December 25, 2015

Defunct videos removed.

National Christmas Tree 2015.In keeping with my seven-year tradition of doing nothing useful on Christmas Day, following are some popular 20th-century Christmas songs I can bear:

Nat King Cole sings "The Christmas Song," written by Bob Wells & Mel Torme: 

"The Little Drummer Boy," written by Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941 & performed by the Harry Simeone Chorale (1958):

Bing Crosby sings "Do You Hear What I Hear," lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne Baker. Regney & Baker, who were then married to each other, "wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis."

So maybe not Christmas music exactly, but from "A Charlie Brown Christmas:

Bob Dylan's version of "Must Be Santa" ended up on my Worst Christmas Songs Ever list for a couple of years. Then I got used to it. Dylan's version sure beats Mitch Miller's original:

Top hillbilly Christmas song: Elvis Presley & Martina McBride sing "Blue Christmas":

My Favorite: The Drifters' "White Christmas"; cartoon by Joshua Held:

The Commentariat -- Dec. 24, 2015

Internal links & defunct video removed.

David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "After spending 444 days in captivity, and more than 30 years seeking restitution, the Americans taken hostage at the United States Embassy in Tehran in 1979 have finally won compensation. Buried in the huge spending bill signed into law last Friday are provisions that would give each of the 53 hostages or their estates up to $4.4 million. Victims of other state-sponsored terrorist attacks such as the 1998 American Embassy bombings in East Africa would also be eligible for benefits under the law."

Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post: "The Department of Justice announced this week that it's suspending a controversial program that allows local police departments to keep a large portion of assets seized from citizens under federal law and funnel it into their own coffers.... The DOJ is suspending payments under this program due to budget cuts included in the recent spending bill.... Criminal justice reformers are cheering the change.... The change may not be permanent." ...

... CW: In other words, the DOJ is not suspending the program because it's an egregious violation of Constitutional rights, but because Paul Ryan didn't give them enough money to egregiously violate Americans' Constitutional rights. Nice work, ya bastids.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Defense Secretary Ash Carter has moved to block the release of about 2,000 photos of detainees allegedly abused in U.S. military custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he parted with his predecessors by agreeing to release about 200 such photos that have been under wraps for years, according to a new court filing."

Zach Schonbrun & Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "The National Basketball Association, alarmed by the death toll from shootings across the country, is stepping into the polarizing debate over guns, regulation and the Second Amendment with an advertising campaign in partnership with one of the nation's most aggressive advocates of stricter limits on firearm sales. In a move with little precedent in professional sports, the N.B.A. is putting the weight of its multibillion-dollar brand and the prestige of its star athletes behind a series of television commercials calling for an end to gun violence.... Tthe organization that paid for them, Everytown for Gun Safety, has a robust and controversial agenda: It was founded by former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg specifically as a counterweight to the National Rifle Association...."

Jonathan Chait: "Ross Douthat's Sunday column, as it so often does, offers the least unreasonable iteration of the deranged state of conservative thinking on Obamacare.... To bolster [his] case, Douthat makes four points against the law.... Individually, and collectively, they present a wildly misleading picture of a law that continues to work very well." ...

... Steve Benen: "'Obamacare' sign-ups aren't just strong this year, they're also exceeding projections and last year's tallies." Also, more young people are signing up. "Because younger people tend to be healthier, the increase appears likely to 'greatly help strengthen the financial health of insurance plans in Obamacare's third enrollment season.'...House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) appeared on NBC's 'Meet the Press' over the weekend, and when asked about the ACA, the Republican leader declared, 'It's a law that is not working.' And yet, the evidence to the contrary is hard to miss."

Jerry Markon & David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "The Department of Homeland Security has begun preparing for a series of raids that would target for deportation hundreds of families who have flocked to the United States since the start of last year, according to people familiar with the operation. The nationwide campaign, to be carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as soon as early January, would be the first large-scale effort to deport families who have fled violence in Central America, those familiar with the plan said. More than 100,000 families with both adults and children have made the journey across the southwest border since last year, though this migration has largely been overshadowed by a related surge of unaccompanied minors." ...

