The Commentariat -- Dec. 28, 2012

Cliff Notes

Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: President "Obama is expected to invite all four [Congressional leaders] to meet on Friday. In a related development, House Republicans were told to return to Washington on Sunday. Republican senators were planning to convene at the Capitol -- normally somnolent during Christmas week -- to strategize."

The Incoherent President. William Black asks President Obama, "given your warning that the fiscal cliff's austerity would cause a recession, why are you demanding a Grand Bargain (sic, actually the Grand Betrayal) that would inflict austerity for a decade and likely cause multiple recessions and larger deficits?" ...

... Let Them Eat Cake. Charles Pierce writes, not particularly well this time, on essentially the same subject. I'm linking the post for two reasons -- his coining (as far as I know)* of the term "courtier press," and the implied Marie Antoinettesque character of the "chained CPI," which relies on the assumption that if the masses can't afford beef, they'll buy chicken.

     * Actually, the coiner may have been Robert Parry, in this 2006 piece "Colbert and the Courtier Press," on Stephen Colbert's performance at the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner. The courtiers were not amused when Colbert lampooned them:

The President makes decisions; he's the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know --- fiction.

... And, yeah, I know Marie Antoinette did not actually say "Let them eat cake" or anything like it.

Abdication

Brett LoGiurato of Business Insider: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is really ticked off at Republicans, especially at Speaker John Boehner, whom Reid describes as running a "dictatorship." Here's Reid, on the Senate floor:

     ... Update: Reid is right. Boehner will not allow a vote on a middle-class tax-cut measure because he knows it will pass with Democrats & some Republicans voting for it. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) repeated Reid's charge this morning. ...

... MEANWHILE. Lisa Mascaro of the Los Angeles Times: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is MIA. "In the Senate, any deal on taxes and spending would be impossible without at least tacit approval from McConnell, given the power afforded the minority under the chamber's complex rules. But an aide said Wednesday that McConnell had not been in contact with any top Democrats...." ...

... CW: so, a complete GOP abdication. Adios, MoFo, It's time that we lay low. As long as Republicans hold power in Congress -- whether by majority control in the House or minority control (filibuster) in the Senate, Congress will be 100 percent dysfunctional, unable to vote, even on bills that the majority of each house favors. (P.S. Seems to me Democrats have pulled this, too.)

Steve Benen notices how thought & "logic" work in Right Wing World.

Jonathan Bernstein accidentally explains why there won't be a budget deal: "... not only are Republicans unwilling to offer specific spending cuts, but they have spent the past two election cycles running against the cuts that Democrats have proposed. Democrats already know that they will be attacked in 2014 for supporting a large tax increase. They simply cannot also be the ones who proposed spending cuts to popular programs, knowing that they'll be attacked for that, too. And, for good measure, they'll surely be attacked for allowing large deficits, too, regardless of what happens now." In short, Republicans are conniving AND irresponsible, & Democrats are sick of playing Charlie Brown to the GOP's Lucy.

Winger Philip Klein of the Examiner has some news for his fellow wingnuts: "If the nation goes over the cliff, the most likely outcome is the worst of both worlds for Republicans. Once some sort of legislation eventually gets passed, taxes will still go up on higher income earners. But additionally, Democrats will appropriate much of Bush's tax policy and Obama will become the great middle class tax cutter." Via Jonathan Bernstein.

"Grande Confusion." In the wake of Mitt Romney's bid for the presidency it is a good idea to remind ourselves that business leaders don't understand government. At all. Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, may know how to turn java into gold, but he does not understand the first thing about the "fiscal cliff," -- which he has ass-backwards -- as Suzy Khimm of the Washington Post lays out. Khimm notes, "That's why Secretary Tim Geithner explained that going over the fiscal cliff would actually buy us more time before we hit the debt ceiling." Geithner's explanation, and every other accurate one, went right over Schultz's aerated grande noggin. But then Schultz gets his information from Washington's inflated boob jobs Bowles & Simpson. ...

... Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic: "Washington doesn't need two parties that can 'come together.' It needs one party to 'get it together.' Maybe Schultz should put that on a coffee cup." ...

