The Commentariat -- Dec. 20, 2012 ...

... The Last Full Day in the History of the Earth. (Pay absolutely no attention to these pointy-headed NASA scientists.) ...

... NEW. Building on this theme, my column in the New York Times eXaminer is titled "Boola Boola, Professor Brooks." It's an "exclusive"! ...

... Also NEW, you won't want to miss Matt Taibbi's take on David Brooks' ascension to the halls of academe.

Cliff Notes

David Espo & Ben Feller of the AP: "Fiscal cliff talks at a partisan standoff, President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner swapped barbed political charges on Wednesday yet carefully left room for further negotiations on an elusive deal to head off year-end tax increases and spending cuts that threaten the national economy. Republicans should 'peel off the war paint' and take the deal he's offering, Obama said sharply at the White House.... But he drew a quick retort from Boehner when the White House threatened to veto a fallback bill drafted by House Republicans that would prevent tax increases for all but million-dollar earners. The president will bear responsibility for 'the largest tax increase in history' if he makes good on that threat, the Ohio Republican declared."

Tomorrow, the House will pass legislation to make permanent tax relief for nearly every American -- 99.81 percent of the American people. Then the president will have a decision to make. He can call on the Senate Democrats to pass that bill, or he can be responsible for the largest tax increase in American history. -- House Speaker John Boehner

... Greg Sargent, and others, translate Boehner's remark as "Whee! It's over the cliff we go." ...

... ** Jonathan Chait: "What all this shows, again, is how much easier a deal gets in January. Once the Bush tax cuts for the rich have expired, then Obama doesn't need to bargain for the revenue, and Republicans don't need to vote to 'give' it to him.... In theory, this ought to be unnecessary. Everybody knows what happens in January.... But we are not dealing with rational people here. We are dealing with House Republicans." ...

... Markos Moulitsas: "You see, Obama had drawn a line in the sand, and then -- to no one's surprise -- ended up capitulating on everything he said he'd never capitulate on.... Not only is [conceding to Republicans] brain dead stupid..., but also betrays his own vice president and congressional caucus -- which had promised several times that Social Security (among other things) was off the table.... Obama wasn't elected to play nice with Republicans. He was elected to lead our nation and improve the lives of its citizens."

The Sociopath's Guide to Fiscal Policy. Zeke Miller of BuzzFeed: When the government owes less because of low interest rates, Republicans call that "savings" if it's in their proposed budget, but call it "not-savings" if it's in Obama's.

The other day, when Paul Krugman was waffling, I urged him to "go over the edge." He has: "... all of a sudden it's feeling a lot like 2011 again, with the president negotiating with himself while the other side enjoys the process. So Obama needs to draw a line right now: no further concessions. None. He's already given too much. Yes, this probably means going over the cliff. So be it: it's less bad than the alternative."

** Robert Kuttner of American Prospect: "Once again, President Obama seems to be on the verge of folding a winning hand.... Especially foolish is the cut in Social Security benefits, disguised as a change in the cost-of-living adjustment formula.... The proposed change will save only $122 billion over ten years, but it will significantly cut benefits for the elderly.... It's unconscionable to cut Social Security at all when then president is proposing to reduce the proposed taxes on the wealthiest by $400 billion -- more than three times the savings of the planned cuts in Social Security.... This promises to be an epic showdown. We will soon learn what Obama, the progressive community, and congressional Democrats are made of."

Joan McCarter of Daily Kos: "The White House has gone to great lengths to stress one thing in response to the backlash against the unforced error of throwing Social Security into the fiscal cliff curb: They'll just reduce benefits for some people on Social Security, not all of them.... This does some pretty damaging things.... First, it pits certain Social Security recipients against others.... Most of the people on Social Security are exceedingly vulnerable.... So how will the administration decide who's most vulnerable when almost half of Social Security recipients couldn't live without it? How do they decide which of these people deserve to be spared the cuts, and which don't?"

Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: "Religious leaders across the country this week vowed to mobilize their congregants to push for gun control legislation and provide the ground support for politicians willing to take on the gun lobby, saying the time has come for action beyond praying and comforting the families of those killed. A group of clergy members, representing mainline and evangelical Protestants, Catholics, Jews and Muslims, plans to lead off the campaign in front of the Washington National Cathedral at an event on Friday timed to mark the moment a week before when a young gunman opened fire in a school in Newtown, Conn." ...

... The Very Rev. Gary Hall, Dean of the National Cathedral, calls for gun control legislation. You can hear the whole sermon here:

... A Note from Right Wing World.* As contributor Jerry N. points out, not all clergy are getting with the program. Dr. Richard Land, head of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, a part of the Southern Baptist Convention, is all for arming grade school teachers. (It is worth noting that the ERLC found Dr. Ethics there guilty of plagiarism for lifting the writings of others & passing them off as his own thoughts on his nationally-syndicated ERLC radio show. The ERLC fired Land, but you'll be relieved to know he still has a gig on Fox Radio. *Right Wing World is a long-running comedy series. If by chance the world does not end tomorrow, the series will run in perpetuity.)