... Griff Witte, et al., of the Washington Post: On orders from Washington, a border control officer in Britain barred a British Muslim family of 11 from boarding a plane at Gatwick Airport bound for Disneyland. "... the case prompted America's largest Muslim advocacy organization [-- the Council on American-Islamic Relations --] to call for an investigation into whether Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States was being 'implemented informally' by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A prominent British parliamentarian, meanwhile, demanded that Prime Minister David Cameron press U.S. officials for an explanation...." ...

Linda Greenhouse: "The [Supreme C]ourt pays great deference to claims by members of the white majority to injury from race-conscious policies.... At the same time, the court requires members of minority groups to prove that disadvantageous official policies or practices reflect a purpose to discriminate, a very high bar to meet."

... Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "Who's really waging a war against Christmas in 2015? Secular multiculturalists who, stealthily and nefariously, have somehow rendered Starbucks's coffee cups a tad less festive? Or the self-proclaimed culture warriors on behalf of traditional values, who demand we leave refugees -- even small children, as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has made pitilessly clear -- at the mercy of the latter-day Herods? Who condemn entire religions? Who fear and loathe strangers?... Walls on the border, religious tests for admission, despising the poor -- good thing Joseph and Mary didn't have to encounter our modern-day defenders of the right as they scrambled from one country to another, desperate to save their son's life."

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "The White House on Wednesday released holiday playlists from the Obama family and the family of Vice President Joseph R. Biden on Spotify, the music-streaming site where users can curate their own selections and share them with friends. Mr. Obama's holiday playlist is an eclectic mix, including Big Band and Motown classics, lots of jazz and a bit of gospel. Artists range from Frank Sinatra ('The First Noel') to Destiny's Child ('8 Days of Christmas').

Dave Barry's year-end review in the Washington Post: "We apologize, but 2015 had so many negatives that we're having trouble seeing the positives. It's like we're on the Titanic, and it's tilting at an 85-degree angle with its propellers way up in the air, and we're dangling over the cold Atlantic trying to tell ourselves: 'At least there's no waiting for the shuffleboard courts!'"

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Nigel Duara & Lisa Mascaro of the Los Angeles Times: In an editorial that ran in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Wednesday edition, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson's "new management team ... mentioned that [the paper's editor-in-chief Michael] Hengel had accepted a 'voluntary buyout.' But in an interview Wednesday, Hengel said he first learned of his acceptance of the buyout when someone from the newspaper read the editorial to him over the telephone Tuesday night. At the same time, he received an email with a formal offer." The story recaps the controversies surrounding Adelson's secret purchase of the newspaper.

Presidential Race

Amy Chozick & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Behind the scenes, the Clinton campaign mobilized a wide network of female supporters to denounce Mr. Trump as 'sexist,' as a practitioner of pathetic, frat-boy politics,' and as more suited to running for 'president of the fourth-grade football team.'... While the other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination tread carefully to avoid antagonizing Mr. Trump's supporters, for Mrs. Clinton, hitting hard appears relatively risk-free." ...

Gail Collins: "Happy holidays! I say this with some trepidation, because Donald Trump has vowed that when he is president, 'We're all going to be saying "Merry Christmas" again.'... This is supposed to be a down period for presidential campaigning, since most of the population is focused on celebrating you-know-what with friends and families. But Trump has given us such a not-normal year that people will be drinking eggnog by the fire and discussing the proper use of the word 'schlonged.'" Collins ends with a Christmas carol you won't want to be singing around the tree unless your Christmas wish is to teach the kiddies the proper meaning & use of "schlong."