... ** If Schultz wants to know why Congress won't "come together" -- he should quit forcing his baristas to inscribe his nonsensical political messages on coffee cups & read Nate Silver: "In 1992, there were 103 members of the House of Representatives elected from what might be called swing districts: those in which the margin in the presidential race was within five percentage points of the national result. But ... I estimate that there are only 35 such Congressional districts remaining, barely a third of the total 20 years ago. Instead, the number of landslide districts -- those in which the presidential vote margin deviated by at least 20 percentage points from the national result -- has roughly doubled.... Most members of the House now come from hyperpartisan districts where they face essentially no threat of losing their seat to the other party. Instead, primary challenges, especially for Republicans, may be the more serious risk."

AND Joe Lieberman is still is smarmy, lying SOB. Steve Benen: Lieberman is again blaming "both sides" for Congressional dysfunction. "... consider recent events: the fiscal talks have broken down because Republicans won't compromise and accept meaningful concessions; the farm bill and the Violence Against Women Act are stuck because Republicans won't vote on them; efforts to reduce gun violence face extremely long odds because Republicans are beholden to the NRA; a U.N. treaty on disabilities was killed because Republicans believed extremist conspiracy theories; the process of filling President Obama's second term cabinet is stalled because of Republican smear campaigns; and another debt-ceiling crisis is underway because Republicans are threatening to hurt Americans on purpose unless Democrats pay a steep ransom."

E. J. Dionne: "... given the conservatives' habit of walking away even from their own ideas (the [health insurance] exchanges, for example) and of rejecting progressive efforts to save money, is it any wonder that liberals suspect them of greater interest in dismantling programs than in making them more efficient? We won't find genuine common ground on deficits until we resolve this dilemma."

New York Times Editors: "New legislation proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein in response to the Newtown, Conn., murders would provide a far more effective ban on military-style assault weapons than the loophole-riddled law that lapsed in 2004."

Alex Pareene of Salon: "Congressional dysfunction and extremism may yet plunge the nation into an entirely avoidable recession, but at least Americans will likely be able to sleep at night secure in the knowledge that our lawmakers at least sprang into action, at the last possible minute, to preserve the government's right to constantly spy on everyone without telling anyone about it. In all likelihood, the Senate will vote today to reauthorize the FISA Amendments Act for a few years, just before it was scheduled to expire. The House reauthorized it all the way back in September, but the world's most deliberative body likes to take its time (plus Ron Wyden placed a hold on the bill until Senate leaders agreed to at least have a debate on proposed amendments to the Amendments)."

Steven Rosenfeld of AlterNet, in Salon: "Days after California's liberal Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer gave an impassioned floor speech saying that big steps must be taken to stop gun violence that is killing 87 people a day across America, she proposed a bill to give governors power to deploy National Guard troops in public schools -- or assign them to local police departments, freeing them to put police in schools." CW: thanks, Sen. Boxer, for lending credibility to the NRA. ...

... Free David Gregory. For those of you who are deeply concerned that Greggers will wind up behind bars, Josh Voorhees of Slate has the latest on David Gregory's troubles over waving a gun magazine prop in front of the NRA's Wayne LaPierre. CW: Note how the conversation has shifted from LaPierre's crazy ideas to Gregory's run-in with the law & Barbara Boxer's crazy ideas. Don't say the right doesn't still know how to drive the conversation into the ditch. ...

... CW: we should be talking instead about posts like this one from Matt Gertz of Media Matters: "During that interview, LaPierre said that a major flaw in the background check system is that states have failed to input mental health records, allowing people who have mental health issues that would prohibit them from buying a firearm to nonetheless pass a background check. But moments later, he expressed opposition to extending the background check system to all gun sales, maintaining a loophole that would allow the mentally ill to continue to obtain firearms."

James Broder of the New York Times: "Lisa P. Jackson is stepping down as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency after a four-year tenure that began with high hopes of sweeping action to address climate change and other environmental ills but ended with a series of rear-guard actions to defend the agency against challenges from industry, Republicans in Congress and, at times, the Obama White House.... Ms. Jackson's departure comes as many in the environmental movement are questioning Mr. Obama's commitment to dealing with climate change and other environmental problems." ...

... Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post reviews Jackson's tenure at EPA.