The Pursuit of Happiness

It’s very stress relieving. Some people crochet, some people shop, some people shoot guns. -- Chad Knox of Marietta, Ohio, speaking of his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle

I don't want to shoot holes in pieces of paper, I want to watch a watermelon be destroyed.... It's fun and it makes you smile but it's a skill, its own art form. I don't want to make it sound weird, but it's almost like holding a live animal. You've fired the thing, and it's kicked around, and there's the smell.... When I put 20 rounds downrange, I'm like, man, I need a burger, yes! -- Patrick Mason of Las Vegas, Nevada

And some people want to deprive these American citizens of the only way they can think of to have 'stress-relieving' 'fun' and 'smiles' for the sole purpose of saving innocent lives. -- Constant Weader ...

... Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "... many owners of military-style semiautomatic rifles ... reject the term 'assault weapon.' ... They use their guns for target practice and hunting small game like rabbits, squirrels and coyotes. They also say that as a self-defense weapon, the AR-15, which is based on the military's M-16 and M-4, has its limits: It cannot be carried in public, and in the home it is potentially less accurate than a shotgun."

Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker: "Those who fight against gun control, actively or passively, with a shrug of helplessness, are dooming more kids to horrible deaths and more parents to unspeakable grief just as surely as are those who fight against pediatric medicine or childhood vaccination."

Enough with Abstractions; It's the Guns. New York Times Editors: "Republicans say they want to end the violence, but have been mostly trying to end the discussion.... Mr. Obama played into [the Republican] argument on Wednesday, talking about the 'culture that all too often glorifies guns and violence' and saying that any actions should begin 'inside the home and inside our hearts.' It is tempting to blame abstractions, and to give in to fatalism...." ...

... President Obama's remarks in the Brady Briefing Room yesterday (that's "Brady" as in the "Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act" a/k/a the Brady bill, named for Jim Brady, President Ronald Reagan's press secretary who was severely wounded in an assassination attempt on President Reagan, also shot in the assault):

The Stupidest Thing the President Said Yesterday: I believe that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms.

... ** Fareed Zakaria: other developed countries have the same level as mental illness the U.S. does, and they have cultures that encompass a similar level of violence. Yet they have far fewer gun deaths. "The U.S. gun homicide rate is 30 times that of France or Australia.... The data in social science are rarely this clear. They strongly suggest that we have so much more gun violence than other countries because we have far more permissive laws than others regarding the sale and possession of guns. With 5 percent of the world's population, the United States has 50 percent of the guns.... We do not lack for answers. What we lack in America today is courage."

Peter Wallsten & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "While the NRA devoted most of its national campaign efforts this year to supporting Republicans and opposing President Obama, the group has historically gained its clout in Washington by nurturing close ties to lawmakers in both parties, particularly those from rural areas.... But several recent factors have altered that calculus.... Political battlegrounds have also shifted away from those rural areas to the suburbs, where the NRA holds less sway and there is more appetite for restrictions on guns. And Democrats are looking increasingly at the NRA as an arm of the Republican Party...."

Greg Roumeliotis & Ross Kerber of Reuters: "The $150.1 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund is reviewing its investments in firearm manufacturers.... New York City's pension funds are also reviewing investments and may sell nearly $18 million worth of stock in four companies that manufacture guns and ammunition...."

From the Brady Campaign:

How Low Can You Go? Scam Artists Exploit Newtown Families. Christina Rexrode & Robert Ray of the AP: "The family of Noah Pozner was mourning the 6-year-old, killed in the Newtown school massacre, when outrage compounded their sorrow. Someone they didn't know was soliciting donations in Noah's memory, claiming that they'd send any cards, packages and money collected to his parents and siblings. An official-looking website had been set up, with Noah's name as the address, even including petitions on gun control."

Bryan Jones, in a Monkey Cage post, explains the socio-political dynamics that might make gun control legislation possible now: "If the problem is reconceived, government solutions are within the pale. Just what policy solution might be attached to the problem is unclear, but the lowest hanging fruit (where the gun lobby's policy victories have exceeded the bounds of common sense) include an assault weapons ban, a high-capacity magazine ban, and improved background check procedures for gun purchases."

Robert Rizzuto of The Republican: "Although he once said banning so-called assault weapons fell under the category of issues best left to the states, Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown told The Republican/MassLive.com in an exclusive interview Wednesday that he now supports federal action." Via Jonathan Bernstein.

Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, [and] writers and artists would be censored at the whim of government. -- Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), 1981, speaking on the floor of the Senate during Bork's confirmation proceedings ...

