shane Goldmacher of Politico: "Prior to the debate, senior Bush aides began looking into the possibility of making a clear break with Trump -- potentially with the candidate stating that, if Trump were the nominee, Bush would not support him. The former Florida governor didn't go that far, but the option may still be on the table." CW: Well, okay, not tough talk. But his advisors, unwilling to speak on the record, are hinting that someday Jeb! might think about getting tough." ...

... Eliza Collins of Politico: "Trump's bottom line: I don't want his support anyway." CW: AND Jeb! can't come to my inaugural ball. Which will be yuuuuge! ...

     ... Update. Besides, which as Akhilleus points out in today's thread, Trump has a more important endorsement. Andrew Roth of the Washington Post: "Putin said Russia would work with 'whomever the American voters choose,' but singled out Trump. 'He's a very lively man, talented without doubt,' Putin said according to the Interfax news service after the three-hour news conference. He added that Trump is the 'absolute leader in the presidential race.' 'He's saying he wants to go to another level of relations, closer, deeper relations with Russia,' Putin continued. 'How can we not welcome that? Of course we welcome that.' Trump in October gave a similar assessment of Russia's leader, saying he could 'get along very well with' Putin despite differences."

Beyond the Beltway

Reuters: "A New York man has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for his role in a plot to build a remote-controlled radiation-emitting 'death ray' intended to harm Muslims and the president, Barack Obama. Eric Feight, 55, pleaded guilty in January to a federal charge of providing material support to terrorists. He admitted helping Glendon Scott Crawford, a self-proclaimed Ku Klux Klansman, in modifying an industrial-grade radiation device, which tabloid newspapers dubbed a 'death ray,' and building a switch to operate it from a distance."

Lynh Bui, et al., of the Washington Post: "Jurors deliberated more than 16 hours over three days but still could not reach a verdict in the trial of the first officer to face prosecution in Freddie Gray's death, forcing an already-weary Baltimore to continue waiting for any resolution in a case that has strained the city for months. Hours after Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Barry G. Williams declared a mistrial on Wednesday, court officials announced that he would meet with attorneys Thursday to determine a new trial date."

Ryan Felton of the Guardian: "Last week, Larycia Hawkins, an associate professor of political science at Wheaton College, announced her decision to wear a hijab as a demonstration of 'human solidarity' with Muslims.... Wheaton, a private evangelical liberal arts college in Chicago's west suburbs, placed the professor on administrative leave, pending a review the college said she's entitled to receive as a tenured faculty member." Thanks to Marvin S. for the lead. ...

... CW: I wonder what, if anything, would happen if dozens of people wearing Muslim dress started showing up at Trump rallies -- just sitting there, together, saying nothing. Maybe dozens of Central American workers, fresh off their jobs & still wearing their work clothes also stood together. I know the kidz like to make a racket, but sit-ins can be mighty effective.

The Commentariat -- Dec. 16, 2015

CW: Back on the road again, so again I leave the hard work up to readers. Thank you for all your help yesterday.

Robert Pear & David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "Republican and Democratic negotiators in the House clinched a deal late Tuesday on a $1.1 trillion spending bill and a huge package of tax breaks. Legislative drafters, racing a midnight deadline, met the time limit for issuing the tax package but apparently missed it for the spending bill. That could push back a vote on the House floor by one day, until Friday.... Since the Republicans took back control of the House in 2011, a majority in the party has routinely opposed compromise budget and spending measures, forcing party leaders to rely on Democrats for votes to clear the bills. All signs indicate that the same dynamic is playing out now."

... Herszenhorn & Pear of the New York Times: (Dec. 15): "House Speaker Paul D. Ryan told the Republican Party's rank and file on Tuesday night that a deal had been reached on a $1.1 trillion spending measure, but Democrats said that negotiations on the bill had not been finished." ...