Garrett Epps of the Atlantic: "... Common Cause v. Biden, was a constitutional challenge to Senate rules allowing a minority of senators to prevent a vote, or even a debate, on any measure they disagree with. Only a 'cloture' vote of 60 senators can move a filibustered measure forward.... U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ... slapped [it] down.... [The] lawsuit ... would have offered the Senate's majority an easy way out of its agonizing dilemma." ...

... AND Jonathan Bernstein really wants you to know that "Cloture votes do not equal filibusters."

Paul Krugman looks at the long-term prospects for economic growth & says -- stay tuned. He's thinking about it. Krugman's column -- titled "Is Growth Over?" conforms to my headline thesis: if the headline is written in the form of a question, don't expect a meaningful answer.

Mark Arsenault of the Boston Globe: "US Representative Edward Markey, dean of the state's Washington delegation, will run in 2013 for the US Senate seat expected to open with the nomination of US Senator John Kerry to head the State Department. Markey, 66, a Malden Democrat elected to the House in 1976, is the first prominent candidate to declare a run for Kerry's seat, which will be filled through a special election early next summer, probably in June." ...

... David Bernstein, writing before Markey's announcement, prognosticated on how the Senate election will go down. So far, so good.

LeAnne Gendreau of NBC Connecticut: "The FBI has arrested a woman, [Nouel Alba of the Bronx,] who was the subject of a Today Show story about alleged scams exploiting the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Last week, NBC's Jeff Rossen reported that Alba posted a solicitation on Facebook within hours of the shooting, identifying herself as an aunt of Noah Pozner, a 6-year-old victim. Later ... she asked for funds to pay for the funeral, Rossen reported."

Local News

Ignore the Voters. Paul Egan of the Detroit Free Press: "Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has signed a new emergency manager law that will take effect in the spring for financially troubled local governments and school districts, his spokeswoman said today.Approval by the Legislature of the Local Financial Stability and Choice Act during the recent lame duck session was controversial because voters on Nov. 6 repealed the former emergency manager law, Public Act 4 of 2011. The new law continues one of the most controversial provisions of PA 4 -- the ability for emergency managers appointed by the state to amend or scrap collective bargaining agreements." ...

... "An Affront to Michigan Women." New York Times Editors: "Despite clear public support for women's reproductive rights, Michigan's Republican-controlled Legislature used the just-ended lame-duck session to ram through harmful measures eliminating insurance coverage of abortions and imposing medically unnecessary regulations on providers of safe and legal abortion care." The editors urge Gov. Rick Snyder to veto the anti-women bills. Good luck with that.

News Ledes

AP: Dawn Nguyen, "a 24-year-old woman, was arrested Friday and charged in connection with the Christmas Eve ambush slaying of two volunteer firefighters responding to a house fire in upstate New York.... The state charge is connected to the purchase of an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun that William Spengler had with him Monday when firefighters Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka were gunned down."

New York Times: "Jean S. Harris, the private-school headmistress whose 1981 trial for the murder of a prominent Scarsdale, N.Y., physician galvanized a nation mulling feminist perspectives with its story of vengeance by an aging woman scorned, died on Sunday at an assisted-living facility in New Haven. She was 89."

AP: "As a the muted ends of a powerful winter storm that has killed more than a dozen people plodded through the Northeast, many in Arkansas were seeking warmth and shelter against the cold prospect of life without electricity into the new year."

AP: Russian "President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children, part of a harsh response to a U.S. law targeting Russians deemed to be human rights violators. Although some top Russian officials including the foreign minister openly opposed the bill and Putin himself had been noncommittal about it last week, he signed it less than 24 hours after receiving it from Parliament, where both houses passed it overwhelmingly."

Reuters: "Russia urged the Syrian government on Friday to act on its stated readiness for dialogue with its opponents, throwing its weight behind a diplomatic push to end a 21-month-old conflict in Syria."

AP: "North Korea has repaired flood damage at its nuclear test facility and could conduct a quick atomic explosion if it chose, though water streaming out of a test tunnel may cause problems, analysis of recent satellite photos indicates. Washington and others are bracing for the possibility that if punished for a successful long-range rocket launch on Dec. 12 that the U.N. considers a cover for a banned ballistic missile test, North Korea's next step might be its third nuclear test."

New York Times: "The Chinese government issued new rules on Friday requiring Internet users to provide their real names to service providers, while assigning Internet companies greater responsibility for deleting forbidden postings and reporting them to the authorities."