Roll the videotape:

... CW: I generally prefer not to speak ill of the dead before the family has had a chance to mourn (or in this case, even bury him). Jeff Toobin of the New Yorker obviously holds to a different standard: "Robert Bork, who died Wednesday, was an unrepentant reactionary who was on the wrong side of every major legal controversy of the twentieth century. The fifty-eight senators who voted against Bork for confirmation to the Supreme Court in 1987 honored themselves, and the Constitution. In the subsequent quarter-century, Bork devoted himself to proving that his critics were right about him all along." ...

     ... Update. Like me, Paul Waldman of the American Prospect was rather taken aback by Toobin's lusty attack. "I think it's possible to talk honestly about someone's contributions, and your criticisms of them, without getting needlessly uncivil."

Maggie Haberman of Politico: "The [winger] William Kristol-founded conservative Emergency Committee for Israel says it's launching cable ads starting Thursday slamming Chuck Hagel, the latest in a spate of criticism over the man who's said to top President Barack Obama's list for Secretary of Defense. The spot, which hits Hagel for voting against sanctions on Iran, is an indication of the next phase of attacks on the former lawmaker, whose past stands on Israel have gotten the most attention."

Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the Washington Post: Frederick and Kimberly Kagan, a husband-and-wife team of hawkish military analysts, put their jobs at influential Washington think tanks on hold for almost a year to work for Gen. David H. Petraeus when he was the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Provided desks, e-mail accounts and top-level security clearances in Kabul, they pored through classified intelligence reports, participated in senior-level strategy sessions and probed the assessments of field officers in order to advise Petraeus about how to fight the war differently." ...

... Charles Pierce: "We have the wandering Little Petraeus to thank for many things. The fact that this guy clearly had national ambitions, and that only the wandering Little Petraeus may have saved us from a national security apparatus helmed by the half-bright chickenhawk denizens of Neocon Dogpatch, is definitely one of them."

You're Still Paying for Willard. Katy Steinmetz of Time: "One of the less scintillating milestones of the 2012 election was marked by the General Services Administration, when Mitt Romney became the first candidate to take advantage of the Presidential Transition Act of 2010.... The law stipulates that the federal government will provide certain resources to non-incumbent candidates after their nominating convention. The GSA says final costs are still being tabulated, but the initial estimated cost for Romney's pre-transition phase is around $8.9 million."

Inside Job. Ian Austin of the New York Times: on arrests in The Great Maple Syrup Heist & the OPEC-like Canadian cartel the Maple Syrup Gang burglarized.

Boola, Boola, Professor Brooks. Joe Coscarelli of New York: New York Times columnist David Brooks "will be teaching a class [at Yale] in the spring titled just plain 'Humility.' According to its description, the course promises to explore 'The premise that human beings are blessed with many talents but are also burdened by sinfulness, ignorance, and weakness,' as demonstrated by men such as Moses, Homer, and 'others,' like maybe Paul Krugman.... And if pleasing one's parents with a brand-name professor isn't reason enough to sign up, the class is listed as having 'no regular final examination.'"

News Ledes

New York Times: "Bernard L. Madoff's brother, Peter B. Madoff, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday for his role in enabling the extensive fraud that swindled investors out of billions of dollars."

Market Watch: "The U.S. economy grew more quickly than previously stated in the July-to-September quarter due to stronger trade, faster health-care spending and increased local government construction, the Commerce Department estimated Thursday. The Commerce Department said third-quarter gross domestic product grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.1% in the third quarter...."

Reuters: "The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment aid rose last week, putting them back at the lower end of their pre-storm range and suggesting job growth remains moderate. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 361,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week's figure was revised to show 1,000 more applications than previously reported."

AP: "Members of the Senate and House foreign affairs committees on Thursday were to question Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, who is in charge of policy, and Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides, who is in charge of management, at back-to-back congressional hearings on the September 11 Benghazi attack on four Americans." CW: the Washington Post has live coverage of the hearings on its front page. At about 8:30 am ET, Committee Chairman John Kerry was droning away. C-SPAN live coverage is here. At 8:35 am, Nides is testifying. ...

... AP: "The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- and possibly the next secretary of state -- says mistakes were made at the State Department in the deadly Sept. 11 assault in Libya, but Congress shares some of the blame." CW: the Grammar Prize for Earliest Delivery of the Classic "Past Exonerative Tense" Clause "Mistakes Were Made" goes to John Kerry (or AP writer Donna Cassata -- it isn't a direct quote.)

New York Times: "The owner of the venerable New York Stock Exchange is in talks to be acquired by an upstart commodities and derivatives trading platform...." CW: and the award for writing Today's Most Artless Sentence goes to the NYT: "... is in talks to be acquired by...."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 19, 2012

Cliff Notes

CW: we just heard President Obama totally deflect a reporter's questioning why he would agree to cut Social Security benefits; he is simply not going to answer that question. His "we all have to give a little" excuse is just malarkey. I hope Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid, both of whom have been fierce defendants of Social Security, will just say no. But unless that was a "trick answer," the President, as contributor Raul wrote yesterday, is a disgraceful sell-out. ...

