The Commentariat -- Jan, 15, 2014

Peter Baker & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "President Obama will issue new guidelines on Friday to curtail government surveillance, but will not embrace the most far-reaching proposals of his own advisers and will ask Congress to help decide some of the toughest issues, according to people briefed on his thinking. Mr. Obama plans to increase limits on access to bulk telephone data, call for privacy safeguards for foreigners and propose the creation of a public advocate to represent privacy concerns at a secret intelligence court. But he will not endorse leaving bulk data in the custody of telecommunications firms, nor will he require court permission for all so-called national security letters seeking business records." ...

... David Sanger & Thom Shanker of the New York Times: "The National Security Agency has implanted software in nearly 100,000 computers around the world that allows the United States to conduct surveillance on those machines and can also create a digital highway for launching cyberattacks. While most of the software is inserted by gaining access to computer networks, the N.S.A. has increasingly made use of a secret technology that enables it to enter and alter data in computers even if they are not connected to the Internet, according to N.S.A. documents, computer experts and American officials.... In most cases, the radio frequency hardware must be physically inserted by a spy, a manufacturer or an unwitting user." CW: Every time my laptop freezes up, I'm going to call BestBuy & scream at the geek-spy who implanted radio waves in my brain computer. ...

... Mike Masnick of TechDirt: "... these activities certainly seem more in line with what you'd expect the NSA to be doing, and raise (yet again) the question of why the NSA needs to 'collect it all' when it appears that programs like these can be quite effective in doing targeted surveillance against those actually seeking to attack the US in some manner?"

Craig Whitlock & Craig Timberg of the Washington Post: "Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are increasingly borrowing border-patrol drones for domestic surveillance operations, newly released records show, a harbinger of what is expected to become the commonplace use of unmanned aircraft by police. Customs and Border Protection, which has the largest U.S. drone fleet of its kind outside the Defense Department, flew nearly 700 such surveillance missions on behalf of other agencies from 2010 to 2012...." CW: Hollywood stars should see TMZ dronecams peeking in their windows any day now. ...

... Adam Silverman of the Burlington (Vermont) Free Press: "The National Security Agency's director, responding to questions from independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, says the government is not spying on Congress. But a two-page letter from Army Gen. Keith Alexander to Sanders goes on to state that the agency can make no guarantee that representatives or senators have not had their 'telephone metadata' caught up in broad government sweeps."

Our Congress at Work

Burgess Everett of Politico: "The Senate blocked two separate proposals to revive emergency unemployment benefits that expired in December, all but killing the prospects of reviving jobless aid for now. The chamber voted 52-48 to reject a bill that would have extended benefits through November and pay for it by extending the sequester's mandatory spending cuts into 2024. A different measure to extend the aid for three months -- without a pay-for -- was defeated 55-45. Both measures needed 60 votes to advance."

Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post "called out some of the more notable and controversial elements" in the $1.1 trillion spending bill:

The bill ... bars the State Department from closing the chancery at the U.S. Embassy in the Holy See and merging it with the one at the U.S. Embassy in Rome for security reasons, a project first pushed by George W. Bush's administration. -- Ed O'Keefe ...

God is in the details. -- Anonymous

Despite the concern over security after the 2012 attack on the United States Mission in Benghazi, Libya, the spending bill earmarks less to embassy security, construction and maintenance than it allotted for fiscal 2013 -- $2.67 billion, down by $224 million. -- Jonathan Weisman, New York Times ...

That isn't a line-item. It's a punchline. -- Charles Pierce

Edward Wyatt of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out Federal Communications Commission rules that require Internet service providers to give all traffic equal access through their networks. The decision could pave the way for Internet service providers like Verizon and AT&T to charge content companies -- say ESPN or Facebook -- to deliver their data to consumers at a faster speed." ...

... Wyatt has more on the ruling here. ...

... Charles Pierce: "The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia appears pretty much to have decided that any attempt by this particular executive branch to regulate anything ever is prima facie unconstitutional.... I think that first sentence may be the only explanation necessary for this ruling. The FCC is going to fight the ruling, as it should, and good for it. But, at the moment, Internet is sliding toward pay-for-play because, I suppose, freedom."