Worse than Bibi. Reuters: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party is set to win a parliamentary election on January 22 although the popularity of a far-right party opposed to Palestinian statehood is growing, polls showed on Friday. Two out of three surveys showed the right-wing Likud losing voters to political newcomer Naftali Bennett's religious party Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home)and to a fractured center-left bloc."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 27, 2012

Cliff Notes

Lori Montgomery & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "... President Obama and members of the Senate are headed back to Washington on Thursday to take one last shot at a deal to protect taxpayers and the gathering economic recovery.... The Republican-controlled House last week abdicated responsibility for resolving the crisis, leaving all eyes on the Senate. But senior aides in both parties said Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have not met or even spoken since leaving town for the weekend.... House GOP leaders ... vowed Wednesday to call the House into session and stage a vote on anything the Democratic-controlled Senate approved."

Annie Lowrey of the New York Times (at 4:28 pm ET): "On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner wrote a letter to Congress informing it that the United States would hit its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit on Dec. 31."

Mark Felsenthal of Reuters: "As President Barack Obama cut short a Christmas vacation to resume talks to avoid the 'fiscal cliff' of automatic year-end tax hikes and spending cuts, the White House on Wednesday called on congressional Republicans not to stand in the way of a resolution in the U.S. Congress."

** Dean Baker in Al Jazeera: "Why are we debating cuts to Social Security?"

That Norm Ornstein really knows how to think outside the box. In a Washington Post op-ed, he suggests that should Speaker Boehner not be re-elected to his post, the House should go outside Congress to find a speaker. "Article I, Section 2: The Constitution does not say that the speaker of the House has to be a member of the House. In fact, the House can choose anybody a majority wants to fill the post." Ornstein suggests Jon Huntsman. Yeah. Any other suggestions? I'd pick Dick Armey; he used to the House Majority Leader AND when he busts into places, he brings a guy with a gun. Other than that, he a sweetheart. ...

... Speaking of Armed-and-Dangerous Armey, I missed Paul Krugman's take on Armey's bizarre coup at FreedomWorks: "The problem, clearly, is that despite its Tea Party status, FreedomWorks had failed to implement the security measures libertarians have been recommending for schools. If only the staff had been carrying concealed weapons, and those not armed had been trained to launch human wave attacks on gunmen, none of this would have happened, right?"

Becky Bohrer of the AP: "Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz of Hawaii was appointed Wednesday to succeed the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye. Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced the appointment after receiving a list of three candidates from the state Democratic Party earlier in the day. The other candidates were U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and Esther Kiaaina, a deputy director in the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. Inouye died Dec. 17 of respiratory complications at the age of 88. He had sent Abercrombie a letter that day, saying he would like Hanabusa, 61, to succeed him." ...

... Jeremy Peters has the New York Times story here.

James Besser in a New York Times op-ed: the type of extremism we see in the Republican party & in the NRA "is once again on display as the pro-Israel right, including groups like the Emergency Committee for Israel, mounts a furious campaign against the potential nomination of the former Republican senator Chuck Hagel to be secretary of defense.... Mainstream Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee..., have been driven into silence and submission by a radical fringe that in no way represents the American Jewish mainstream.... With wealthy, far-right contributors calling the shots, Jewish groups are constantly lowering the bar for what is considered 'Israel-bashing,' risking turning supporters of the Jewish state into adversaries.... And, in the long run, that can only damage the interests of a vulnerable Israel." ...

... Connie Bruck of the New Yorker has a rundown of some of Hagel's enemies. Like, um, the Republican party.

New York Times Editors: "In its bizarre response last week to the shootings in Newtown, Conn., the National Rifle Association heaped blame on 'vicious, violent video games' for corrupting young Americans and called them the 'filthiest form of pornography.' As it turns out, many of those very games have marketing relationships with the makers of firearms and ammunition, which are also big financial supporters of the N.R.A., through deals that appear to be designed to increase sales of their deadly wares." ...

     ... Here's the backstory by New York Times reporters Barry Meier & Andrew Martin. ...