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "... as Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Jeb Bush grasp for some way to dissuade the proud New Hampshire electorate from supporting Mr. Trump, they are turning to a new, blunter instrument: guilt. 'America is counting on you,' Mr. Christie said Sunday night in the century-old town hall here, his 40th question-and-answer session in the state. He repeated himself a few sentences later, in case the voters had missed the barely veiled warning.... 'New Hampshire has a special place in our democracy,' said Mr. Bush at his 27th town-hall-style meeting.... 'I, for one, will entrust the voters of New Hampshire to make this decision disproportionately more than any other place. I'm totally confident that you all will maintain your position as first in the nation, that you will be discerning about this.'"

Callum Borchers of the Washington Post: "Media-bashing Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz was handed a political gift Tuesday night when The Washington Post retracted an editorial cartoon that depicted his two young daughters as monkeys. The animated cartoon, by Pulitzer Prize winner Ann Telnaes, sketched the Texas senator in a Santa suit turning a Jack-in-the-box-style crank that made the monkeys dance. A headline said, 'Ted Cruz uses his kids as political props' -- a reference to a recent viral campaign video in which Cruz and his daughters spoofed familiar Christmas stories.... At a rally in Tulsa on Wednesday..., [Cruz told] supporters that 'if the media wants to attack and ridicule every Republican, well that's what they're gonna do. But leave our kids alone.' And he wasted little time before soliciting campaign contributions, hoping backers would channel their outrage through donations."

Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg: "Marco Rubio is dipping in national polls going into the final week of 2015. While the drop is slight, and far from irreversible less than six weeks away from the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses, where the first votes will be cast in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination, it is happening at a time when the U.S. senator from Florida needs to be moving in the opposite direction." ...

We had roughly 20 minutes with [Marco Rubio] on Monday, and in that time, he talked about ISIS, the economy, his political record and his background. But it was like watching a computer algorithm designed to cover talking points. He said a lot but at the same time said nothing. It was like someone wound him up, pointed him toward the doors and pushed 'play.' If there was a human side to the senator, a soul, it didn't come across. -- Erik Eisele of the Conway (New Hampshire) Daily Sun ...

... Andrew Prokop of Vox: "This is something national political reporters who've followed Rubio have long observed. When you see him deliver a speech, he's great -- charismatic, fluid, winning. But he's much better at hitting a previously prepared set of points than he is at striking a more conversational, informal tone. The town hall setting isn't the greatest for him."

Low-Energy Candidate Drops High-Energy Brand. Jeb! abandons attempt to trademark "Jeb!"

Still Crazy. Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "Ben Carson, whose campaign has come under increasing stress as his polling numbers have declined, suggested on Wednesday a major shake-up was coming, only to seemingly reverse himself hours later. 'My senior team remains in place with my full confidence,' Mr. Carson, the Republican presidential contender, said in a statement issued by his campaign spokesman late in the day. In interviews with reporters earlier at his Maryland home, Mr. Carson had suggested the opposite, declaring 'Everything is on the table, every job is on the table.'" ...

... Eric Levitz of New York: "Ben Carson spent Wednesday afternoon in his basement, complaining to reporters about his hired help.... Carson blamed his campaign's struggles on his overpriced, ineffective staffers.... Carson appears to have told the national media that he's contemplating firing some of his aides before ever mentioning the prospect to the aides themselves.... When the AP contacted [Carson campaign manager Barry] Bennett for comment, he replied, 'I'm getting ready to have a conversation with him. Why don't I have that conversation and call you back.' Bennett later told reporters that there would be no staff shake-up, and that Carson was only 'talking strategy not personnel' -- a claim that can't be squared with the candidate's public statements." ...

... Robert Costa & Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "But according to two Republicans close to Carson, the retired neurosurgeon has been interviewing consultants for prominent roles in the campaign without Bennett's knowledge.... [Carson's long-time business manager Armstrong] Williams set up the interviews on his own without Bennett's involvement or knowledge." ...