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "Faced with a recalcitrant Congress and a constrained budget, President Obama and his top aides are increasingly working to mobilize an outside coalition of corporate, nonprofit and academic groups to promote White House economic and social policies. The strategy will be on display Thursday as the White House holds a summit with more than 100 college and university presidents, who will promise to enroll more low-income students and ensure that they graduate. This month, the administration also will sponsor a session for corporations that pledge to hire the long-term unemployed."

Screw the Workers. Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "... the kind of free-trade deal embodied by NAFTA ... and the Trans-Pacific Partnership ... increase the incomes of Americans investing abroad even as they diminish the incomes of Americans working at home.... There are ways that a developed nation can trade with the developing world without gutting its own economy. Germany has been able to protect its workers through the advantage of having the euro as its currency, by requiring its corporations to give their employees a major say in their companies' investment decisions and by embracing a form of capitalism in which shareholders don't play a major role.... Absent such reforms ... trade deals will only negate our attempts to diminish inequality." ...

... Screw the Environment. Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Obama administration is retreating from previous demands of strong international environmental protections in order to reach agreement on a sweeping Pacific trade deal that is a pillar of President Obama's strategic shift to Asia, according to documents obtained by WikiLeaks, environmentalists and people close to the contentious trade talks."

Conservatives Are Liars, Ctd. John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "Conservatives often regard the government's anti-poverty programs as failures. But new measurements show that they are wrong."

AFP: "Senator Rand Paul will introduce legislation Tuesday to finally bring Washington's Iraq war authorization to an end, his office said, and the White House backs the Republican's efforts in principle."

Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "The Obama administration announced Tuesday that it was again extending the ObamaCare enrollment deadline for people with pre-existing conditions. The administration said it will extend the Pre-Existing Conditions Insurance Plan (PCIP), slated to end January 31, until March 15." ...

... Ezra Klein: "The risk of a[n ObamaCare] 'death spiral' is over." Klein explains why.

Kevin Liptak of CNN: "President Barack Obama plans to soon meet with Pope Francis for the first time. Secretary of State John Kerry said the President was 'looking forward' to visiting the popular new leader of the Roman Catholic Church at the Vatican.... The White House said it had no specific travel announcements to make...."

Congressional Races

Alex Eisenstadt of Politico: "Former lobbyist David Jolly on Tuesday won the Republican primary in the special election for a vacant Florida congressional seat, vaulting him into a nationally watched battle with Democrat Alex Sink for the right to succeed the late GOP Rep. Bill Young. With 96 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press, Jolly led with 44.6 percent of the vote.... Sink glided to her party's nomination unscathed."

Jake Sherman & John Bresnahan of Politico: "Virginia Democratic Rep. Jim Moran will retire after 23 years in the House, according to multiple Democratic sources. The retirement is the third for Democrats this week: On Monday, California Rep. George Miller said he would leave Congress after 40 years and New York Rep. Bill Owens announced Tuesday he would forgo reelection in 2014."

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Since September, Americans for Prosperity, a group financed in part by the billionaire Koch brothers, has spent an estimated $20 million on television advertising that calls out House and Senate Democrats by name for their support of the Affordable Care Act. The unusually aggressive early run of television ads, which has been supplemented by other conservative initiatives, has gone largely unanswered, and strategists in both parties agree it is taking a toll on its targets."

Local News

Juliet Eilperin: "A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Oklahoma's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, the latest in a string of recent court decisions that have challenged such state prohibitions. The decision by U.S. District Judge Terence Kernis stayed pending appeal, meaning marriages will not take place immediately in Oklahoma."

Jenna Portnoy of the Star-Ledger: "In his fourth State of the State address [Tuesday, New Jersey] Gov. Chris Christie called for a longer school day for New Jersey students, and hinted that he will push for another round of pension reform. Christie only briefly touched on the George Washington Bridge controversy, saying 'mistakes were clearly made,' but pledged to push forward with his agenda." The full text is here. ...