     ... Update. Looks as if Pelosi is good with the President's plan. This really is disgusting.

Lori Montgomery & Zachary Goldfarb of the Washington Post report on the President's remarks about the fiscal cliff negotiations. Not a word about the Social Security cuts or rise in taxes for the lower middle class. "President Obama urged congressional Republicans Wednesday to return to the bargaining table over the year-end 'fiscal cliff,' saying the two sides are far too close to the big budget deal they've been seeking for the past two years to give up now.... Earlier in the day, the White House said Obama would veto Boehner's Plan B bill."

Ezra Klein has a good summary of the last 24 hours of President Obama's steady march to the precipice. Monday, the White House "delivered an offer to House Speaker John Boehner that included genuine concessions. They brought their revenue request down from $1.6 trillion to $1.3 trillion. They dropped their demand that the Bush tax rates expire for all income over $250,000 a year, offering a new threshold of $400,000 a year. They brought their debt-ceiling demand down from no more debt ceiling crises ever to no debt ceiling crises for two years. They agreed to some form of chained CPI as a way to cut Social Security benefits. On Monday night, Boehner rejected their offer, and on Tuesday, Boehner unveiled 'Plan B' -- a proposal to walk away from the talks, vote on a plan to make the Bush tax rates permanent for all households with income under $1 million, and then go home for the holidays.... Boehner -- and, more to the point, Boehner's House members -- increasingly see weakness in the White House's negotiating position." CW: yeah, so do I. ...

     ... Update: here it all is in chart form. Thanks to contributor Dave S. for the heads-up:

Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post does a good job of explaining, in plain English, what Obama is up to here: "President Barack Obama, with his latest fiscal cliff offer, proposes extending the Bush tax cuts for everyone earning less than $400,000 a year, and paying for it by increasing taxes on the middle class and cutting Social Security and Medicare.... Obama's concession to Republicans is opposed by a majority of Americans...."

Almost every elected official just spent an entire election season saying they wouldn't cut the benefits of those 55 and older. The truth is the chained CPI hits everyone's benefits on day one. It hits the oldest of the old and disabled veterans the hardest. If it wasn't being bandied about as being 'on the table,' I would guess that it was created as an office joke to see who could create the most noxious and offensive policy possible. -- Alex Lawson of Social Security Words, an advocacy group

CW: we owe thanks to reporters & news organizations who are highlighting this scam -- and so far, that ain't the New York Times. I did see one short blogpost (not indexed) by Annie Lowrey on it in yesterday's online Times, but the only other Times writer who has mentioned it, & again that's only in his online blog, is Paul Krugman. You might think the paper was trying to provide cover for Obama & Boehner. The AARP, which has spoken out forcefully against the chained CPI when it has been proposed in the past, is silent now.

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "... a protracted meeting of the House Republican Conference on Tuesday night made it clear that passage of Mr. Boehner's ['Plan B'] proposal would be difficult.... [Minority Leader Nancy] Pelosi was leaning hard on House Democrats to stay united in their opposition.... The White House came out strongly against the speaker's plan. The White House press secretary, Jay Carney, said that it could not pass the Senate...."

** New York Times Editors: "There is no doubt that if Mr. Obama were a more combative negotiator, he would not have gone for the chained index. It reinforces the incorrect notion that the big budget problem is overly generous benefits. But Social Security is not to blame for the deficit and health care spending, mainly for Medicare, is driven more by lavish payments to drug companies and other providers than by payments to beneficiaries."

To urge President Obama not to cut Social Security, you can sign a Daily Kos petition here. and Bold Progressives has a petition here.

Eric Schmitt & Michael Gordon of the New York Times: "An independent inquiry into the attack on the United States diplomatic mission in Libya that killed four Americans on Sept. 11 sharply criticized the State Department for a lack of seasoned security personnel and for relying on untested local militias to safeguard the compound, according to the panel's report made public on Tuesday night.... In response to the panel's findings, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a letter to Congress that she was accepting all 29 of the panel's recommendations, five of which are classified. Mrs. Clinton is already taking specific steps to correct the problems...." ...

... AND in a related, predictable development out of Right Wing World, -- Concussiongate! Alexander Abad-Santos of the Atlantic: "... conservative pundits ... are now churning out a theory that Hillary Clinton is lying about her concussion to avoid having to testify about Benghazi." They want a note from her doctor. I foresaw Concussiongate; now I predict that should Hillary's doctor send a note, we will learn that s/he is just another of the Hillary conspirators.