... This, BTW, is Ben Carson being boldly, bravely, audaciously politically incorrect -- as if no other political candidate ever wished Americans a merry Christmas:

Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Rand Paul will not accept being relegated to an undercard debate and is willing to protest, the Republican presidential candidate said Wednesday. 'I won't participate in any kind of second-tier debate,' Paul declared in a radio interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade.... The Kentucky senator was responding to the news that only six candidates are likely to make Fox Business Network's main debate stage in South Carolina on Jan. 14.... Paul blasted the system of allowing the media and artificial polls to determine who belongs on the main stage and also took a shot at [Donald] Trump...."

Waaaahhhhh!!!!!!, Ctd. Nicky Wolff of the Guardian: "As families across the US come together in joy two days before Christmas, Rand Paul has chosen instead to tweet out his annual list of Festivus Grievances.... 'Where to start but @realDonaldTrump,' Paul began. 'If u bring the Yiddish, know what it means. Guess that's more of a kvetch than a grievance.' He hit the real estate mogul with allegations of attempted sartorial bribery. 'After the debates, @realDonaldTrump always trying to give us parting gifts of his made in China ties. Weird.'" CW: Sorry to say, Li'l Randy will not be demonstrating any "Festivus Feats of Strength." For explanation, see below. ...

... The True Story of Festivus:

Hanna Trudo of Politico: Mike "Huckabee says he'll drop out [of the residential race] if he doesn't place in the top three in Iowa."

Congressional Race -- Ha Ha

AP: "A Florida man who landed a gyrocopter on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol as a political protest says he will run for the congressional seat held by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Douglas Hughes, a Democrat from Ruskin, said earlier this month that he intended to run for Congress but only indicated he would challenge a South Florida Democrat. In a court filing Wednesday, he says he will run in Florida's 23rd District, which Wasserman Schultz represents." CW: Hughes does not live in -- or particularly near -- the 23rd District. But maybe he can gyroscope in.

Beyond the Beltway

Alice Ollstein of Think Progress: "Less than a month after taking office, Kentucky's newly elected Republican Gov. Matt Bevin reversed a move by his Democratic predecessor that had restored the voting rights of about 140,000 former felons. Those impacted, who are overwhelmingly African American and lower income, had already completed their felony sentences but remained permanently disenfranchised. The order excluded those convicted of violent crimes, sex crimes, bribery or treason. Bevin's move Tuesday night goes against promises he made during the campaign to keep the restoration of voting rights in place.... In another executive order this week, Bevin reversed former Gov. [Steve] Beshear's [D] move to raise the state's minimum wage for government workers and contractors to $10.10 an hour, bringing it back down to $7.25 an hour. About 800 state workers who have already gotten raises will be able to keep them, but new hires will now have to start at the lower pay rate." (Akhilleus mentioned these Grinch-worthy moves in a comment two days ago.)

Richard Oppel & Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "The Cleveland grand jury has been conducting its work in private, investigating the police shooting of a 12-year-old boy named Tamir Rice that set off protests nationwide. But a steady stream of evidence [favorable to the officers involved in the shooting] has been trickling out to the public.... These were not leaks: The evidence was made public by the Cuyahoga County prosecutor himself, Timothy J. McGinty.... 'We have never seen a prosecutor try so hard to lose a case,' said Jonathan S. Abady, a lawyer for Tamir's mother, Samaria Rice.... In a series of blistering letters, Ms. Rice's lawyers have accused Mr. McGinty of prosecutorial misconduct and demanded that he step aside. Mr. McGinty has refused.... Some Ohio legal experts have also raised questions about Mr. McGinty's handling of the case."

Jack Healy of the New York Times: "Robert L. Dear Jr., the man accused of a deadly shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood center here, tried to wrest control of his criminal defense on Wednesday, telling a judge that he wanted to represent himself and did not trust his public defender.... Judge Gilbert Anthony Martinez of Colorado's Fourth Judicial District ordered Mr. Dear to undergo a competency examination to determine whether he understood the court case and was mentally able to waive his right to a lawyer and stand in his own defense. The evaluation at Colorado's state mental hospital could take months, and Mr. Dear told the judge he would refuse to cooperate."

