The Commentariat -- Feb. 4, 2014

Peter Beinert in the National Journal on "The End of American Exceptionalism."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "New momentum in Congress for a sweeping overhaul of border control laws has prompted White House allies to demand that President Obama halt deportations of millions of illegal immigrants, many of whom would be allowed to remain in the country under a legislative deal. The advocates, including the AFL-CIO and pro-immigration groups, argue that Obama should use his executive authority to expand a 2012 decision that halted deportations of young people brought to the United States illegally by their parents. The administration's aggressive approach to enforcement -- which has resulted in nearly 2 million deportations during Obama's tenure -- makes little sense at a time when Congress could be on the verge of providing legal relief, advocates say." CW: Gee, these people seem to want the President to become "increasingly lawless" (see yesterday's Commentariat).

Chuck Grassley Is Not Dead. Ben Goad of the Hill: "The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee called Monday for the Obama administration to lay clear its legal case in defense of the president's plan to tackle policy goals through executive actions. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is asking the Justice Department to disclose by Valentine's Day all of its 'opinions, analyses and conclusions' in support of the president's authority to rely so heavily on the power of his office." CW: Holder should skip the paperwork & just send Grassley a nice Valentine's card.

Hostage Takers in Search of a Ransom Demand. Sahil Kapur of TPM: "Republicans want something in return for acting to avert a self-inflicted default on the country's debt, but they can't figure out what. House Republicans discussed the issue last Friday at their annual all-member retreat in Maryland. As of Monday afternoon, they still hadn't come up with a ransom demand in order to free the proverbial hostage ahead of a late February deadline."

John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "... if the Obama Administration is able to bring about transformative change during the remainder of its existence, John Kerry, rather than the President, is likely to be its agent. In seeking diplomatic settlements to the standoffs in Syria, Iran, and Israel-Palestine, Kerry has become, perhaps, the most important Secretary of State since Henry Kissinger."

Steve Benen: "A month ago, proponents of a bipartisan bill on new Iranian sanctions had reason to be optimistic.... This week, supporters effectively shelved the entire bill.... Obama wanted some breathing room for the international negotiations. As of yesterday, that's exactly what he's earned."

** Kerry Sheridan of AFP: "The amount of harmful pollutants released in the process of recovering oil from tar sands in western Canada is likely far higher than corporate interests say, university researchers said Monday. Actual levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions into the air may be two to three times higher than estimated, said the findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed US journal. The study raises new questions about the accuracy of environmental impact assessments on the tar sands, just days after a US State Department report said the controversial Keystone pipeline project to bring oil from Canada to Texas would have little impact on climate change or the environment." ...

     ... CW: This seems like a pretty big deal to me, yet the only major news organization to report it -- as far as I could tell -- was Agence France Presse. 

Alexei Oreskovic of Reuters: "Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google on Monday began publishing details about the number of secret government requests for data they receive, hoping to show limited involvement in controversial surveillance efforts. The tech industry has pushed for greater transparency on government data requests, seeking to shake off concerns about their involvement in vast, surreptitious surveillance programs revealed last summer by former spy contractor Edward Snowden."

American "Justice." Timothy Williams of the New York Times: "The number of exonerations in the United States of those wrongly convicted of a crime increased to a record 87 during 2013, and of that number, nearly one in five had initially pleaded guilty to charges filed against them, according to a report to be released on Tuesday as part of a project led by two university law schools."

** Jonathan Alter in the New Yorker: Former Defense Secretary Robert "Gates was ... one of the shrewdest public servants of his generation -- which helps to explain why his many failures and missed calls have been all but air-brushed out of accounts of his career." CW: Alter's observations about Obama's relationship with the military brass are instructive.

Natalie Villacorta of Politico: The Obamas & Bidens pay tribute to Joan Mondale, who died Monday.

Melissa Eddy of the New York Times: "The Chaos Computer Club, a leading hacker organization based in Germany, filed a criminal complaint against Chancellor Angela Merkel and members of her government on Monday, accusing them of violating the law by helping intelligence agencies in the United States and Britain to spy on German citizens. The move comes days after Secretary of State John Kerry visited Berlin to try to smooth over relations that have been strained by revelations of the extent of the National Security Agency's surveillance activities in Germany."