The Washington Post's hawkish Editorial Board doesn't like former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) for Secretary of Defense because "Mr. Hagel's stated positions on critical issues, ranging from defense spending to Iran, fall well to the left of those pursued by Mr. Obama during his first term -- and place him near the fringe of the Senate that would be asked to confirm him." CW: Good to know.

Frank Rich, on Our Great American Gun Culture. ...

... Garry Wills in the New York Review of Books: "The fact that the gun is a reverenced god can be seen in its manifold and apparently resistless powers. How do we worship it? Let us count the ways." And he does. Thanks to contributor Denis N. for the link.

CW: Reader Kay S. likes this opening segment from Rachel Maddow's Monday show. (The Dick Cheney part is enough, on its own, to recommend the segment. I'm not much for labeling people "evil," but Cheney....) Kay S. also suggests we may need a "Million Mom March" on Washington to get Congress off the dime:

     ... Here's the main page of Demand a Plan to End Gun Violence, sponsored by the Mayors against Illegal Guns. The page includes a petition, plus links or leads to other action you can take. ...

     ... Here's the Jewelry for a Cause Website which Mayor Booker mentioned. ...

     ... NOT to be confused with this Georgia jeweler: "Customers who purchase diamonds worth $2,499 or more from the Cobb County stores will get free hunting rifles." Diamonds are forever, but....

... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "To his core supporters, this is a moment that will define what a second-term Obama presidency will look like -- whether it will be closer to the soaring aspirations that set liberal hearts aflutter in 2008 or more like the back-room deal making that characterized the four years that followed. Advocates on the left have long lamented that Mr. Obama was too quick to compromise [and now for the "she-said" side of the "he-said/she-said" perfectly balanced equation], even as those on the right see him as a champion of a radical agenda." ...

... Peter Baker: "President Obama has ordered Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to lead an interagency group to develop a multifaceted response to last week's mass shooting at a Connecticut school, a White House official said. Mr. Obama will appear in the White House briefing room alongside Mr. Biden on Wednesday morning to announce the assignment but an aide said they will not announce any major policy decisions."

Pat Bagley, Salt Lake City Tribune. Thanks to a reader.... Michael Shear & Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "The reaction to the Newtown shootings spread to corporate America and to California on Tuesday, as a private equity firm said it would immediately sell the company that made the assault-style rifle used in shootings, while California lawmakers announced an effort to regulate the sale of ammunition more tightly. CW: this article is a good roundup of today's developments in reaction to the Newtown school shootings. One little-known fact, briefly mentioned in the article, is that the California State Teachers' Retirement System, a huge pension fund, is invested in Cerberus, the company that owns the .223 Bushmaster used in the massacre. Cerberus announced earlier it was divesting itself of the Bushmaster manufacturer. ...

... Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Despite the sweeping language of a 2008 Supreme Court decision that struck down parts of the District of Columbia's strict gun-control law, the decision appears perfectly consistent with many of the policy options being discussed after the shootings in Newtown, Conn." Read the whole article; it ain't as simple as the lede might suggest.

... "The Money behind the Massacre." Dan Primack of Fortune has more on the California teachers' significant investment in weaponry. ...

... CW: My husband, who once taught at Berkeley, gets a small pension from the teachers' retirement system, so you might say I, too, own a Bushmaster. We're all guilty.

Steve Benen: "In the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Conn., Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) believes local school districts should be allowed to arm teachers and administrators. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) is thinking along the same lines." CW: I find myself wondering, "What would Mitt do?" Sandy Hook is one more reason we should thank the fates and all those freeloading, gift-seeking moochers who stood in line for hours to make sure Mitt will not be standing at the schoolhouse door issuing carry permits.

Todd Purdum of Vanity Fair: "I can't help wondering if the bullets of Sandy Hook Elementary will be for [President] Obama what the snarling dogs and high-pressure fire hoses of Birmingham, Alabama, were for John F. Kennedy in 1963: the human tragedy that will force him to take a political risk, simply because it is right."

USA Today: "The National Rifle Association has put out a statement saying it is 'prepared to offer meaningful contributions' to prevent more violence like that which occurred in Newtown, Conn., last week. The organization said it will hold a news conference in the Washington, D.C., area on Friday. Additionally, the organization broke its silence on social media, and put its Facebook page back up Tuesday afternoon, timed to the statement's release."

Lawrence Downes on "how thoroughly [Sen. Daniel Inouye] blended the virtues of political courage, dedication and modesty." ...

... Here's the piece from Badass Digest, by Devin Feraci, titled "The Time Daniel Inouye Pried A Grenade From His Severed Arm." The text of Inouye's Medal of Honor citation is here.

Time magazine names President Obama Person of the Year. Here's the cover story, by Michael Scherer. Time staff interviewed President Obama on December 12. Here's the text. Time also has a terrific slideshow of 125 photos by White House photographer Pete Souza.