... Paul Rosenberg, in an Al Jazeera op-ed, employs John Locke to demonstrate how the NRA misunderstands "freedom" -- which it equates with guns -- and the utility of government and the social contract. CW: philosophical discussions aside, what really drives the NRA is money from gun manufacturers. Thanks to Victoria R. for the link.

... Paul Foy of the AP: "More than 200 Utah teachers are expected to pack a convention hall on Thursday for six hours of concealed-weapons training as organizers seek to arm more educators in the aftermath of the Connecticut school shooting. The Utah Shooting Sports Council said it normally gathers a dozen teachers every year for instruction that's required to legally carry a concealed weapon in public places. The state's leading gun lobby decided to offer teachers the training at no charge to encourage turnout, and it worked." ...

... Jonathan Lloyd & Ted Chen of KNBC-TV Los Angeles: "So many Angelenos turned in their handguns, rifles and assault weapons on Wednesday as part of a buyback program that offered gift cards in exchange for firearms that the LAPD had to replenish its supply of gift cards by $25,000. The city has conducted the gun buybacks since 2009. Nearly 8,000 guns have been surrendered through the program, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Since 2009, violent crimes, gang crimes, and the number of people shot have all gone down by a third, according to the LAPD.... The buyback usually occurs in May, but the event was rescheduled in the wake of the shooting deaths of 20 schoolchildren and six adult staffmembers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn." ...

... David Goodman of the New York Times: "A newspaper's interactive map listing the names and addresses of gun permit holders in two New York counties has drawn a gathering avalanche of outrage this week. As word spread across social media, thousands left comments expressing disbelief and anger at the map, compiled from publicly available information on handgun permit holders in Westchester and Rockland Counties and published online over the weekend by The Journal News, a newspaper based in White Plains and owned by the Gannett Company." ...

... Linda Greenhouse: Since Mitch McConnell asked the NRA to oppose her nomination & score the Senate's votes on Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation to the Supreme Court, Republican support for Democratic nominees has "melted away." Sotomayor got only 7 GOP votes; Elena Kagan got only 5. Neither had any record of opposing gun use. "... the N.R.A. has begun to involve itself in lower court nominations as well, where it can work its will in the shadows.... It is totally unacceptable for the N.R.A. ... to be calling the tune on judicial nominations for an entire political party."

AP: "Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Wednesday denied a request to block part of the federal health care law that requires employee health-care plans to provide insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency contraception pills. Hobby Lobby Stores and a sister company, Mardel Inc., sued the government, claiming the mandate violates the religious beliefs of its owners.... Sotomayor said the stores fail to satisfy the demanding legal standard for blocking the requirement on an emergency basis. She said the companies may continue their challenge to the regulations in the lower courts."

Greg Miller & Julie Tate of the Washington Post: "... the CIA's Global Response Staff, an innocuously named organization that has recruited hundreds of former U.S. Special Forces operatives to serve as armed guards for the agency's spies..., is designed to stay in the shadows, training teams to work undercover and provide an unobtrusive layer of security for CIA officers in high-risk outposts."

Keith Bradsher & Charles Duhigg of the Washington Post: pressed by Apple, "Foxconn, China's largest private employer, pledged to sharply curtail workers' hours and significantly increase wages -- reforms that, if fully carried out next year as planned, could create a ripple effect that benefits tens of millions of workers across the electronics industry, employment experts say.... The changes also extend to California, where Apple is based.... Despite those reforms, however, worker advocates inside Apple and with outside groups say the electronics industry's problems will not genuinely diminish until Apple -- the world's most valuable company -- starts filling a public leadership role...." CW: These reforms came about largely because of a series of damning reports Bradsher & Duhigg wrote last year.

Sarah Kliff of the Washington Post has an informative piece on what changes will take place under ObamaCare in 2013.

Greggers' Arsenel. Katie Glueck of Politico: "NBC was told by the Washington police that it was 'not permissible' to show a high-capacity gun magazine on air before Sunday's 'Meet the Press,' according to a statement Wednesday from the cops." ...

... TMZ: "An official from the D.C. police told a member of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that David Gregory COULD display a high capacity magazine on "Meet the Press" Sunday.... It appears "Meet the Press" may have gotten 2 different answers from law enforcement." ...