... Ted Mann of the Wall Street Journal: "Gov. Chris Christie was with [David Wildstein,] the official who arranged the closure of local lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 11, 2013 -- the third day of the closures, and well after they had triggered outrage from local officials beset by heavy traffic.... Also present with Mr. Christie that day were Bill Baroni, the authority's deputy executive director, who was helping Mr. Wildstein manage the fallout from the closures among local officials, subpoenaed documents show. Also there was David Samson, the Port Authority chairman and close Christie ally...." ...

... Bob Jordan of the Asbury Park Press: "Chris Christie says he had no role in the planning of last year's $25 million 'Stronger Than the Storm' advertising campaign, but a bidder says staff officials made it clear the Republican governor should star in the TV commercials. At oral presentations for bidders on March 15, state officials 'inquired if we would be open to featuring the governor in the ads,' said Shannon Morris, president of Sigma Group of Oradell. 'They stated an interest. They asked us about using the governor,' Morris told the Asbury Park Press, adding that officials 'didn't ask us about anybody else as a subject.'"

... David Chen of the New York Times talks to friends & co-workers of Bridget Kelly: "Several Trenton political operatives said that Ms. Kelly, having paid her dues, became more brusque after being elevated to Mr. Christie's inner circle. She stopped mingling with lobbyists and other staff members, and, they suggested, she seemed to relish teaming up with [Christie campaign manager Bill] Stepien in administering political payback." CW: In other words, mostly bullshit "impressions." ...

... CW.: Looks as if we're about to hear that Stepien put Kelly up to ordering the lane closings. Maybe he did. That would at least make some sense. In his marathon presser, Christie claimed he let Stepien go because, "I was disturbed by the tone and behavior and attitude of callous indifference that was displayed in the emails by my former campaign manager, Bill Stepien. And reading that, it made me lose my confidence in Bill's judgment." It seems likely that Christie also knew Stepien was implicated in Bridgegate far beyond his "tone." ...

... Steve M. takes on a couple of stupid Christie apologists -- Charlie Cook & Michael Gerson.

Attacked by Lethal Bag of Popcorn. Josh Marshall of TPM: "We have the latest development in the national joke known as 'Stand Your Ground' gun laws. The murderous jerk who killed a man in a Tampa theater [Monday] because he wouldn't stop texting may be planning to use a 'stand your ground' defense. Curtis Reeves, Jr., a retired police captain says he feared for his life after the victim 'assaulted' him with a bag of movie popcorn."

News Ledes

New York Times: "New York City will pay nearly $18 million to settle civil rights lawsuits filed on behalf of roughly 1,600 people who claimed they were wrongfully swept up in mass arrests during the 2004 Republican National Convention, lawyers for the city and plaintiffs said on Wednesday. Many of those arrested during the convention, at which President George W. Bush was nominated for a second term, were detained in filthy cells with poor air quality in a former bus depot on a Hudson River pier, according to a complaint filed in the case. They included protesters, journalists and bystanders who were trapped on the sidewalk by police officers using mesh nets, according to the complaint."

AP: "The company responsible for the chemical spill in West Virginia moved its chemicals to a nearby plant that has already been cited for safety violations, including a backup containment wall with holes in it, and state officials may force the company to move the chemicals elsewhere. Inspectors on Monday found five safety violations at Freedom Industries' storage facility in Nitro, about 10 miles from the spill site in Charleston."

Bill Keller's Bully Pulpit

Last week Emma Keller, the wife of New York Times columnist and former Times executive editor Bill Keller, wrote a post for the Guardian about Lisa Adams, a young Connecticut mother who has been tweeting for years about her breast cancer treatment and the ways she has been dealing with her illness. Adams' cancer metastasized in 2012, and she has been receiving palliative treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York, where she has also assisted and advocated for research efforts. Emma Keller questioned Adams' approach. As Greg Miller of the Nation explains,

Emma Keller compares it to a 'Reality TV show.' She complains that Adams posted an update on her condition that morning and then had the nerve to post another one just hours later -- and wonders if her too-many tweets are 'a grim equivalent of deathbed selfies.' And she charges: 'You can put a "no visitors sign" on the door of your hospital room, but you welcome the world into your orbit and describe every last Fentanyl patch.'