Presidential Race

Patrick Healy & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump came under sustained attack from Jeb Bush and other Republican presidential candidates on Tuesday night as they united against his plan to bar Muslims from entering the United States while tussling over who would be toughest in protecting Americans from terrorist threats. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida also faced his toughest moments of the race during the latest Republican debate as a top rival, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, repeatedly questioned his conservative credentials and his judgment on national security and immigration." ...

... Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times: Jeb "Bush repeatedly stood up to Mr. Trump, who sounded like the playground bully he is as he struggled to respond when Mr. Bush called him a chaos candidate,' told him 'you're not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency,' and ... saying the reality star 'gets his foreign policy experience from the shows.' At one point, a flailing Mr. Trump was left sputtering the aforementioned insults and demanding an apology.... The enduring image was of Mr. Trump, grimacing and shrugging clownishly as he declined to call Mr. Cruz a 'maniac,' as he did last week, or to go after him in any substantive way." ...

... Frank Bruni is not too bad re: the debate. He begins, "Someone needs to explain carpets to Ted Cruz." And, as shallow as Bruni is, he gets that Trump is more so: "Bush more than anyone in any of these debates effectively called Trump out for his galling recklessness, and Trump's responses were as naked a display of his adolescent narcissism as he’s engaged in yet. That's saying something." ...

... Liar, Liar, Liar, Liar. The Washington Post fact-checks someof the candidates' claims. They really will say just anything. And, of course, the so-called moderators always let them get away with lies. I don't blame the moderators for not having facts & numbers at their fingertips, but they do have earbuds & a staff-full of helpers at the ready, some of whom could at least check & allow the moderators to call out the most outrageous claims. Maybe they couldn't do it in real time, but they could come close.

Beyond the Beltway

Adam Nagourney, et al., of the New York Times: "The nation's two largest school systems confronted threats of a terrorist attack on Tuesday and reacted in sharply different ways: New York City reviewed the warning and dismissed it as a hoax, but officials here abruptly shut down all public schools, upending the lives of parents, students and teachers."

Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "High school debate coaches of some of the top Virginia teams are asking authorities to consider moving the sport's annual championship off the Liberty University campus due to recent comments by Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr. that many saw as threatening to Muslims.... Concerns stem from Falwell's comments in a talk to students this month about terrorism, in which he urged students to arm themselves against 'those Muslims' who might come on campus and do harm. His comments set off enormous cheers among the thousands in attendance."

Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "A Manassas City police detective, who was the lead investigator in a controversial teen 'sexting' case last year, shot and killed himself outside his home Tuesday morning as police tried to arrest him for allegedly molesting two boys he met while coaching youth hockey in Prince William County." And, yes, the cop "sexted" the young boys: "Police said they learned that [David] Abbott had sent inappropriate text messages and emails to a 13-year-old boy he met through the hockey program. By phone and social media, Abbott had been asking the boy for sex acts for more than two years, county police said." Oh, & the "controversial 'sexting'" case? It was a kid sending explicit videos to his girlfriend: the cops then took "a photo of the teen's erect penis, for comparison with the explicit video." Without knowing the facts -- like how receptive the girl was to receiving the videos -- it sounds as if the cops were far worse than the kid.

Way Beyond

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Saudi Arabia has announced the formation of an 'Islamic military alliance' to combat global terrorism, an effort to respond to Western assertions that it could do more in the fight against the Islamic State and to solidify its claim to leadership of the Sunni world against Shiite Iran.... The [Obama] administration said it welcomed the new alliance."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 15, 2015

Internal links removed.

CW: You're on your own today. Don't forget to watch the GOP debate tonight. Let's hope Trump & Cruz -- who will be standing next to each other -- get into actual fisticuffs. Before you handicap the physical fight, better check out Trump's medical report, linked below. Meantime, do help out by using the Comments section to link to articles you find interesting. (Stick with politics, please.)