John Burns & Stephen Castle of the New York Times: "A report into the sexual abuse crisis that has shaken the British Broadcasting Corporation was strongly critical on Wednesday of the editorial and management decisions that led to the cancellation of a broadcast last year that would have exposed decades of sexual abuse, some of it on BBC premises, by Jimmy Savile, who had been one of Britain's best-known television personalities.... The report was strongly critical of several news executives.... But it adopted a largely sparing tone in its review of the role played by the broadcaster's former director general, Mark Thompson, who ... became president and chief executive officer of The New York Times Company last month."

Local News

Chad Livengood of the Detroit News: "Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed legislation Tuesday that would have allowed gun owners with extra training to carry concealed weapons in public schools.... Snyder based his veto on the fact the bill wouldn't allow schools and other public locations to opt out of its provisions." CW: as I predicted a few days ago. I also predicted that if, down the road, the state legislature fixes the glitch which gave Snyder the out, he will sign the revised bill. We'll see ...

... Nonetheless, Snyder looks downright enlightened compared to other Republican governors like wingers Perry & McDonnell. We should not forget former Fox "News" star John Kasich of Ohio. Jessica Wehrman & Joe Vardon of the Columbus Dispatch: "Members of Ohio's Republican congressional delegation resisted stiffer gun laws yesterday in response to questions from The Dispatch, and Gov. John Kasich indicated he would not veto a recent bill that would allow guns in the Statehouse and [capitol] parking garages.... 'I'm a Second Amendment supporter, and that's not going to change, Kasich said.... Kasich supported the original federal assault-weapons ban while serving in Congress in 1994, but he has since said that support was a mistake and he was wrong.... Three were killed in a school shooting at Chardon High School, near Cleveland, in February." ...

... Meanwhile, it's reassuring to know how sensitive America's Worst Governor, Rick Scott (RTP) of Florida is. Aaron Deslatte of the Orlando Sun-Sentinel: "Gov. Rick Scott and [Republican] state legislative leaders say it's too soon for politics -- that families should be allowed to grieve and Florida schools should reassess their safety precautions in the wake of last week's Newtown, Conn., school massacre."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Republicans in the Senate, seeking to substantially trim a Hurricane Sandy aid package being sought by Democrats, are planning to unveil a $23.8 billion emergency spending plan to finance the recovery efforts of states devastated by the storm. The move by Republicans comes as the Senate has opened debate on a $60.4 billion aid bill brought by Democratic leaders. Democrats largely based their proposal on one that President Obama sent to Congress nearly two weeks ago."

New York Times: "Senator Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland will become the first woman to head the Senate Appropriations Committee, after Senator Patrick D. Leahy of Vermont decided to pass up the chairman's job, their offices announced on Wednesday."

New York Times: "The United Nations Security Council was expected to vote Thursday on a resolution that would approve the deployment of a multinational African force in Mali, along with Western training and equipment for the Malian Army, to help retake the northern part of the country from Islamist militias. The resolution, drafted and offered for a formal vote by France, has widespread support among Mali's neighbors and other African states and was expected to gain unanimous approval by the 15-member Security Council."

New York Times: "The United States Patent and Trademark Office has dealt a blow to Apple in its legal battle with Samsung Electronics over smartphone patents, declaring that a patent that helped Apple win $1.05 billion in damages against Samsung in a jury trial should not have been granted."

New York Times: "Three State Department officials resigned on Wednesday after an independent panel severely criticized the 'grossly inadequate' security arrangements at an American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, where Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in an attack. The officials who resigned were Eric Boswell, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security; Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary responsible for embassy security; and Raymond Maxwell, a deputy assistant secretary who had responsibility for the North Africa region...." ...

     ... Story has been updated. New lede: "Four State Department officials were removed from their posts on Wednesday after an independent panel criticized the 'grossly inadequate' security at a diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that was attacked on Sept. 11, leading to the deaths of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans." Washington Post story here.

AP: "The Treasury Department said Wednesday that it will sell its remaining stake in General Motors by early 2014, writing the final chapter of a $50 billion bailout that saved the auto giant but stoked a heated national debate about the government's role in private industry."

Reuters: "A bill to ban Americans from adopting Russian children won preliminary parliamentary approval on Wednesday in a retaliatory gesture for a U.S. law punishing alleged Russian human rights violators. Despite criticism of the measure by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, pro-Kremlin lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill, and another that would bar Russian non-profit groups which receive funds from the United States."

New York Times: "President Obama declared Wednesday that he would make gun control a 'central issue' as he opens a second term, submitting broad new gun control proposals to Congress no later than January and committing the power of his office to overcoming political opposition in the wake of last week's school massacre."

Bloomberg News: "Robert Bork, the U.S. judge and legal scholar whose nomination to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan set off a battle for the judiciary that lived on long after the U.S. Senate rejected him, has died. He was 85." ...

     ... Update. The New York Times obituary is here.