Keller also asked, "Should there be boundaries in this kind of experience? Is there such a thing as TMI?" (too much information). In fact, as Hamilton Nolan of Gawker pointed out last week, Emma Keller tried to couch her criticisms as rhetorical questions.

Readers weren't impressed. Responses to Emma's post were understandably harsh, and the Guardian -- in a rare move -- deleted Keller's post with Lisa Adams' consent because, the editors wrote, the post was "inconsistent with The Guardian editorial code." Later the editors wrote that the post had "been removed pending investigation," perhaps because Emma Keller had published, without Adams' consent or knowledge, personal e-mails between the Adams and Keller. Keller apologized for this aspect of her post, which Daniel D'Addario of Salon characterizes as "a breach of ethics of a high order," but not for its content, which researcher Zeynep Tufekci writes, "also greatly misrepresented what was happening with Lisa Adams."

There is a certain sick irony in Emma Keller's complaints about Adams. Keller herself had a double mastectomy and wrote in September that not having to go through radiation and chemotherapy (as Adams has) filled her with guilt. Keller wrote in the September Guardian post,

What I've learnt over the past year or so is that those whose lives are upended by breast cancer are constantly hunting for information about how to live with it. The best way I can contribute is to help inform.

To that end, Emma Keller hosted three Guardian live chats. So breast cancer patients are "constantly hunting for information about how to live with it," and Adams is daily relating how she lives with her advanced-stage cancer. Adams' Twitter account has quite a following, so presumably many people appreciate the "information" she provides. But. As far as I can tell, Emma Keller thinks that she should be the arbiter of taste as to how people confront their illnesses, and she should be the conduit for dispensing just "the right amount" of information.

One supposes Emma Keller would be chastened by the criticisms of her post. Maybe she was and has simply declined to say so. But comes now husband Bill Keller to her defense -- and to the offense of Lisa Adams and most of the rest of us.

Bill Keller used his platform at the New York Times to contrast Lisa Adams' "fierce and very public cage fight" with his elderly "father-in-law's calm death.... His death seemed to me a humane and honorable alternative to the frantic medical trench warfare that often makes an expensive misery of death in America." By contrast, Bill Keller writes, "Adams is the standard-bearer for an approach to cancer that honors the warrior, that may raise false hopes, and that, implicitly, seems to peg patients like my father-in-law as failures." Keller mocks Adams, suggesting she is a foolish woman who, in a "morphine haze," can't face the fact that she is dying: "Lisa Adams is still alive, still blogging, and insists she is not dying, but the blog has become less about prolonging her survival and more about managing her excruciating pain. Her poetry has become darker.... I cannot imagine Lisa Adams reaching a point where resistance gives way to acceptance." He goes on to describe just how sick she is. He seems to be rooting for the Grim Reaper.

The responses to Bill and Emma Keller's attacks on Adams were swift. Greg Mitchell records some of the early tweeted responses. The Huffington Post has more. "... what's really undignified here is a married couple idly trashing a woman with Stage 4 cancer because they have a notion of what is the proper way to die," Daniel D'Addario writes.

They seem to believe that Ms Adams is being a diva, not just for tweeting about her illness but for her desire to struggle against the disease to the very end. They advise that she should go gently into this good night instead -- much as an elderly person who has reached the natural end of his life evidently. That these privileged jerks should even venture an opinion about how someone else should deal with a life-threatening illness reveals exactly what's so wrong with our elites. It really is all about them -- even how we should die. -- Digby

Zeynep Tufekci describes Bill Keller's post as

... what I can only call cancer-shaming: Don't tweet so much. He also pretty much calls on Adams to accept her fate 'with grace and courage,' quoting someone who 'perused' Adams' blog, directly implying that Lisa Adams is neither graceful nor courageous.... Both Kellers miss every point Lisa Adams makes -- and write articles unrelated to her actual experience, or the community around her.... Emma Keller's ... piece … is about Emma G. Keller's existential anxieties....