Ken Vogel of Politico: "The political operation created by the billionaire conservative mega-donors Charles and David Koch is quietly investing millions of dollars in programs to win over an unlikely demographic target for their brand of small-government conservatism ― poor people. The outreach includes everything from turkey giveaways, GED training and English-language instruction for Hispanic immigrants to community holiday meals and healthy living classes for predominantly African American groups to vocational training and couponing classes for the under-employed. The strategy, according to sources familiar with it and documents reviewed by POLITICO, calls for presenting a more compassionate side of the brothers' politics to new audiences, while fighting the perception that their groups are merely fronts for rich Republicans seeking to game the political process for personal gain."

Robert Pear of the New York Times: "In early November, President Obama challenged 20 communities around the country to compete with one another in signing up people [to the ACA] who were uninsured. The places were chosen because they had large numbers of uninsured residents or because people lacking coverage accounted for a large share of the population. A scoreboard prepared by the White House says that Milwaukee -- with a Democratic mayor who strongly supports the health law -- has made the most progress, followed by Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta. Oakland, Calif., Nashville, Tampa, Fla., and Salt Lake City were also in the top 10.... 'We are seeing unprecedented demand,' said Lori Lodes, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services...."

Eric Lipton & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The Environmental Protection Agency engaged in 'covert propaganda' and violated federal law when it blitzed social media to urge the public to back an Obama administration rule intended to better protect the nation's streams and surface waters, congressional auditors have concluded.... Federal laws prohibit agencies from engaging in lobbying and propaganda."

Richard Oppel of the New York Times: "A top Army commander on Monday ordered that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl face a court-martial on charges of desertion and endangering troops stemming from his decision to leave his outpost in 2009, a move that prompted a huge manhunt in the wilds of eastern Afghanistan and landed him in nearly five years of harsh Taliban captivity."

Register Your Drones! Federal Aviation Administration: "The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today announced a streamlined and user-friendly web-based aircraft registration process for owners of small unmanned aircraft (UAS) weighing more than 0.55 pounds (250 grams) and less than 55 pounds (approx. 25 kilograms) including payloads such as on-board cameras."

Presidential Race

Dan Balz & Scott Clement of the Washington Post: "Following his proposal to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the country, Donald Trump has increased his lead in the Republican primary to its largest margin yet, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll." ...

If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency. -- Harold Bornstein (reputedly), who says he is Trump's doctor ...

... Russell Saunders & Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "Donald Trump's doctor released a medical report so silly that when we asked the American Medical Association about its language, their spokesman started to laugh." ...

... Colin Campbell of Business Insider reproduces the "astonishingly excellent" letter from Trump's doctor. The medical doctors among you will be sure to want to read it to find out how you're really supposed to write reports. Sometimes, apparently, it's appropriate to let your patients "help" you write the reports.

James Downie of the Washington Post: Ted "Cruz is the one contender who understands the far right and whose conservative bona fides are impeccable. If he were to be the nominee, it would be good news for the Democrats in the short term and the country in the long term. His ideologically extreme positions would hand Hillary Clinton an edge in what the fundamentals still suggest is otherwise likely to be a close election. And a Cruz loss would be most likely to end the myth on the far right that 'Republicans lose presidential elections when they don't run far enough to the right.'"

Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg: "The divide over same-sex marriage encapsulates [Marco] Rubio's dilemma: he's a young face in a party dominated by older voters. The Pew poll found that while a majority of Americans want gay couples to be able to marry, just 32 percent of Republicans and 24 percent of white evangelical protestants support it.... Surveys indicate that [HIllary] Clinton is more in tune with younger generations than Rubio on issues such as raising the federal minimum wage, normalizing relations with Cuba and loosening marijuana laws."

Beyond the Beltway

Emily Yahr of the Washington Post: "Over the last year, more than three-dozen women have alleged they were sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby. On Monday, the comedian sued seven of the women, saying the 'malicious, opportunistic, false and defamatory accusations' are a mere play for money that has ruined his reputation.