Guardian: "Swiss bank UBS made corrupt payments to brokers in an 'extensive and widespread' attempt to manipulate key benchmark interest rates which has cost the bank Sfr1.4bn (£944m) [$1.5BB] in fines from global regulators. The £160m portion of the fine levied by the Financial Services Authority is the largest ever imposed by the City regulator and surpasses the previous record -- the £59.5m imposed on Barclays in June for attempted manipulation of the Libor and Euribor rates."

Guardian: "The four European members of the United Nations security council are drawing up a strong joint condemnation of recent Israeli moves to expand Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem amid growing international censure. The unusual statement, expected this week from the UK, France, Germany and Portugal, follows blunt criticism from the US of Israel's announcement on Monday of plans to build an extra 1,500 homes in the settlement of Ramat Shlomo." ...

     Reuters Update: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday his government would press ahead with expanding Jewish settlements around Jerusalem despite Western criticism of its plan to build 6,000 more homes in territory Palestinians seek for a state."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 18, 2012

Cliff Notes

Ezra Klein: "All at once, a 'fiscal cliff' deal seems to be coming together. Speaker John Boehner’s latest offer doesn’t go quite far enough for the White House to agree, but it goes far enough that many think they can see the agreement taking shape." Klein outlines the tentative details. ...

... Carrie Brown of Politico has an update in which she outlines the broad strokes of President Obama's supposed counteroffer to Speaker Boehner. And, yup, I'll be paying for this deal in lower benefits. Thanks a bunch, Mr. President.

** Dylan Matthews of the Washington Post explains "chained CPI": "... taken all together, it’s basically a big (5 percent over 12 years; more, if you take a longer view) across-the-board cut in Social Security benefits paired with a 0.19 percent income surtax. You don’t hear a lot of politicians calling for the drastic slashing of Social Security benefits and an across-the-board tax increase that disproportionately hits low earners. But that’s what they’re sneakily doing when they talk about chained CPI."

"Unacceptable." How popular is Obama's agreement to reduce Social Security benefits & raise taxes on the lower middle class? Not very. Jon Cohen & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Most Americans want President Obama and congressional Republicans to compromise on a budget agreement, though they, too, are unhappy about the options that would avert the 'fiscal cliff,' according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The strong support for compromise belies widespread public opposition to big spending cuts that are likely to be part of any deal. Most Americans oppose slashing spending on Medicaid and the military, as well as raising the age for Medicare eligibility and slowing the increase of Social Security benefits, all of which appear to be on the table in negotiations. Majorities call each of these items 'unacceptable.'”

Brad DeLong explains chained CPI: "'Chained-CPI' is code for 'let's really impoverish some women in their 90s!' It's a bad policy. It should be off the table. Failing to extend the payroll tax cut is bad policy. It should be off the table. Failing to boost infrastructure spending is bad policy. It should be off the table. This deal would still be on the table in January. And odds are Obama could get a much better deal than this come January."

Paul Krugman: "Those cuts are a very bad thing, although there will supposedly be some protection for low-income seniors.... We shouldn’t be doing benefit cuts at all; but if benefit cuts are the price of a deal that is better than no deal, much better that they involve the CPI adjustment than the retirement age. But is this rumored deal better than no deal? I’m on the edge."

CW: Who doesn't like the idea of 90-year-old widows paying for corporate tax breaks? Let's hope the AARP has something to say about that.

** Reid Wilson of the National Journal: "Republicans alarmed at the apparent challenges they face in winning the White House are preparing an all-out assault on the Electoral College system in critical states, an initiative that would significantly ease the party's path to the Oval Office. Senior Republicans say they will try to leverage their party's majorities in Democratic-leaning states in an effort to end the winner-take-all system of awarding electoral votes. Instead, bills that will be introduced in several Democratic states would award electoral votes on a proportional basis.... Senior Republicans in Washington are overseeing legislation in [Michigan, Pennslyvania & Wisconsin] to end the winner-take-all system." ...

... Charles Pierce: Republicans "have largely given up on persuading a majority of American voters that their ideas matter, or that they are the best choice to lead the entire country.... They are not planning on adapting to a changing country. What they're planning is to change the system of presidential elections so that they never have to do so."

CW: when I saw the artwork to the left in a Google search, I assumed it was meant to be ironical. Not at all. This is the logo of a company called Modern Musket. Its stated "philosophy" begins, "So-called 'assault weapons' bans pose the greatest threat to Second Amendment freedoms. These bans place prohibitions on many common, semi-automatic firearms solely because of their appearance and their ergonomic and cosmetic features." It is people like whoever is behind Modern Musket who are determining gun policy in this country. Basta.