... "Free David Gregory." Dylan Byers of Politico: "The Wall Street Journal [right-wing] editorial board is dismissing right-wing calls for David Gregory's indictment as 'entirely nonsensical,' reflecting the widely-held belief that the investigation involving the 'Meet The Press' is not a legitimate use of law enforcement's time."

More than 81,000 anti-First Amendment people have signed a petition to the White House, asking the government to "immediately deport" CNN host Piers Morgan, who is British, for his pro-gun control remarks. Now Prachi Gupta of Salon reports, "A new petition called 'Keep Piers Morgan in the USA' has emerged:

We want to keep Piers Morgan in the USA. There are two very good reasons for this. Firstly, the first amendment. Second and the more important point. No one in the UK wants him back. Actually there is a third. It will be hilarious to see how loads of angry Americans react.

Local News

Neil DeMause in Slate: "Fewer than 4,000 adults in [Georgia] receive welfare, even as poverty is soaring. How Georgia declared war on its poorest citizens -- leaving them to fight for themselves."

Jillian Rayfield of Salon: "Arizona's Attorney General Tom Horne, R, has proposed a program to train and arm one school employee as a way to prevent another shooting like the one in Newtown, Conn. In a statement Wednesday, Horne said that the 'ideal solution' would be to have an armed police officer in each school, but 'budget considerations' make that unfeasible."

Jonathan Martin: Kate Madison's little friend Ken Cuccinelli, who was a jerk as a child, is now a big jerk & the right-wing's transvaginal attorney general of Virginia. Luckily for little Kenny, in his upcoming race for governor, he'll likely be running against another big jerk, Democrat Terry McAuliffe. CW: are these losers really the best Virginians can do?

Right Wing World

Steve Kornacki of Salon: "... think of the Tea Party less as a movement and more as a mindset, it's as strong and relevant as ever.... The Tea Party essentially gave a name to a phenomenon we've seen before in American politics -- fierce, over-the-top resentment of and resistance to Democratic presidents by the right.... the Tea Party movement [now] represent[s] a two-front war -- one a conventional one against the Democratic president, and the other a new one against any 'impure' Republicans." By performing a purity test on all Republican candidates, the Tea Party "spirit now rules the Republican Party."

Charles Blow: statistically, Republicans think their lives suck. CW Solution: become a Democrat.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the American-led forces that crushed Iraq in the 1991 Persian Gulf war and became the nation's most acclaimed military hero since the midcentury exploits of Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur, died on Thursday in Tampa, Fla. He was 78."

New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin said Thursday that he would sign into law a bill banning adoptions of Russian children by American citizens, retaliating against a new American law that seeks to punish human rights abuses in Russia and dealing a serious blow to bilateral relations after a year in which ties have become increasingly strained."

AP: "The death toll from a powerful winter storm that pushed through the nation's midsection into the Northeast has risen to 9.... The storm is expected to drop one to two feet of snow on parts of the Northeast, a day after it dumped a record snowfall in Arkansas and ruined holiday travel plans around the region."

New York Times: "... dockworkers are ... threatening a strike beginning Sunday that would shut seaports from Massachusetts to Texas. It would be the first such coastwide strike since a two-month walkout in 1977 paralyzed the flow of tens of billions of dollars of imports -- and the nation's retailers and other businesses fear a painful replay if the 14,500 dockworkers make good on their threats."

New York Times: "The international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, on a mission to Damascus seeking an end to the escalating civil conflict in Syria, said Thursday that a transitional government should be granted full executive powers until President Bashar al-Assad's term ends in 2014."

New York Times: "Appealing for unity after the bitter debate over the charter, which was finalized by his Islamist allies over the objections of opposition parties and the Coptic Christian Church, [Egyptian President Mohamed] Morsi pledged in a televised address to respect the one-third of voters who cast ballots against it.... But Mr. Morsi offered no concrete concessions, and he did not acknowledge any specific errors...."