Bill Keller, on the other hand, has something he wants to say about how end of life is perhaps unwisely prolonged in small, painful increments with massive technological intervention in this country, so he projects this situation to Lisa Adams -- except that is not applicable in this case....

Bill Keller's piece is worse [than his wife's] in other ways because instead of trying to understand why his wife's piece drew such ire, he furthers the misunderstandings which are not just wrong, but are hurtful to a gravely ill person who is not yet dead, thank you very much. Also, Bill Keller has a huge platform so he should have spent more time actually researching the piece rather than what seems like an ill-advised rush to defend his wife.

Read Tufekci's whole post. He outlines everything the Kellers got wrong about Lisa Adams. Which is, well, everything.

Molly O'Reilly writes in Commonweal: Bill Keller "seems not to have thought for very long about how a mother with kids at home, however many there are, might legitimately approach her diagnosis differently than an elderly man like his father-in-law, whose choices Keller believes are dishonored by Adams's."

... the Keller family has written a bang-up pair of obituaries for her, if obituaries were think pieces about their writers. -- Hamilton Nolan

Margaret Sullivan, the Times' public editor, who emphasizes that it is "not my job" to critique columnists' opinions, nevertheless criticizes Keller for "issues ... of tone and sensitivity." Sullivan also cites proofs that Keller was unfamiliar with Adams' writings and of her personal history. Sullivan strongly implies Keller didn't know WTF he was writing about: "Mr. Keller's views here fall within what journalists would call 'fair comment' only to the extent that they are based on facts," she writes circumspectly.

Keller himself is not repentant for using, misrepresenting and abusing Adams. He suggests to Margaret Sullivan that many readers aren't very smart; they "misread my point, and some -- the most vociferous -- seem to believe that anything short of an unqualified 'right on, Lisa!' is inhumane or sacrilegious." To justify his attack, he pretends that Lisa Adams is a public figure, thus a legitimate target: "By living her disease in such a public way, by turning her hospital room into a classroom, she invites us to think about and debate some big, contentious issues." He denies that he and his wife "slammed" Adams.

Molly O'Reilly responds to Keller's self-defense,

Here I thought we'd have to wait till next week for Bill Keller to issue an 'I'm the real victim here, but I'm being big about it' nonresponse to his many critics, but Sullivan got it out of him before the day was out. Let's see, patting himself on the back for having 'touched a nerve'? Check. Smug disparagement of Twitter as a venue for response? Check. Why, it's almost as though he doesn't feel the least bit accountable to either readers or the actual facts.

Despite Keller's attempts to cast her as such, Lisa Adams is not a public figure. She is a private individual who has chosen to share her private thoughts. Her reasons for doing so are multiple. As Meghan O'Rourke of the New Yorker remarks, Lisa Adams "may be allowing us to overhear her decisions, but she is not asking us to callously debate them as if she were not still here."

That doesn't mean one can never ridicule or criticize private citizens. I do it occasionally, as when a bunch of wealthy people claimed "hardship" that they had to pay a little more for health insurance. You don't have to be a genius to see the difference between, say, wealthy whiners and people suffering genuine hardship. Neither must you be an excessively sensitive or thoughtful person to know it is heartless and cruel to disparage a person who is coping with debilitating illness. You don't have to approve of her methods of coping, but if you don't, you keep your mouth shut and wish her well. You offer what support you can. You let her know you're on her side. You offer encouragement, sympathy, empathy. That's not extraordinary; it's common decency. Almost everybody gets that and practices it.

A bully is a person who picks on people with less power than he. Bill Keller is a bully. He used Lisa Adams to promote his wife's work when he wrote approvingly of Emma's writing about Lisa Adams and linked to Emma's (now-deleted) post. Bill Keller misrepresented Lisa Adams' personal situation and her writings. And he abused her in other ways I've tried to outline above. That he did all this from the heights of his bully pulpit at perhaps the world's most prestigious big media outlet, that he did this to a private citizen who is struggling with illness and whom his wife had already decked, is unconscionable. I'll give Digby the last word:

Why would they think that using their perches at the top of the media food chain to bully some poor woman who is dealing with a deadly disease is even slightly appropriate? It's just bizarre.