Amanda Holpuch of the Guardian: "The largest shopping mall in the US was locked down on Wednesday, after hundreds of protesters gathered for a Black Lives Matter demonstration which also caused an airport terminal to shut down. Protesters met in the central rotunda of the Mall of America, which had warned demonstrators that they would be arrested for protests on mall property during one of the busiest shopping days of the year.... Organizers said they were trying to draw attention to the police shooting of Jamar Clark, a black man who died the day after he was shot in the north of [Minneapolis]."

Way Beyond

Alan Clendenning of the AP: "About 35 African migrants, including at least one rescued at sea from an overcrowded wooden boat, are among the top prize winners of Spain's Christmas lottery, according to the owner of the lottery agency that sold more than 1,000 tickets that shelled out 400,000 euros ($438,000) each."

News Ledes

AP: "In northern Mississippi, residents were beginning to take stock after fierce storms that killed at least six across the country whipped through the area. The deadly spring-like storms killed three in Mississippi, two others in Tennessee and one in Arkansas before the worst passed Wednesday night." ...

     ... New York Times Update: "Storms lashed the South for most of the day Wednesday, but the National Weather Service said that it was assessing the strength and duration of one tornado that appeared to have been particularly long lasting. Survey teams, which might release more detailed findings later Thursday, were helping determine whether the tornado remained on the ground for the entirety of its path."

Hill: "Fears of civilian deaths in Ramadi are growing as Iraqi Security Forces, supported by the U.S.-led coalition, prepare to storm the city and oust the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).... U.S. military officials acknowledge the risks to civilians, but say Iraqi air forces have dropped leaflets urging them to leave the city, or shelter in place, for the offensive that could start within the next 72 hours. The U.S. military published those leaflets online on Tuesday."

Bloomberg: "The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said Thursday it received information of possible threats against Westerners visiting a popular shopping district in the Chinese capital on or around Christmas Day. In a message sent to U.S. citizens, the embassy urged heightened vigilance and said that it had issued the same guidance to American government personnel. The Sanlitun district of Beijing, for which the warning was issued, is home to numerous bars and restaurants and is also where Apple Inc. opened its first store in China in 2008. The British and French embassies in Beijing both issued subsequent statements urging their nationals to exercise heightened vigilance in the Sanlitun area on and around Christmas Day."

AP: "Christian faithful from around the world are descending on the biblical city of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations at the traditional birthplace of Jesus. The mood in Bethlehem has been dampened by a three month-long wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that shows no signs of relenting."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 23, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon Update:

For more on Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (RTP), see Akhilleus's commentary in today's thread. While Bevin is hurting thousands of Kentuckians, there is irony in his hurting the very people who probably voted for him: low-income state workers.

*****

Bill Scher in Real Clear Politics: "Presidential scholars have a term to describe the typical experience of a chief executive who wins re-election to the White House. It's called the 'second-term curse.' There's evidence for it. Midway through their second terms, George W. Bush suffered Hurricane Katrina and the Iraqi quagmire, Bill Clinton was impeached, Ronald Reagan was staggered by the Iran-contra scandal,and Richard Nixon was run out of town. At the risk of jinxing our current president with one year left to go, he appears to have broken the curse." Via Steve Benen, whose commentary is worth reading, too.

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "... President Obama released letters he had received from gay members of the military thanking the president for repealing the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy exactly five years ago. Mr. Obama promised in a corresponding Facebook post that he would spend the remainder of his presidency looking for ways to combat discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.... Mr. Obama's victory lap on the 'don't ask, don't tell' anniversary came amid criticism from some Republicans and conservatives that he has not done enough to support the military. Conservative news outlets reacted with outrage on Monday after the president allowed himself to be photographed celebrating a golf shot at the start of his two-week Hawaiian vacation, but did not make any comments to the news media about the death just hours earlier of six American soldiers in a suicide attack in Afghanistan." ...