Congressional Elections 2014

Rebecca Leber of Think Progress: "The National Republican Congressional Committee has set up a number of websites that look like they could be a Democratic candidate's campaign page, unless you read the fine print. They may even violate a Federal Election Commission regulation.... The NRCC has set up these pages for various congressional opponents, including Amanda Renteria (CA), Martha Roberston (NY), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Alex Sink (FL), and John Tierney (MA). Each follow a similar format; they list the candidate's name 'for Congress' to ask for donations."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Women's rights activist Sandra Fluke appears to be moving forward with a run for Congress. Fluke has filed with the California state Democratic Party to seek its endorsement in the race for retiring Rep. Henry Waxman's (D-Calif.) seat, according to the state party Web site."

Outside the Beltway

Darryl Isherwood of NJ.com: "Gov. Chris Christie confirmed tonight that his office has been subpoenaed by the U.S Attorney in the ongoing investigation into politically motivated lane closures at the George Washington Bridge. Christie revealed the subpoena during the 'Ask the Governor' program on New Jersey 101.5 radio." ...

... Geoff Mulvihill & Angela delli Santi of the AP: "Christie's office initially denied that he knew about the traffic problems until after they were over, pointing to several statements from the governor. But on TownSquare Media's 'Ask the Governor' on Monday, Christie acknowledged for the first time that he may have been aware of the closures at the time. But he said that if he was, they did not get his attention.... Christie said what he learned when is not important. He dismissed the scrutiny over that detail as 'a game of gotcha.'" ...

... Curiouser & Curiouser. Steve Benen: "Christie said during the radio interview last night that he's 'curious' about 'what happened here' and remains 'really anxious to find out.' It's unclear, however, why he didn't ask Bridget Ann Kelly why the scheme was hatched before her dismissal." ... Here's a piece of the interview:

... Jason Grant of Star-Ledger: "Bridget Anne Kelly, considered a crucial figure in unraveling the George Washington Bridge lane closures, is refusing to produce documents and information requested under subpoena by the state legislative committee investigating the controversy, The Star-Ledger has learned. In a letter issued today by the lawyer for Kelly, who last month was fired as Gov. Chris Christie's deputy chief of staff after emails emerged showing she had apparently orchestrated the lane closures, Kelly cited both her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and Fourth Amendment right against wrongful search and seizure."

... Mark Lagerkvist of New Jersey Watchdog: "A state police bodyguard to Chris Christie is facing criminal charges in Pennsylvania -- despite his attempt to use his ties with the New Jersey governor to avoid arrest. Trooper William A. Carvounis, 35, is accused of stealing $267 in gun supplies and other goods from a Cabela's store near Hamburg. His arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 10 in Berks County Court of Common Pleas.... New Jersey pays Carvounis a base salary of $95,198 a year -- plus roughly $16,000 for meals, uniform cleaning and other allowances, according to a state payroll database. That does not include his overtime pay, exempt from public disclosure by state regulation" CW: Are all of Chris Christie's staff scum?

Margaret Sullivan of the New York Times: Times "reporter Kate Zernike broke a story based on a letter from David Wildstein's lawyer saying that the former ally of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey 'had the evidence to prove' that Mr. Christie knew about the now infamous lane closings at the George Washington Bridge in real time last September.... Later, within the hour, the story was changed to soften the wording from 'had the evidence' to 'evidence exists.'" Sullivan says the Times should have issued a correction or at least an explanatory note. ...

... Brett Logiurato of Business Insider: "For the second time in three days, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) slammed The New York Times for the paper's report Friday on claims made by former Port Authority official David Wildstein. In a memo circulated to allies and friends on Monday..., Christie's office characterized the report as 'sloppy' and 'misleading.' It uses critical tweets from reporters, as well as a critical column from New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan, to hammer home its point." CW: Christie doesn't mention that his own evolving Bridgegate story has been "sloppy" & "misleading."