Note: Below, I am reposting earlier comments on Bill Keller's column. Thanks to Barbarossa for bringing Keller's column to our attention.

The Commentariat -- Jan, 14, 2014

Internal links removed.

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: " House and Senate negotiators reached accord on a trillion-dollar spending plan that will finance the government through September, reversing some cuts to military veterans' pensions that were included in a broader budget agreement last month and defeating efforts to rein in President Obama's health care law. The hefty bill, filed in the House on Monday night, neutralized almost all of the 134 policy provisions that House Republicans had hoped to include...."

Lisa Mascaro of the Los Angeles Times: "Votes are set for Tuesday in the Senate on the jobless aid package as a small group of key Republican senators emerged as a potential voting block that could form a coalition for compromise with Democrats. The nine senators, who made a new proposal late Monday, have publicly split with those hard-line conservatives in their party who see jobless aid as a handout that provides a disincentive to work.... But Democrats were cool to the proposal because they want to guarantee benefits for a longer duration, perhaps a year. Moreover, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been reluctant to open the debate to a freewheeling amendment process out of concern that Republicans will offer partisan proposals on Obamacare or other topics...."

Bad News for the GOP Christie Defense. Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "F.B.I. investigators do not believe Internal Revenue Service officials committed crimes in the unusually heavy scrutiny of conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status, a law enforcement official said Monday.... I.R.S. documents show the agency gave the same scrutiny to some liberal groups, using the key words 'Progressive' and 'Occupy.' The news that criminal charges are unlikely is not expected to stop the debate over whether politics had motivated the I.R.S. scrutiny." CW: Because Darrell Issa has never let facts get in the way of a righteous witch hunt.

Bad News for Presidential Power. Lyle Denniston of ScotusBlog: "Seeming a bit troubled about allowing the Senate to have an on-off switch on the president's power to temporarily fill vacant government posts, the Supreme Court on Monday indicated that it may yet allow just that. Even some of the Justices whose votes the government almost certainly needs to salvage an important presidential power were more than skeptical."

Michael Shear & Robert Pear of the New York Times: "People signing up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's federal and state marketplaces tend to be older and potentially less healthy, officials said Monday, a demographic mix that could threaten the law's economic underpinnings and cause premiums to rise in the future if the pattern persists." ...

... Alex Wayne & Mike Dorning or Bloomberg News: "The U.S. government said it would ramp up Obamacare outreach in 25 cities to lure younger people to the program after a report showed about 70 percent of the initial customers are 35 years of age or older."

Ana Marie Cox of the Guardian: The West Virginia chemical spill is "likely a bigger scandal than Bridgegate.... Both are environmental policy stories. And they both speak to the costs of letting shortsighted, local economy goals trump more global concerns. The traffic on the George Washington Bridge is, in part, as bad as it is because of the antiquated rail service between New York and New Jersey. The system needs the exact sort of overhaul that Christie scuttled as one of his first acts in office.... One sure way to foil traffic vigilantes of the future, after all, would be to deny them a hostage." ...

... Erica Martinson of Politico: "The coal-processing chemical that cut off the water supply to 300,000 West Virginians is one of tens of thousands of potentially hazardous substances that have fallen through a decades-old loophole in federal regulations, leaving authorities with little information on what dangers it poses.... The problem is that there is 'no publicly available health and safety information for the vast majority of chemicals on the market,' said Andy Igrejas, director of advocacy group Safer Chemicals Healthy Families. 'And that's clearly the case with this spill.'”