... CW: "Conservative news outlets reacted with outrage" should be the sentence of the decade. Google it, & you get dozens of entries on unrelated topics, "conservatives reacting with outrage" to whatever. Also, Ms. Davis, a single Facebook entry does not constitute a "victory lap." It's true that President Obama has been on a bit of a victory lap, using year-end events like his press conference to tout his administration's accomplishments. A "lap" is a series of actions, not a single incidence. Pardon my pedantry.

Jeff Toobin of the New Yorker: "... President Obama is starting to come around on pardons, or at least on commutations.... Obama is moving in the right direction, but he has a long way to go.... Over the last year of his Presidency, his Administration should publish the names of people being considered for pardons.... This public airing might well save Obama from making some poor choices, but it will also guarantee him a measure of political protection.... The pardon power, with its roots in the monarchy, allows a President to go big -- and that's exactly how Obama should go."

Keith Alexander, et al., of the Washington Post: "More than 50 police officers involved in fatal shootings this year had previously fired their guns in deadly on-duty shootings, according to a Washington Post investigation.... The Post also found that an additional 45 officers had previously been involved in non-fatal shootings. The findings concerned many law enforcement experts, who said that most officers never fire their weapons on the job. The analysis also exposed another gap in the federal government's oversight of fatal police shootings nationwide: the absence of a system for tracking multiple shootings by individual officers.... In most cases, the person killed was armed and the shootings were found to be justified by authorities or were still under investigation."

Our Crooked Congress Prospers. Charles Pierce: "Buried in the budget deal that now has emerged from Congress is a provision by which the IRS will be actively forbidden from enacting new rules in 2016 to rein in the obvious scams in which most of the 501(c)4's engage. I don't care how loudly the flying monkeys howl at Speaker Paul Ryan for 'betraying' them by striking a deal at all, this is the real joker in the deck, and the fact that this principle was so easily bargained away says a great deal about the people in power from both political parties. They have accepted the new reality of legalized influence-peddling and are finding ways to prosper in it. This, I guess, is another New Normal in our politics."

William Frey, in the Washington Post, demonstrates how a Supreme Court decision for the plaintiff in the voting rights case Evenwel v. Abbott , who want legislative districts to be based on voters, not residents, would result in strongly skewing districts in favor of older, white citizens.

Thomas Edsall of the New York Times discusses political correctness, & it turns out everybody, from President Obama on down to Donald Trump, thinks political correctness is an outrageous disruption of free speech. ...

... CW: Edsall doesn't bother to discriminate among the types of so-called political correctness. There's a big difference between criticizing the "coddling of college students" (Obama) & calling women "fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals" (Trump). Edsall lumped together average people who don't like to have to "be careful" what they say around "certain people" & Ben Carson's complaint that "'political correctness' bears the responsibility for the criticism he ... faced ... when he said he would 'not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.'" Anway, Edsall, as he does quite often, exhibits the downside of both-siderism. Dana Milbank (column linked yesterday) did a much better job of capturing how Trump, Carson & the whole winger crowd have abused the term political correctness & used it as a catchall to criticize all manner of supposed liberal policies.

Annals of Journalism. Ken Ritter of the AP: "The editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal capped more than a week of turmoil sparked by the sale of Nevada's largest newspaper to the family of casino magnate and Republican party kingmaker Sheldon Adelson with an announcement on Tuesday that he's stepping down. Mike Hengel stunned the newsroom with word that he had accepted a voluntary buyout, according to several staff members who took to Twitter after the announcement."

Presidential Race

Patrick Healy of the New York Timeslooks back on the year in presidential campaigning.

Bernie Sanders, in a New York Times op-ed: "To rein in Wall Street, we should begin by reforming the Federal Reserve, which oversees financial institutions and which uses monetary policy to maintain price stability and full employment. Unfortunately, an institution that was created to serve all Americans has been hijacked by the very bankers it regulates."