Reuters: "The Pakistani Taliban have outlined conditions for a ceasefire, including the adoption of Islamic law and a break with the United States, a spokesman said Thursday, an offer a senior government official described as 'preposterous'. The Taliban, in a letter sent to the Pakistan daily The News, also demanded that Pakistan stop its involvement in the war pitting Afghan insurgents against the Kabul government and refocus on a war of 'revenge' against India."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 26, 2012

Once again the commentary here has put me in a Bah! Humbug! mood. I'll do what I do when I do it, and if you don't like it, try the Anodyne News or the He Said/She Said Times-Express. -- Constant Weader

Cliff Notes

Obama Determined to Scrooge Seniors. Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "President Obama is planning to cut his Christmas vacation short and return to Washington to make a last-ditch push for a compromise on a tax and spending dispute that remains stubbornly unresolved. The White House said Tuesday that the president would leave Wednesday night. His family, however, will stay behind in Hawaii. Meanwhile, both chambers of Congress will come back from their holiday hiatus on Thursday...."

Jamelle Bouie in the Washington Post: Democrats want to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy not so much for the revenue the additional taxes would raise but to ever-so-slightly reduce income inequality.

Psychiatrist Paul Steinberg in a New York Times op-ed: "In our concern for the rights of people with mental illness, we have come to neglect the rights of ordinary Americans to be safe from the fear of being shot." ...

... CNN: "On Christmas Day, thanks to a grassroots effort by their fellow law enforcement brethren in nearby communities, Newtown's police officers [were] the recipients of a rare gift in their profession -- a holiday off, for the entire force." Adam Estes of the Atlantic has more.

** Mark Bittman of the New York Times: "Seven times as many poor children are obese as those who are underweight, an indication that government aid in the form of food stamps, now officially called SNAP, does a good job of addressing hunger but encourages the consumption of unhealthy calories." Bittman suggests "remov[ing] the subsidy for sugar-sweetened beverages," and "mak[ing] it easier to buy real food; several cities, including New York, have programs that double the value of food stamps when used for purchases at farmers markets."

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar of the AP: "New taxes are coming Jan. 1 to help finance President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Most people may not notice. But they will pay attention if Congress decides to start taxing employer-sponsored health insurance, one option in play if lawmakers can ever agree on a budget deal to reduce federal deficits."

Erica Goode & Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times: "The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been without a permanent director for six years, as President Obama recently noted. But even if someone were to be confirmed for the job, the agency's ability to thwart gun violence is hamstrung by legislative restrictions and by loopholes in federal gun laws, many law enforcement officials and advocates of tighter gun regulations say. For example, under current laws the bureau is prohibited from creating a federal registry of gun transactions.... Congress ... [has] sided with the National Rifle Association, which argues that such a database poses a threat to the Second Amendment." ...

... So Much for Show and Tell. Katie Glueck of Politico: "The Washington Metropolitan Police Department is investigating whether any city laws were violated when NBC's David Gregory displayed what appeared to be a 30-round gun magazine on NBC's 'Meet the Press' on Sunday." CW: Glueck doesn't say so, but I noticed some of the leaders of Right Wing World were shrieking on Sunday that Gregory had violated the law. So I guess it's safe to say the D.C. cops read the Right Wing News. ...

... Update: I see the denizens of Right Wing World are still on the story. And a White House petition to lock up Gregory or something! It might be fair to prosecute Gregory for past instances of impersonating a journalist, but not for waving a gun magazine in Wayne LaPierre's face, which was, contra Gregory's usual Sunday morning banter & blather, an actual act of journalism. ...

... Attaturk of Firedoglake feels the same way about the right's attack on CNN's Piers Morgan. CNN: somehow the wingers think their so-called Second Amendment rights trump everybody else's First Amendment rights.

AP: actor "Ben Affleck is taking his name off the list of possible candidates for U.S. Sen. John Kerry's seat, which would be open if the Democratic senator from Massachusetts is confirmed as secretary of state. Affleck says in a Monday posting on his Facebook page that while he loves the political process, he will not be running for public office. Speculation about the Cambridge, Mass., native rose slightly when he did not completely rule out a Senate bid during an appearance on CBS' Face The Nation on Sunday." CW: Rats! No Hunk v. Hunk. ...

... Dan Amira of New York magazine: "Whenever a Senate seat becomes available in Massachusetts, at least one Kennedy -- any Kennedy, doesn't really matter who -- must, by law, at least consider running for it. With John Kerry's seat opening up soon, Ted Kennedy Jr. has fulfilled this sacred duty, but [Monday] the Globe report[ed] that he won't run, partially because he lives in Connecticut, which is not the same state as Massachusetts." ...