Nullification. Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "The Missouri Senate's General Laws Committee voted 5-1 last week in favor of a bill that purports to make it a crime for federal law enforcement agents to enforce the nation's gun laws. Under the bill's terms, these agents could be imprisoned for up to a year and be fined up to $1,000. Much of this unconstitutional legislation mirrors a bill Gov. Jay Nixon (D) vetoed last year.... Few principles are more clearly established in American constitutional law than the prohibition on states nullifying federal laws. "

Superbowl Detritus

Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: "The pre-Super Bowl interview with President Obama conducted by Bill O'Reilly [Sunday] was not only notable for the Fox News anchor's constant interruptions, but also for his harping on old news.... But the president successfully avoided the rhetorical traps ... and he respectfully stood up to the disrespect ... by giving as good as he got.... Neither the station nor its anchor has shown Obama or his office the respect both deserve. And that 10-minute interview was a perfect illustration of it." ...

... The Washington Post's media blogger Erik Wemple thought O'Reilly did a great job. Which is a good example of why media bloggers should STFU about politics. They don't know what they're writing about.

Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "Billed by organizers as the first 'mass-transit Super Bowl,' Sunday's game drew many visitors to the area's labyrinthine transportation network for the first time. Reviews were decidedly mixed,and there were occasional scenes of large-scale confusion at some of the region's transit hubs."

David Porter of the Bergen Record: "The head of New Jersey's transit agency on Monday defended the response to delays for thousands of fans leaving the Super Bowl by train, as officials sought to understand how ridership estimates could have been so far off base. About 33,000 people took the 7-mile ride between MetLife Stadium and the Secaucus rail transfer station, more than double the highest estimates made by organizers and transportation experts before the game."

News Ledes

Reuters: "Joan Mondale, the wife of former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale and a champion of the arts, died on Monday, her family said in a statement. She was 83." ...

     ... Update. The Washington Post's obituary is here. The New York Times' obituary is here.

New York Times: "President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has been engaged in secret contacts with the Taliban about reaching a peace agreement without the involvement of his American and Western allies, further corroding already strained relations with the United States."

The Commentariat -- Feb. 3, 2014

Nelson Schwartz of the New York Times: "As politicians and pundits in Washington continue to spar over whether economic inequality is in fact deepening, in corporate America there really is no debate at all. The post-recession reality is that the customer base for businesses that appeal to the middle class is shrinking as the top tier pulls even further away.... In 2012, the top 5 percent of earners were responsible for 38 percent of domestic consumption, up from 28 percent in 1995, the researchers found. Even more striking, the current recovery has been driven almost entirely by the upper crust...." ...

... My Yacht Is Bigger than Your Yacht. Matt Yglesias on why consumer inequality is bad for innovation: "... thinking up creative ways for people to show off isn't really the same thing as dreaming up whole new product categories that you can target at the mass market. When the mass market goes away, the smart play is for everyone to focus on branding and exclusivity and zero-sum status competition games rather than on broadly useful new ideas."

NEW. Dominic Rushe of the Guardian: "Janet Yellen was sworn in as the first woman to head the Federal Reserve on Monday, ascending to the top job at the central bank at a time when the US economy seems on a firmer footing but investors are worrying about China and other emerging markets." ...

... Ben White, et al., of Politico: Janet Yellen takes over as chair of the Federal Reserve today; now she must learn to deal with a Congress & a press corps eager to trip her up.

Paul Krugman: "The Republican response to the State of the Union was delivered by Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Republican representative from Washington — and it was remarkable for its lack of content.... So was ["Bette from Spokane"] the best story Ms. McMorris Rodgers could come up with? The answer, probably, is yes, since just about every tale of health reform horror the G.O.P. has tried to peddle has similarly fallen apart once the details were revealed. The truth is that the campaign against Obamacare relies on misleading stories at best, and often on outright deceit.... conservative politicians aren't just deceiving their constituents; they're also deceiving themselves. Right now, Republican political strategy seems to be to stall on every issue, and reap the rewards from Obamacare's inevitable collapse. Well, Obamacare isn't collapsing -- it's recovering pretty well from a terrible start."