Fox Business Gets Down to Business. Ben Kamisar of the Hill: "As few as six candidates could make the next GOP presidential debate stage in January, as Fox Business Network's new criteria could drastically shrink the field less than a month before the Iowa caucuses.... Using current RealClearPolitics averages, Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Ben Carson, former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.), and Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.) currently sit in the national top six.... That would relegate Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), Carly FIorina, and Gov. John Kasich (Ohio) to the undercard debate...."

Nick Corasantini & Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "Soaring advertising costs in early primary states are compelling major 'super PACs' to realign their tactics, de-emphasizing costly broadcast commercials in favor of the kind of nuts-and-bolts work that presidential candidates used to handle themselves. They are overseeing extensive field operations, data-collection programs, digital advertising, email lists, opposition research and voter registration efforts.... Originally conceived as a vehicle to raise and spend unlimited money on television, the most expensive part of a White House run, the groups now are seeking to relieve campaigns of much of the vital infrastructure that candidates would otherwise have to assemble and manage themselves." ...

... CW: Now I'd like one of you brilliant legal scholars -- maybe you, John Roberts, because I'm pretty sure you never miss a day of Reality Chex -- explain to me how compiling e-mails lists & collecting other data, etc., constitutes "free speech." It's one think to say, "I like Ted"; quite another to skulk around looking for Marco's lovechild.

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's tax plan would benefit the wealthiest Americans the most while saddling the economy with trillions of dollars in new debt, according to an analysis released on Tuesday by the Tax Policy Center.... Despite the populist tone of his campaign, Mr. Trump's plan appears to open new loopholes that would allow the well-off to shave their tax bills and could debilitate the economy as lawmakers look for requisite spending cuts.... While Mr. Trump said that billionaires like himself would be hit the hardest under his plan, the Tax Policy Center disagrees." ...

Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: "Trump's support is deeper than we want to admit." ...

... Zachary Goldfarb of the Washington Post: Donald Trump's saying it was 'too disgusting' to talk about Hillary Clinton's bathroom break & "that she had got 'schlonged' by Barack Obama ... was another example of his mastery in exploiting the psychological biases of conservatives...." It turns out that research shows conservatives are more easily "disgusted" than liberals & don't like talking/thinking about private parts. ...

     ... CW: I have always thought this was the main reason conservatives are so often anti-gay; they just don't like being reminded about nasty, dirty sex, & when they do speak of sex, they joke about it and/or treat it in terms of conquest & power dynamics -- the kind of "discourse" you might have engaged in when you were in 7th grade. We've already learned that Trump uses a third-grader's vocabulary. His disengagement with facts & truth also are childish. His simplistic ideas -- build a wall, make the Mexicans pay -- & ignorance of Government 101, his insults, his schoolyard bullying & his love of glitz -- almost everything about him suggests remarkably arrested development. He models his followers -- people whose sociopathy is rooted in their failure to grow past grade-school intellectual & social developmental levels. No, Donald, you are not "like very, very smart," and neither are your supporters. ...

     ... Apparently, Trump also considers women's breasts to be private parts, & the mere mention of their biological function also is "disgusting." Although Trump thinks it important to have "a young and beautiful piece of ass" at his disposal, the women function as symbols of his power, not as sexual, or -- God forbid -- romantic partners. This is the same dynamic you see in his comment that Barack Obama "schlonged" Hillary Clinton. "Schlong" as verb is not idiomatic Yiddish; Trump appropriated the noun to describe a real political power struggle in ruthless sexual terms: a young black man conquering/raping an older white woman. This of course plays into the false stereotype of young black men as dangerous sexual predators -- so Trump's coinage of "schlonged" is a two-fer. Trump's hatred of Obama is pathological -- Trump sees Obama as a potent young black man who would conquer/rape those pieces of ass Trump parades as power trophies. Trump's pathetic birtherism foray was all about his own sexual insecurity. Thanks to Victoria D. for the link to Nina Bahadur's Huffington Post piece on 18 things Trump has said about women. That will be 5 cents, please. ...