Nancy Cordes of CBS news: "Gov. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, will announce Wednesday who he is appointing to late Sen. Daniel Inouye's vacant seat.... A few days ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urged Abercrombie to appoint a successor 'with due haste,' because Democrats want to have a full roster for critical fiscal cliff votes coming up as soon as Friday. When Inouye's successor is sworn in, Democrats will hold a 53-47 edge in the Senate through the end of the year."

Joshua Green, in the Washington Post: actor Jack Klugman, who died December 24, "... played an instrumental role in passing critical health-care legislation, the Orphan Drug Act, through Congress in the early 1980s, using 'Quincy' and his own celebrity to roll Sen. Orrin Hatch (R), who was blocking the bill."

Right Wing World

** Guns & Money. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post has a fascinating piece on the shake-ups at the Tea Party astroturf organization FreedomWorks. A gun was involved in one coup; big money paid for the second. ...

... Let's Round that out to Lawyers, Guns & Money. David Corn of Mother Jones on how Dick Armey's allies at FreedomWorks sicced lawyers on the Mike Kibbe wing before the gun incident -- and Kibbe's response.

News Ledes

AP: "Former President George H.W. Bush has been admitted to the intensive care unit at a Houston hospital 'following a series of setbacks including a persistent fever,' but he is alert and talking to medical staff, his spokesman said Wednesday. Jim McGrath, Bush's spokesman in Houston, said.... He said doctors are cautiously optimistic about his treatment and that the former president 'remains in guarded condition.'"

AP: "Former South African President Nelson Mandela was released Wednesday from the hospital after being treated for a lung infection and having gallstones removed, a government spokesman said."

New York Times: "Toyota Motor said on Wednesday that it would spend $1.1 billion to settle a sweeping class-action lawsuit by owners of millions of vehicles that were recalled for problems with unintended acceleration. The agreement, filed in federal court in California, was called one of the largest product-liability settlements in history."

AP: "An enormous storm system that dumped snow and sleet on the nation's midsection and unleashed damaging tornadoes around the Deep South has begun punching its way toward the Northeast, slowing holiday travel. Post-Christmas travelers braced for a second day of flight delays and cancellations, a day after rare winter twisters damaged numerous homes in Louisiana and Alabama."

AP: "A vehicle driven by a suicide bomber exploded at the gate of a US military base in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing the attacker and three Afghans, Afghan police said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack."

AP: "U.S. shoppers spent cautiously this holiday season, a disappointment for retailers who slashed prices to lure people into stores.... Sales of electronics, clothing, jewelry and home goods in the two months before Christmas increased 0.7 percent compared with last year.... That was below the healthy 3 to 4 percent growth that analysts had expected -- and it was the worst year-over-year performance since 2008...."

Reuters: General Abdelaziz Jassim al-Shalal, "the head of Syria's military police, has defected from the army and declared allegiance to the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, according to a video and a Syrian security source. The high-level defection, while not a strategically significant development in the 21-month-old conflict, will be a blow to morale for Assad's forces, which are hitting back at a string of rebel advances across the country."

New York Times: the Japanese "Parliament formally elected Shinzo Abe as prime minister on Wednesday, ending a three-year break from decades of near-constant rule by his conservative Liberal Democratic Party."

AP: "The ex-con turned sniper who killed two firefighters wanted to make sure his goodbye note was legible, typing out his desire to 'do what I like doing best, killing people' before setting the house where he lived with his sister ablaze, police said. Police Chief Gerald Pickering said Tuesday that the 62-year-old loner, William Spengler, brought plenty of ammunition with him for three weapons including a military-style assault rifle as he set out on a quest to burn down his neighborhood just before sunrise on Christmas Eve."

AP: "The upper chamber of Russia's parliament has voted unanimously in favour of a measure banning Americans from adopting Russian children. It now goes to the president, Vladimir Putin, to sign or turn down.... Some senior government officials, including the foreign minister, have spoken against the bill, arguing that it would be in violation of Russia's constitution and international obligations."

New York Times: "Charles Durning, who overcame poverty, battlefield trauma and nagging self-doubt to become an acclaimed character actor, whether on stage as Big Daddy in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' or in film as the lonely widower smitten with a cross-dressing Dustin Hoffman in 'Tootsie,' died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 89."