Benjamin Bell of ABC News: "President Obama's tenure is becoming 'increasingly lawless' with his embrace of executive orders, which are 'creating a dangerous trend which is contrary to the Constitution,' House Budget Committee Chair Rep. Paul Ryan said today on 'This Week.' ... Despite his criticism, Ryan dismissed the idea of impeaching the president...." ...

... CW: Yo, Paulie. Jamelle Bouie of the Daily Beast: "The American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara keeps a tally of every executive order from every president. And where does Obama rank compared to other post-World War II presidents? Second from the bottom.... Since taking control of the House in 2011, Republicans have committed themselves to blockading as much of the administration as possible.... Their only concern -- their only goal -- was to damage Obama's credibility and keep the White House from scoring any points." ...

     ... CW: To his credit, Stephanopoulos brought up the other presidents' orders during the segment, & Ryan responded that it wasn't the number but the scope of Obama's orders. ...

...Yo, Paulie. Matt Yglesias: "Lincoln, for example, issued the Emancipation Proclamation as an extension of his war powers as commander in chief. It was kind of a big deal. FDR took the United States off the gold standard with Executive Order 6102, an extremely envelope-pushing reading of a World War I trade measure. FDR also used executive authority to close all banks across the country as part of an effort to stabilize the economy. Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus." ...

     ... CW: Stephanopoulos didn't call Ryan on that. Wasn't in the script. Although George should have known enough to follow up since it's been in the news a lot, thanks to fake historian & professional hand-wringer Jon Meacham. ...

     ... Meacham, BTW, has said he was sorry. AP: "Jon Meacham wrote in an email Thursday to The Associated Press that he was at best 'imprecise' and at worst 'just plain wrong.'" ...

... P.S. Here are some of the "increasingly lawless," unconstitooshunal executive actions Obama is taking. Why, just last Friday, Josh Hicks of the Washington Post reports, "Obama issued a memorandum ... saying that federal agencies should not look unfavorably upon job-seekers who are unemployed or facing financial difficulties.... Also that day, the White House announced it had secured promises from more than 300 companies that agreed to not show bias against applicants who have been out of work for more than six months." The "scope" there is pretty horrifying, isn't it, Paulie?

Thomas Ferraro & Sandra Maler of Reuters: "U.S. President Barack Obama still wants to hear from other federal agencies before deciding whether to accept the State Department's finding that the Keystone XL pipeline would have no major impact on climate change..., White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said...."

Seven-Minute "Justice." Eli Saslow of the Washington Post: "While Congress and the White House make promises about the future of undocumented immigrants..., one of the 57 overwhelmed immigration courts across the country ... is the place where decisions must be made -- day after day, case after case." In the Arlington, Virginia, courtroom, the judge "had an average of seven minutes per case."

New Jersey News

Victoria Cavaliere of Reuters: Assemblyman John Wisniewski, "a New Jersey Democrat leading a probe of the bridge traffic scandal that has engulfed Governor Chris Christie said on Sunday he has seen no evidence to support claims that the governor had been aware of the apparently politically motivated traffic jams as they happened." ...

... Margaret Hartmann of New York with more "good news" for Christie. ...

Marc Santora of the New York Times: "On Monday, the first of what are most likely thousands of pages of documents subpoenaed by the [New Jersey] State Legislature from prominent members of the Christie administration were to be turned over to investigators.... One of the people subpoenaed, Christina Genovese Renna, who worked in the Christie administration, has resigned, she said in a statement issued by her lawyer on Sunday. Ms. Renna, whose last day was Friday, had reported to [Bridget] Kelly...."

Paul Krugman: "... what some of us suspected all along was that Christie didn't yell at people because he was a get-results kind of guy; he yelled at people because he had anger management issues. And his office's bizarre screed against David Wildstein, his former ally now turned enemy, confirms that diagnosis.... If the official Christie position 'This guy is scum. Everyone has always known that he was scum, since he was a teenager. And that's why I appointed him to a major policy position'? What's remarkable here, actually, is how many pundits were taken in by the Christie persona."