... Evan McMorris-Santoro of BuzzFeed: "Donald Trump 'has discovered that women go to the bathroom and it's very upsetting for him,' [Bernie] Sanders told a large crowd of laughing college students.... 'He must have a very unusual relationship with women,' Sanders said. He noted that he too took a pit stop at the debate."

Behind Closed Doors. Mike Allen of Politico: "In June, Ted Cruz promised on NPR that opposition to gay marriage would be 'front and center' in his 2016 campaign. In July, he said the Supreme Court's decision allowing same-sex marriage was the 'very definition of tyranny' and urged states to ignore the ruling. But in December, behind closed doors at a big-dollar Manhattan fundraiser..., [Cruz] assured a Republican gay-rights supporter that a Cruz administration would not make fighting same-sex marriage a top priority."

Beyond the Beltway

AP: "Republican Kentucky governor Matt Bevin ordered the state to prepare new marriage licenses that do not include the names of county clerks, in an attempt to protect the religious beliefs of clerk Kim Davis and other local elected officials.... 'The requirement that the county clerk's name appear on marriage licenses is prescribed by Kentucky law and is not subject to unilateral change by the governor,' the [ACLU] says.... Davis and her supporters had asked [former Gov. Steve] Beshear [D] to issue a similar executive order. Beshear had refused, arguing only the state legislature had the authority to change the state law requiring the contents of the marriage license form."

AP: "A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Utah can cut off federal funds to the state's Planned Parenthood organization, a move the Republican governor ordered after the release of secretly recorded videos by an anti-abortion group. The ruling from US district judge Clark Waddoups reversed an earlier decision.... His ruling allows Utah to cut off funds ... while the organization still pursues its lawsuit against the state."

Jenna Portnoy of the Washington Post: Virginia "Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) announced Tuesday that Virginia will no longer recognize concealed carry handgun permits from 25 states that have reciprocity agreements with the commonwealth. Under the policy, Virginians with a history of stalking, drug dealing or inpatient mental-health treatment cannot obtain a permit in a state with comparatively lax laws and carry a handgun legally at home." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Voting Saves Lives. CW: If you recall, Herring won election by "a mere 165 votes out of more than 2 million cast." This is why you vote Democratic, even if the candidate isn't super-progressive.

Way Beyond

New York Times: "For the first time, Iraqi forces engaged Islamic State fighters within the city center of Ramadi on Tuesday, reaching the edge of the inner government district in an attempt to seize the critical western provincial capital after months of approach and maneuvering, officials said."

Tim Arango of the New York Times: "On land and at sea, Turkey's borders, long a revolving door of refugees, foreign fighters and the smugglers who enable them, are at the center of two separate yet interlinked global crises: the migrant tide convulsing Europe and the Syrian civil war that propels it. Accused by Western leaders of turning a blind eye to these critical borders, Turkey at last seems to be getting serious about shoring them up. Under growing pressure from Europe and the United States, Turkey has in recent weeks taken steps to cut off the flows of refugees and of foreign fighters who have helped destabilize a vast portion of the globe, from the Middle East to Europe." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Rick Lyman of the New York Times: "Interviews with aid workers and dozens of refugees making their way across a half-dozen countries revealed a widespread fear of the Bulgarian authorities. They talked of rough or violent behavior by border guards, who will register and fingerprint the migrants -- meaning they have to stay in Bulgaria while their cases are adjudicated -- or push them back into Turkey. The Bulgarian government, which like its counterparts in many other Central and Eastern European capitals has been far less welcoming of refugees than those in most of Western Europe, dismissed suggestions of systemic efforts to intimidate refugees."

News Lede

New York Times: "A Walmart truck driver who crashed his tractor-trailer into a vehicle carrying the comedian Tracy Morgan, critically injuring Mr. Morgan and killing another passenger, was indicted on Wednesday by a New Jersey grand jury on charges of manslaughter, vehicular homicide and aggravated assault."