** This Bloomberg News Editorial advocating for gun-control legislation is the most powerful I've read.

Debbie Wilgoren, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Obama on Monday began the first serious push of his administration to attempt to reduce gun violence, directing Cabinet members to begin formulating a set of proposals that could include an effort to reinstate a ban on assault rifles. The effort will be led by Vice President Biden...." Congressional Democrats, including those with strong pro-gun records like Sens. Harry Reid (Nevada) & Mark Warner (Virginia), are urging action. "Republicans remained largely silent...." ...

The fact is that Democrats have been paralyzed on this issue for fear of losing voters they have already lost; and after an election in which Obama won only one-third of white men, the constituency most resistant to gun control, and still won a solid victory, the party's paralysis doesn't make much sense electorally. -- Ron Brownstein of the National Journal ...

... Fucile Non Grata, 1. Mark Scott of the New York Times: "The private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management said on Tuesday that it would sell its investment in the gunmaker Freedom Group in response to the school shootings last week in Connecticut. Cerberus acquired Bushmaster — the manufacturer of the rifle used by the gunman in the Newtown attacks that killed 27 people, including 20 schoolchildren — in 2006." Via Greg Sargent. ...

... Fucile Non Grata, 2. Susan Candiotti of CNN: "Dick's Sporting Goods, one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the world, says it has removed all guns from its store nearest to Newtown, Connecticut, and is suspending the sale of certain kinds of semi-automatic rifles from its chains nationwide." Via Greg Sargent. ...

... Nate Silver: "... Republicans are more likely to own guns than Democrats. But the differences have become much starker in recent years, with gun ownership having become a powerful predictor of political behavior.... America is an outlier relative to other industrialized nations in its gun ownership rates. Whatever makes this country so different from the rest of the world must surely be reflected in the differences in how Democrats and Republicans see the nation."

... Jon Cohen & Peyton Craighill of the Washington Post: "In a major reversal, a slim majority of Americans see the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary as a sign of broader problems in society, not merely an isolated act of a troubled individual, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.... However, beyond broad opinion change in assessments of the cause, few underlying opinions about gun control have shifted significantly in the immediate aftermath of the latest shooting." ...

... For those of you who, like me, know very little about guns, Brad Plumer of the Washington Post takes "a look at what the 1994 [assault weapons ban] actually did, where it failed, and whether it could be reworked to significantly reduce gun violence." (The ban expired in 2004 & the Republican Congress did not renew it.) ...

... Nicholas Confessore, et al., of the New York Times on the power, policies & tactics of the NRA. CW: This is a largely impressionistic piece, long on anecdotes & short on evidence, but it gives you a good idea of the hopes & dreams of the NRA leadership.

... I must owe my proposal to control ammo sales to Chris Rock:

... Whither the NRA? Chris Boyette of CNN: since the Newtown killings, "... the National Rifle Association has remained conspicuously silent. As of Monday evening the largest and most powerful gun-rights lobbying group in the U.S. had not posted anything to its website since Friday morning.... The NRA's Facebook page has been deactivated, and visitors are redirected to a bare-bones page where comments are disabled.... Its Twitter account, which typically posts several times a day, also has been quiet." ...

... Gabriel Sherman of New York: Rupert Murdoch is a gun-control advocate, but his Fox "News" network is not: "... David Clark, the executive producer in charge of Fox’s weekend coverage, gave producers instructions not to talk about gun-control policy on air. 'This network is not going there,' Clark wrote one producer on Saturday night.... The directive created a rift inside the network."

Local News

Here's Charles Pierce on Rep. Tim Scott, Gov. Nikki Haley's pick to replace Sen. Jim DeMint: Scott is "wingnuttier than DeMint ever thought of being, and DeMint thought of being pretty damned wingnutty." CW: I would suspect a GOP conspiracy to find an African-American who makes African-Americans look nutty if not for the fact that South Carolina Dim-o-crats ran African-American Alvin Greene, who had recently been indicted on an obscenity charge, against DeMint in 2010. Greene's economic development plan was to manufacture & sell Alvin Greene action figures.

Paul Egan of the Detriot Free Press: "An apparent loophole in a gun bill passed during the Legislature's lame duck session means public schools would not be able to stop licensed gun holders with advanced training from carrying guns on school property in Michigan. Senate Bill 59 was passed late Thursday by the Republican-controlled Legislature and is on the desk of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who is mulling whether to sign or veto it."

Kentucky Republicans Prefer Candidate Who Is Worse than America's Least Popular Senator. Henry Decker of the National Memo: "According to Public Policy Polling’s latest Kentucky survey, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is now the least popular senator in America. The poll finds that only 37 percent of Kentucky voters approve of McConnell, while 55 percent disapprove.... Despite McConnell’s deep unpopularity, PPP finds that he is a good bet to be re-elected.... McConnell’s greatest threat may come from within his own party...; only 50 percent of Republican primary voters want McConnell to be their nominee, while 35 percent would prefer a 'more conservative' alternative.... He remains quite vulnerable to a Tea Party challenge."