Scott Raab of Esquire: "[Sunday] was meant to be Chris Christie's Super Bowl party, literally. Instead, the Hindenburg, engulfed by flames, is crashing right before our eyes.... By attacking Wildstein via e-mail with a popgun -- 'He was publicly accused by his high school social studies teacher of deceptive behavior,' one of the e-mail's bullet points, is, hands-down, the most hilarious and hapless political attack ever launched -- Christie calls further attention to his own thug life in office."

David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post writes a positive story about Christie's high school days & how fondly his friends remember that young Chris -- after seeking their advice -- stopped his father from suing to keep a better catcher off the school's baseball team, even tho that meant Chris spent most of his senior year on the bench (or in the dugout -- whatever). Also, after high school, Christie kept up with his school friends, which they also think is very, very nice. ...

     ... Jonathan Chait is not impressed: "Well, he had been the starting catcher on the baseball team, and a better player transferred to the school and took his starting spot, and Christie decided not to sue to keep the kid out of school.... The story notes that Christie did not reject this idea out of hand.... Nor did he reject it on moral grounds. Rather, he simply decided it was too risky.... This, concludes the Post, is evidence of Christie's generosity of spirit.... We await future reports of other episodes displaying Christie's lack of vindictiveness. Like the time some dude cut in front of him in line at the deli, and Christie was going to have him beaten within an inch of his life but decided not to because there were security cameras." ...

     ... CW: That is, Christie is only a bully & a conniving backstabber when he thinks he can get away with it. What neither Fahrenthold nor Chait mentions is this: since the new catcher was a better player than Christie, presumably he improved the team's performance. I thought the whole idea of team sports was that everybody does what's best for the team.

Josh Marshall of TPM on why Christie "is toast even if he's innocent." Marshall runs down Christie's defenses, & reminds us that the defenses sound as bad as accusations.

Superbowl News

President Obama endures another attack by interview with Bill O'Reilly of Fox "News," the network that carried the game:

... Margaret Hartmann: "You'll never guess what the Fox News anchor wanted to talk about: Obamacare, Benghazi, and the IRS scandal. As O'Reilly interrupted and scoffed at any answers he didn't like (almost all of them), the president made some jabs at his employer. After saying O'Reilly's assertions were proven inaccurate in 'multiple hearings,' Obama added, 'these kinds of things keep on surfacing in part because you and your TV station will promote them.'" Plus a tweet from Hillary Clinton. ...

... Marc Ambinder in the Week: "O'Reilly's questions were grossly, wholly ridiculous. They don't exist as legitimate questions except in the way that they justify the masturbatory self-indulgence of Fox News' elite worldview, which increasingly, if not entirely, is self-pitying. These questions exist because if they didn't, our world view would fall apart. Worst presidential interview ever." ...

... CW: I respectfully disagree with Ambinder. In O'Reilly's 2011 Superbowl interview, he interrupted the President 48 times. (In fairness, O'Reilly interrupted Obama numerous times yesterday, but not 48):

#boycottcoke. Elias Isquith of Salon: "Coca-Cola's multilingual Super Bowl ad is driving Twitter xenophobes crazy. Apparently singing 'America the Beautiful' in multiple languages is worthy of a boycott." Here's the "offending" ad:

     ... Tom Kludt of TPM with more outrage from monolingual conservatives. ...

     ... Ian Crouch of the New Yorker failed to notice how "unAmerican" the Coke ad was: "After hours of jingoistic and military-heavy pre-game festivities on Fox, in which the network implored viewers at home and around the world to recognize the might and greatness of America, Coke managed to evoke patriotism in just a minute, with a multilingual version of 'America, the Beautiful.'" Well, the New Yorker. 'Nuff said.

You can watch the full Seinfeld episode of "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" here; an ad ran during the Superbowl halftime.

Dylan Then. "Advertising signs that con you....":

Dylan Now. "Because we believe in the zoom and the roar and the thrust..., we will build your car":

News Ledes

New York Times: "Even as the international effort to destroy Syria's vast chemical weapons stockpile lags behind schedule, a similar American-backed campaign carried out under a cloak of secrecy ended successfully last week in another strife-torn country, Libya. The United States and Libya in the past three months have discreetly destroyed what both sides say were the last remnants of Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi's lethal arsenal of chemical arms."

AFP: " US Secretary of State John Kerry came under further attack Monday by Israeli hawks who accuse him of manipulating the threat of an economic boycott to pressure Israel into peace concessions. The latest war of words between the two allies erupted Saturday after Kerry warned that Israel was facing a growing campaign of delegitimization which would likely worsen if peace talks with the Palestinians collapsed."

The Commentariat -- Feb. 2, 2014

AP: "With yet another obstacle removed for the Keystone XL pipeline, opponents of the project are pressing forward with a lawsuit, public protests and an effort to inject the issue into the November midterm elections."

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), in a Washington Post op-ed, on why he is retiring from Congress.

Steve Mufson & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Labor leaders who have spent months lobbying unsuccessfully for special protections under the Affordable Care Act warned this week that the White House's continued refusal to help is dampening union support for Democratic candidates in this year's midterm elections. Leaders of two major unions, including the first to endorse Obama in 2008, said they have been betrayed by an administration that wooed their support for the 2009 legislation with promises to later address the peculiar needs of union-negotiated insurance plans that cover millions of workers." ...

... The New York Times Editors note that the Republican health insurance "reform" plan sucks. They explain the many reasons why.

Dear John Roberts, et al.: Be careful what you wish for. Matea Gold & Dan Keating of the Washington Post: "An unexpected legacy of Citizens United: more money to finance the GOP's intraparty war.... Republicans are now far more likely than Democrats to field attacks by independent groups in their primaries. In 2012, super PACs and nonprofit groups reported spending nearly $36 million in GOP congressional primaries, compared with less than $10 million in congressional Democratic primaries, according to a Washington Post analysis.... The attacks by the GOP's tea party flank are spurring a financial arms race, as major center-right groups and business organizations step forward to bolster incumbents.... Many of the conservative groups active in elections this cycle predated Citizens United, but they relied largely on traditional political action committees, which can only accept donations of up to $5,000. In the Citizens United case, the Supreme Court said that corporations could spend unlimited sums on political activity." ...

... Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "Insurgent conservatives seeking to pull the Republican Party to the right raised more money last year than the groups controlled by the party establishment, whose bulging bank accounts and ties to major donors have been their most potent advantage in the running struggle over the party's future, according to new campaign disclosures and interviews with officials."

Returning to the Scene of the Crime. Again. Maureen Dowd uses Rand Paul's comments about the Clintons to write about -- the Clintons.

Eric Lipton & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Federal ethics rules are intended to limit lobbying by former senior officials within one year after they leave the government. Yet even after the ethics rules were revised in 2007 following a lobbying scandal, more than 1,650 congressional aides have registered to lobby within a year of leaving Capitol Hill, according to an analysis by The New York Times of data from LegiStorm, an online database that tracks congressional staff members and lobbying. At least half of those departing aides, the analysis shows, faced no restrictions at all."

Many thanks to contributor Janice for this!

... Tom Paxton remembers (link fixed) Pete Seeger, in a Washington Post op-ed. CW: I think this is the "Rainbow Quest" session to which Paxton refers:

Jaweed Kaleem in the Huffington Post: "'As Americans tune in to the Super Bowl this year, fully half of fans -- as many as 70 million Americans -- believe there may be a twelfth man on the field influencing the outcome,' Public Religion Research Institute CEO Robert Jones said in a statement. 'Significant numbers of American sports fans believe in invoking assistance from God on behalf of their favorite team, or believe the divine may be playing out its own purpose in the game.'" Via Steve Benen. CW: Yup. If you believe in a god who is paying attention to you -- he's gonna find out if you're naughty or nice (oh, that's Santa Claus) -- it's perfectly reasonable to suspect that nosy parker cares about football results, too.

Local News

Mike Allen & Maggie Haberman of the Politico: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, after a low-key initial response to Friday's explosive allegations about his involvement in a bridge-closing scandal, mounted an aggressive defense late Saturday afternoon, attacking The New York Times and a former political ally in an email to friends and allies...." The e-mail is here. CW: It's sort of hilarious; it reads like the "and you're one, too" stuff of junior high kids. Oh, wait, that's what it is. One bit of "evidence" Christie cites: one of Wildstein's high school teachers said Wildstein was "deceptive." ...

... The New York Times story, by Kate Zernicke, is here. Here's a fun bit: "The governor was booed at a Super Bowl event in Times Square on Saturday, where he sat on stage with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona and Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York. While the other three beamed and waved, Mr. Christie looked down.... At ceremony's end, reporters pushed toward the stage and Mr. Christie stepped to the back. When coaxed to the front by Ms. Brewer to pose for a photo, reporters asked Mr. Christie a barrage of questions." ...

... CW: As we now know, thanks to Christie, he was a big athletic star & class president in high school, while Wildstein (even his social studies teacher despised him!) was one of those kids you can't remember at the reunion. Now that schmuck Wildstein has ruined the former champ's big Superbowl moment.

It is true that I met David in 1977 in high school. He's a year older than me. David and I were not friends in high school. We were not even acquaintances in high school. I knew who David Wildstein was.... We didn't travel in the same circles in high school. You know, I was the class president and athlete. I don't know what David was doing during that period of time. -- Chris Christie, during his January marathon press conference

If you can't translate that, you didn't go to high school. Or grade school. -- Constant Weader

     ... Some interesting context from Prof. Brian Murphy, writing in TPM.

If evolution was real, it would still be happening: Apes would be turning into humans today. -- Rita Rourke, Sabine Parish, Louisiana, teacher ...

"Education" in Bobby Jindal Country. Nicole Flatow of Think Progress: "A Louisiana teacher who taught her sixth grade class that evolution is 'impossible' and that the bible is '100 percent true' ridiculed a Buddhist student during class and announced that those who don't believe in god are 'stupid,' according to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana. When the child's parents reported the incidents, the Sabine Parish superintendent allegedly told them 'this is the Bible Belt,' and asked whether the child ... could either change his faith or transfer to a school where 'there are more Asians.'" Read the whole story; it isn't only one teacher who's teaching Bible study classes in this public school district. Via Steve Benen.

News Ledes

New York Post: New York City "Mayor [Bill] de Blasio received an ominous letter last week that threatened a 'nuclear attack against New York City,' the same day five hotels near the Super Bowl site received similar mail, police sources said Sunday."

New York Times: "Philip Seymour Hoffman, perhaps the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation, who gave three-dimensional nuance to a wide range of sidekicks, villains and leading men on screen and embraced some of the theater's most burdensome roles on Broadway, died Sunday at an apartment in Greenwich Village. He was 46. The death, apparently from a drug overdose, was confirmed by the police."

AP: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's warning against a growing boycott movement against the Jewish state should peace talks with the Palestinians fail, saying the stance undermined Israel's legitimacy and the chances of reaching a peace agreement. The latest brush-up with the United States comes as Israel is negotiating with the Palestinians against a backdrop of increasing international pressure to reach a deal, coupled with a growing call for boycotting Israel over its settlements in areas it captured in the 1967 Middle East war." ...

... AFP: "The UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories criticised Israel's demolition of 36 homes in the Jordan Valley and urged a halt to such actions in the West Bank."

Los Angeles Times: "Austrian actor Maximilian Schell, 83, whose portrayal of a defense attorney in the 1961 drama Judgment at Nuremberg' earned him an Academy Award, died Friday in a hospital in Innsbruck...."

Washington Post: "At 7:25 a.m. Sunday, a raw, cloudy and damp morning, Groundhog Phil saw his shadow in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pa. The appearance of Phil's shadow means winter will extend well into March, according to folklore." CW: Also, the Easter Bunny will leave you chocolate candy icons of himself. And climate change is fake.