Mark Landler & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "With the United States and Iran about to embark on a critical phase of nuclear talks, President Obama is waging an intense rear-guard action to prevent Senate Democrats from supporting strict new sanctions that could upend his diplomatic efforts. Sponsors of the bill, which would aim to drive Iran's oil exports down to zero, have secured the backing of 59 senators, putting them within striking distance of a two-thirds majority that could override Mr. Obama's threatened veto. Republicans overwhelmingly support the bill. So far 16 Democrats have broken with the president, and the bill's sponsors hope to get more." ...

... USA Today Editors: The "Iran sanctions bill makes no sense. Passing it virtually guarantees ... a quick path to war.... It expresses 'the sense of Congress' that if Israel decides to attack Iran, the United States should provide military support. The provision doesn't quite outsource American war decisions to Israel; Congress would still need a second vote to turn its dubious 'sense' into action. But the implication is hard to miss."

Local News

Kate Zernicke of the New York Times: "... the day [Jersey City Mayor Steven] Fulop, a Democrat, relayed word that he could not endorse the governor..., Mr. Christie's commissioners themselves called to cancel [meetings with Mayor Fulop] -- most within the space of an hour -- leaving Jersey City needing to fill its budget without money from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, its requests for help with Hurricane Sandy recovery, transportation and other issues falling on deaf ears. Meanwhile, the Democratic mayor of Harrison, who endorsed Mr. Christie, got $250 million in Port Authority money for a new transit station. The mayor of Union City, another Democratic endorser, got an increase in state aid when bigger cities were being cut off, and $3 million in Port Authority money even though the authority does not operate there. The Democratic county executive in Essex County, who brought along other mayors and black pastors with his endorsement of Mr. Christie, got $7 million in Port Authority money for a park, $4 million in state aid for a vocational school, and personal assistance from Mr. Christie...." ...

... Shawn Boburg of the Bergen Record: "The prosecutor in Mercer County [incl. Trenton, N.J.] said Monday he is weighing whether to level a misdemeanor charge against a former Port Authority executive [David Wildstein] who clammed up at a legislative hearing in Trenton last week." ...

... Darryl Isherwood of NJ.com: "A new theory emerged this weekend on a possible target of the lane diversions at the George Washington Bridge that have spiraled into a full blown scandal. The theory, first postulated by MSNBC host Steve Kornacki, involves a massive development project in the heart of Fort Lee that sits quite literally in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge.... By diverting - or threatening to divert- those lanes, the value of the property and the burgeoning development would plummet.... The theory is bolstered by Christie himself who during a Dec. 2 press conference railed against the existence of the three dedicated local lanes in Fort Lee...." Both Chris Hayes & Rachel Maddow devoted segments of their shows last night to Kornacki's theory. ...

... George Packer of the New Yorker: "Christie ... is reminiscent of the President [Nixon] whose petty hatefulness destroyed him -- which is why, as NBC's newscaster said when signing off on an early report on that long-ago burglary, I don't think we've heard the last of this."

... Star-Ledger Editors: "Somehow, the right's response to Chris Christie's still-breaking Bridgegate scandal has devolved into this: Why are you writing about New Jersey traffic jams, because Benghazi!" The editors explain why one of these things -- Bridgegate -- is not like the others.

Mitt Romney is a better dancer than Karl Rove:

News Ledes

Los Angeles Times: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, "the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has written a rambling, deeply religious manifesto that suggests Muslims should not use violence to spread Islam -- a sharp departure from his earlier boasts of waging violent jihad against the U.S. and other non-Muslim nations."

Reuters: "A 12-year-old boy armed with a shotgun opened fire at a middle school in New Mexico on Tuesday, seriously wounding two students before a staff member persuaded him to put down the firearm, authorities said. The shooting at Berrendo Middle School in Roswell took place in a gym where students had gathered to stay warm from the frigid weather outside before the start of class, Governor Susana Martinez told reporters."

New York Times: "A State Department spokeswoman expressed outrage on Tuesday over a news report in which Israel's defense minister was said to have dismissed Secretary of State John Kerry's Middle East peace push as naïve and messianic."

New York Times: "Egyptians trundled to the polls on Tuesday for the third referendum in three years to approve a new constitution, this time to validate the military ouster of their first fairly elected president, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood."