The Commentariat -- Dec. 13, 2013

Required Viewing. Many thanks to James S. for the link:

If Bob Byrd Were Alive, He'd Die. Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: Members of the Senate currently are engaging in "an endurance contest to see who could be the most spiteful. As the sun rose on Friday, the Senators had worked through a second straight all-night session — called by Democrats as a way of retaliating for Republicans' delaying tactics on confirmations.... Democrats, hoping to make the situation so unpleasant for their colleagues across the aisle that they eventually break, are scheduling votes at all hours of the day and night. [Majority Leader Harry] Reid is threatening to refuse to let anyone go home until a backlog of dozens of nominees is gone -- even if that means spending Christmas Eve in the Capitol. Mr. Reid has votes planned through Saturday afternoon and will push through another battery of nominations next week, including some that would each require 30 hours of debate, like that of Janet L. Yellen to lead the Federal Reserve." CW: Give 'em hell, Harry. You're my Person of the Year.

Paul Kane & Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post: "The House overwhelmingly passed a 2-year bipartisan budget deal Thursday evening, possibly signaling a truce in the spending showdowns that have paralyzed Washington for the past three years. In their final action of the year, the House approved the budget 332 to 94, with 169 Republicans and 163 Democrats voting in favor, and 62 Republicans and 32 Democrats voting against. Earlier Thursday, lawmakers agreed unanimously to approve the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets military pay and policy, and to extend current agricultural policy after negotiators failed to complete a new Farm Bill." ...

... Cameron Joseph of the Hill: "Six of the eight House Republicans running for the Senate on Thursday voted against the budget deal.... Reps. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.), top Republican Senate recruits who don't appear to face any threats in a primary, both voted against it, as did a trio of Georgia Republicans facing off in a crowded GOP primary: Reps. Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey and Jack Kingston. Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas), who just announced a primary challenge to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), also voted against the bill.... The only Republicans running for the Senate who backed the budget bill were Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who is seeking to challenge Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), running for an open seat." ...

... Andy Sullivan of Reuters: "Congress is poised to nearly halve the salary cap for U.S. government contractors after years of dramatic increases driven by skyrocketing executive pay. A broad budget bill that won approval by the House of Representatives on Thursday would lower the cap to $487,000 a person, down from its current level of $952,000. The Senate is expected to pass the bill next week. The measure would be a partial victory for the White House, which for years has sought to rein in contractor reimbursements that fund salary and other personnel costs. In May, the White House proposed limiting the reimbursement level to $400,000 a person -- the amount Barack Obama earns as president." ...

... Susan Cornwell of Reuters: "The bitter ideological feud tearing at the Republican Party boiled over on Thursday as the U.S. Congress considered a bipartisan budget deal with angry recriminations between the Republicans' top elected leader and the powerful conservative organizations that have been tormenting him for years." Speaker Boehner takes another whack at "the far right":

     ... Greg Sargent: "There's some choice hilarity here. Boehner says conservative groups 'pushed' Republicans into the destructive government shutdown fight. You'd almost think he was some kind of passive, helpless onlooker, rather than, you know, the leader of House Republicans. Also, as you may recall, Boehner actively wanted Republicans to make a stand around the debt ceiling, which, if anything, was crazier than the shutdown standoff."...

     ... Jed Lewison of Daily Kos: "If Boehner wants people to believe that something has really changed, then why are they blocking a vote on extending emergency unemployment insurance? Why aren't they allowing a vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act? What about immigration reform? Why, in the very same press conference, did he once again talk about repealing Obamacare and getting to the bottom of Benghazi? Boehner wants the media to believe the GOP has changed -- that it's become grown up and responsible. They might report what he wants, but for it to be true, he needs to deliver more than press conference theatrics -- he needs to deliver substantive change."

... Ginger Gibson of Politico: "House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told Democratic House members at a meeting Thursday morning to 'embrace the suck' and encouraged enough members to back the budget deal on the floor to allow passage...." ...

... Paul Krugman: "One of the truly remarkable things about American political discourse at the end of 2013 is the fixed conviction among many conservatives that the Obama era has been one of enormous growth in government.... the actual numbers show that over the past three years we've been living through an era of unprecedented government downsizing.... These harsh cuts ... were unnecessary..., the cuts did huge short-term economic damage ... [and] a long-term degradation of our prospects, reinforced by the corrosive effects of sustained high unemployment." ...

... Gene Robinson sees House Republicans' acquiescence on a budget deal as a wake-up call for Democrats to buff up their "vision": "If the Republican Party really intends to get back in the game, voters will be presented with two competing visions of how to move the nation forward -- instead of one vision and one cartoon. If the progressive vision is to prevail, it needs to be fresh, vivid and clearly relevant to the moment. Same-old, same-old used to be good enough. It's not anymore."

... Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "The manufacturing sector has experienced a modest renaissance since it hit bottom during the Great Recession.... Wages, however, are falling. Although the average wage for all workers, adjusted for inflation, has declined by about 1 percent since May 2009, Bloomberg reported, it has declined by 3percent for workers in the more-profitable-than-ever manufacturing sector.... If laws are not changed to enable workers to form unions without fear of being fired, the battle for higher median, not just minimum, wages will eventually be fought in the legislative arena as well." Meyerson relates Boeing's anti-worker activities, made more egregious by the fact that Boeing doesn't have to worry about competition as do some manufacturers.

Beutler's Gallery of Morons: Jennifer Rubin, Ron Fournier & Mark Halperin.... Brian Beutler of Salon: "Obama's shutdown critics look like morons after budget deal. Back in August and September ... most conservatives, and several allies of convenience in the mainstream media, argued that Obama needed to get his hands dirty and negotiate a settlement of both issues, even if it meant paying a modest ransom to the GOP. That his refusal to be extorted, to haggle over the terms of his own surrender -- to say nothing of his prior inability to strike a grand bargain with the same hostage-taking party -- amounted to a failure of leadership.... On the merits the Murray-Ryan plan should have been just as acceptable in September as it is now. But Republicans weren't temperamentally prepared for it then. And it's only happening now because Obama refused to be extorted into accepting a GOP-authored plan...." ...

... Charles Pierce on "the rehabilitation of Paul Ryan." Pierce notes, as I did, that the New York Times is cooperating magnificently in this effort. So is Patty Murray, Pierce says. But this is the graf every schoolchild should learn, lest s/he grow up & vote for the Reptilius Wisconsinitus:

Paul Ryan has not changed a single one of the core beliefs, or the policy prescriptions, that Joe Biden laughed off the stage in their debate last year. He still wants to privatize Social Security. He still wants to voucherize Medicare and eliminate Medicaid. He still bristles inwardly with contempt for everyone on any kind of public assistance -- except, of course, for the young Paul Ryan, who went through college on my tax dollars. (You're welcome, dickhead.) He cooperated in this deal not because he believes government should function in order to do the most good for the most people, but because the entire national economic debate is still being conducted largely on ground of his own choosing. He's learned nothing except patience.

AFP: " Twenty immigration reform activists ended a fourth week of fasting Thursday just steps from the US Capitol building, as they received support from top Democratic lawmakers." ...

... Julia Preston of the New York Times: "As the Republican-controlled House of Representatives wrapped up its work for the year on Thursday with no progress on immigration, leaders from both parties said they would return to the issue early in the new year.... Despite the biting chill, the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi of California, surrounded herself on the steps of the Capitol with dozens of Democratic lawmakers and with advocates who had been fasting in a tent on the National Mall to push the House to vote on an immigration bill." ...

... Reid Epstein of Politico: "Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that some of his ancestors came to the United States illegally and said it's fruitless to compare the immigration system of the 1800s to today's.... Biden ... called on House Speaker John Boehner to allow a vote on the comprehensive immigration reform bill the Senate passed in June."

Norm Ornstein in the Atlantic: "... the farm bill [is] the poster child for the state of dysfunction in Congress and American politics.... Despite facing the greatest drought since the Great Depression and broad and deep support for a bill in the Senate, the House managed to reach new depths of dysfunctional embarrassment when Majority Leader Eric Cantor singlehandedly blew up a delicate compromise forged by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas and ranking member Collin Peterson. Cantor decided to get behind a provision on the House floor aimed at cutting food stamps dramatically over 10 years; instituted punitive new work requirements; gave states financial incentive to drop eligible people from the food-stamp rolls; and took away states' flexibility over waivers of job-training provisions...."

David Sanger of the New York Times: "A presidential advisory committee charged with examining the operations of the National Security Agency has concluded that a program to collect data on every phone call made in the United States should continue, though under broad new restraints that would be intended to increase privacy protections...."

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar of the AP: "Anticipating more health care disruptions, the Obama administration Thursday announced a batch of measures intended to help consumers avoid lapses in their care and coverage as the president's overhaul takes effect in January. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also announced a one-month extension of a special insurance program created by the law for people who cannot get coverage because of health problems. Scheduled to expire at the end of the year,the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan will remain in place through January."

Edward Wyatt of the New York Times: "The Transportation Department said on Thursday that it would consider banning the use of cellphones for voice calls aboard airplanes, a reaction to public outrage at a Federal Communications Commission proposal to lift a rule that has long forbidden the use of mobile phones during flight. Still, consumers are likely to soon be able to text, check email and connect to the Internet on their cellphones while their flight is above 10,000 feet. The F.C.C. voted 3 to 2 to go ahead with its own measure to solicit comment on whether to repeal the rule on connected devices. But all five commissioners said they shared the public's doubts about such a change."

"Govern in Poetry." Tim Egan: "Today, wallowed in the worst slump of his presidency, President Obama should reach for some words that will outlive him. This guy can write and he can speak, but he's put those talents in a drawer for much of his presidency. In just the last few weeks, though, Obama has shown that his lyrical gifts could still get him off a road leading to yet another mediocre presidency. His speech on income inequality as the defining issue of the day, and the stirring words in the rain on behalf of Nelson Mandela ... showed what Obama can do when he's oratorically unleashed."

Madelaine Ostrander of Yes!, in Nation of Change, on the evolution of Bill McKibben from writer to activist.

David Remnick of the New Yorker on Russian oppression of gays. CW: What the Olympic games need is a gay Jesse Owens to show up Putin as Owens did Hitler. (This is not a Hitler analogy, John McCain; just an historical reference. There's a difference.) I hope every athlete will overtly show support for gay rights.

John Brenahan & Rachel Van Dongen of Politico: "Ryan Loskarn, the now ex-chief of staff for GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), appeared in federal court on Thursday after being arrested and charged with possessing and distributing child pornography. A nervous Loskarn, whose hands were visibly shaking, was detained as a flight risk and because he is a threat given his alleged crimes involving children.... It is unclear why it took federal agents almost three years to question or detains Loskarn after his name and address first emerged in a child pornography probe. The article describes some of the content retrieved from Loskarn's hard drive." ...

... Steven Nelson of US News: "A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court Thursday says Jesse Ryan Loskarn attempted to hide an external hard drive loaded with 'hundreds' of child porn videos when police knocked down his door with a battering ram.... The criminal complaint charging Loskarn with possession and distribution of child pornography offers graphic descriptions of children being sexually abused by older men in videos the longtime congressional aide possessed and shared."

Faux "News"

Charles Pierce: "Today's Washington Post -- which features an op-ed by kindly Doc Maddow, whom I hope managed to avoid getting any Thiessen on her in the process -- sends a heartfelt holiday greeting to Fox News news-reader Megyn Kelly. I would advise wearing a raincoat while reading it, however." The WashPo feature, by Dan Zak, is here. CW: Also, some of you may not want to miss the cheesecake slideshow, which is probably the actual purpose behind all the copy. ...

Yo, Megyn. Here's what forensic anthropologists say Jesus would have looked like.... Megan Kelly, Christian Scholar. Hadas Gold of Politico: "On Wednesday night Megyn Kelly declared on her Fox News show that both Santa Claus and Jesus were white.... Kelly said on Monday when she appeared on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,' 'I'm a straight news anchor, I'm not one of the opinion hosts.... The way we do it on the Fox News Channel is the straight news anchors like us give a hard time to both sides.' It seems as though there may be other things to debate that are 'straight news' beyond whether Santa and Jesus where white." CW: St. Nicholas was probably a Turk or an ethnic Greek, & Jesus is portrayed in the Gospels as a Semitic Jew, though there's little evidence either of them was a real person. Anyway, not Anglo-Saxons. ...

... Ed Kilgore: "It's probably appropriate that an anchor on the media network which annually gives us the maddening agitprop over the 'War On Christmas' has kicked up a stir by insisting that Jesus Christ and Santa Claus were (and presumably 'are' for believers) white folks, just like most Fox viewers.... It seems especially idiotic to claim a race for a mythical figure like Santa Claus.... The principal of absolute equality before God is a central principle of Christianity or at least forms of Christianity that haven't succumbed to the secularism (yes, that's what it is, folks) that associates the faith with cultural or political conservatism or the pride of white identity." ...

... This is the piece, by Aisha Harris in Slate, that set Kelly to explaining to all the Foxbot kids -- and she was addressing children -- that no matter what color you are, kiddies, Santa & Jesus are as white as Megyn. CW: See what you're missing by not watching Fox "News"? You could have found out that the imaginary Santa Claus is white. Definitely white. There are all kinds of racism, people. And sooner or later they will show off every kind over there at Fox "News." ...

... NEW. Jonathan Merritt of the Atlantic: "Setting aside the ridiculousness of creating rigidly racial depictions of a fictitious character that does not actually exist -- sorry, kids -- like Santa, Kelly has made a more serious error about Jesus. The scholarly consensus is actually that Jesus was, like most first-century Jews, probably a dark-skinned man. If he were taking the red-eye flight from San Francisco to New York today, Jesus might be profiled for additional security screening by TSA." ...

... NEW. Contributor P. D. Pepe points to this New Republic post which has some fairly wonderful portraits of Saint Nicholas & Jesus "which wouldn't make it on Fox News."

... CW UPDATE. I get all my news from the "Daily Show." This time I went with a hint from the show & found a Guardian story, detailing how a British facial reconstruction expert took the measurements of what is regarded as the skull of St. Nicholas & created a reconstruction that looks like the photo to the left. Now, let's compare the reconstruction to traditional images of St. Nick:

Top row: Russian icon, ca 1900; Forensic reconstruction/Anand Kapoor, 2004, used by permission; Russian icon, 2001 Bottom row: 19th century Russian icon; Russian painting, ca 1990; USA icon, 2000.     ... A right jolly old elf? Hardly. A white jolly old elf? Nope.

..

..

News Ledes

AP: "A Kansas man who prosecutors say sympathized with violent terrorists was arrested Friday as part of an FBI sting after he drove a vehicle loaded with what he thought were explosives to a Wichita airport. Investigators allege that Terry Lee Loewen planned to attack Wichita's Mid-Continent Regional airport in a plot aimed at supporting al-Qaida. Loewen, a 58-year-old avionics technician who worked at the airport for Hawker Beechcraft, was arrested before dawn as he tried to drive onto the tarmac." CW: I predict we're going to learn that NSA data sweeps led the FBI to Loewen.

Denver Post: "A student who carried a shotgun into Arapahoe High School [in Centenniel, Colorado, part of suburban Denver,] and asked where to find a specific teacher opened fire on Friday, wounding two fellow students before apparently killing himself, Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said."

Guardian: "Snow covers swaths of the Holy Land as storm Alexa continues to cause havoc across the Middle East. Meteorologists in Jerusalem said it was the worst storm to hit the city for 60 years, with snow reported to be 50cm deep in some areas." CW: A sure sign White Jesus is coming home. And meteorologists predict White Santa will land at Ben Gurion to give modest consolation gifts to the kids left behind.

The Commentariat -- Dec. 12, 2013

CW: It's difficult not to notice that a good portion of today's political news is bad news for Republicans. People thrilled with ObamaCare, people signing up to vote on the ACA Website, Senate confirmation of a "liberal" judge, GOP's women troubles, internecine squabbles battles over the budget deal, no legacies from the Bush era, Staten Island, the Pope dissing their BFFs, & a top aide arrested for distributing child porn.

Health Care Apartheid. David Lieb of the AP: "Newly released federal figures show more people are picking private insurance plans or being routed to Medicaid programs in states with Democratic leaders who have fully embraced the federal health care law than in states where Republican elected officials have derisively rejected what they call 'Obamacare.' ... Even though many conservative states have higher levels of poverty and more people without health coverage, fewer of them may receive new insurance...." CW: This is exactly what one would expect, but it's still depressing. And, yes, I live in one of those "conservative" states. ...

... Why Republicans Hate ObamaCare, Part 1. Maggie Fox of NBC News: "It took two months, weekly visits to the jammed-up federal website and a half-dozen phone calls, but JoAnn Smith finally got health insurance Monday. It'll only cost her $3.19 a month to cover herself and her husband. 'I just instantly burst into tears,' she says.... Smith, a 60-year-old medical transcriptionist in Clearwater, Fla., must use the federal website to buy health insurance because Florida opted not to run its own.... Smith's employer doesn't provide health insurance.... [She] estimates she will earn $23,000 this year for her 40-hour a week job.... 'This morning the most loveliest of helpers answered the phone,' Smith told NBC News later Monday. 'She said there was a mistake on original application.... She re-did the whole thing in record time....' [After yet another Website fail,] her application took just seconds to complete. All she has to do now is confirm her payment and eligibility with Humana, her new insurance provider." ...

... Why Republicans Hate ObamaCare, Part 2.

A page on the Healthcare.gov site.... Anonymous Contributor to Daily Kos: "Right there, on that page, is everything the Republicans hate: a program designed to help people of modest means, run by the government - AND giving those same people an opportunity to exercise their franchise."

Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: " The Senate confirmed Cornelia T. L. Pillard to the country's most powerful appeals court in an early-morning vote on Thursday, installing her over the objections of Republicans who, despite their inability to filibuster the nomination, are loudly protesting the way Democrats have stifled opposition." ...

... Alan Fram & Laurie Kellman of the AP: "The Senate began an around-the-clock talkathon Wednesday over some of President Barack Obama's nominees as embittered and outnumbered Republicans refused to let the Senate take a break given new, Democratic-driven curbs on the GOP's power. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., threatened to hold the Senate in session through the night to deal with 11 nominations, most of them non-controversial. If Republicans refuse to give up their allotted debate time, the Senate could be in session continuously into Saturday -- or longer. 'If we have to work through Christmas, we're going to do that,' Reid said, repeating what has become one of his regular holiday season refrains."

** Gail Collins: "While American women have been winning rights and opportunities that were unimaginable only a few decades ago, the one thing that's gone in the opposite direction is the Republican Party, which is willing to train its members in how to talk to the ladies, but not open its doors to candidates who believe in reproductive rights. This is the party that used to be well ahead of the competition when it came to support for women's issues -- from the Equal Rights Amendment to family planning."

Vicki Needham, et al., of the Hill: "Several leading Democrats warned Wednesday that the budget deal worked out by House and Senate negotiators is on the verge of unraveling over the exclusion of federal unemployment benefits. The lawmakers are outraged by a GOP move to add the Medicare 'doc fix' to the deal but not a continuation of unemployment benefits -- a strategy they say could sink the entire package by scaring away Democratic votes." ...

... MEANWHILE. Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post: "House Republicans appeared Wednesday to be rallying around an $85 billion deal to avert ­another government shutdown.... GOP leadership aides confidently predicted that the deal ... would sail through the House when it comes to a vote Thursday."...

... For a rational assessment of the budge deal, Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities is the go-to guy: "The budget agreement ... represents an improvement over current law, albeit a modest one. Congress should approve it, but lawmakers should make every effort to accompany it with an extension of federal emergency unemployment benefits that will otherwise expire the week after Christmas." ...

... Charles Pierce on the proposed budget deal: "... the idea that Paul Ryan gave up anything of substance in these talks just because he has decided to be more patient in his long war to dismantle the safety net that coddles the takers is positively laughable." ...

... Yes, Paul Ryan Is Still an Ass. New York Times Editors: "... details of the agreement show that Republican loathing of taxes and domestic spending continue to dominate the budget debate. The full domestic and military sequester should have been eliminated, not just part of it. Even more important, a balanced and fair agreement would have compensated for the new domestic spending with tax increases on the wealthiest Americans by closing unnecessary loopholes.... To save money for those at the very top, new federal workers will have to pay more for their pension plan. The cost-of-living increase on pensions for military retirees younger than 62 will be reduced."...

... BUT. Man-Crush. Jonathan Weisman, in a supposedly straight New York Times news report, portrays Ryan as a "conservative wunderkind" who put party "over his own self-interest" to cut the budget deal. Weisman cites Newt Gingrich & others applauding Ryan as brilliant & "marvelous," etc. "... it is a testament to Mr. Ryan's stature with conservatives that even the most vocal opponents of the deal are reluctant to criticize the man who negotiated it." See also today's Presidential Race news below. ...

... Reid Wilson of the Washington Post: "The emerging budget deal announced Tuesday night represents a potentially defining moment for a party [-- the Republican one --] divided between those who believe the party needs to prove it can govern, and those who believe in purity at all costs.... Crafting the bipartisan deal may turn out to be the easy part. The harder row to hoe begins now: Selling the deal to a House Republican caucus that includes members who will see anything short of a total conservative victory as a capitulation, and members for whom voting against their own leadership is in their political interest." ...

... Lori Montgomery: "After a briefing for the GOP rank and file behind closed doors Wednesday morning, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) blasted groups that he said came out in opposition to the deal before having seen what was in it. 'They're using our members, and they're using the American people for their own goals,' Boehner told reporters. 'This is ridiculous. If you're for more deficit reduction, you're for this agreement.'" ...

... Sahil Kapur of TPM: "Moments earlier, during a closed-door meeting, Boehner told House Republicans that the well-funded and influential organizations 'aren't acting out of principle, and they're not trying to enact conservative policies. They're using you to raise money and expand their own organization'" he said, according to a source in the room." ...

... Paul Waldman: "Boehner, who spent the entire period of the shutdown (and the weeks leading up to it) stepping gingerly around his party's right wing..., now feels free to attack the likes of Heritage Action, obviously without concern that they can make him pay for his insolence.... For the moment ... it does appear that the shutdown provided everyone in the GOP a valuable lesson: there's only so far you can follow your extremists before they lead you off the cliff, and once you've plunged to the bottom, you don't much want to climb back up and hurl yourself off again." ...

... Kapur: Outside right-leaning groups are firing back [same story linked above] at Speaker John Boehner after he attacked their intentions and questioned their commitment to conservative principles on Wednesday." ...

... Jake Sherman, et al. of Politico: "The conservative Republican Study Committee, the bastion of right-wing strategy on Capitol Hill, has fired its longtime executive director Paul Teller, accusing him of leaking conversations with lawmakers.... If there were any staffer on Capitol Hill that were nearly as powerful as a member of Congress, it was Teller. He has been involved in conservative strategy for more than a decade, helping drag legislative debates to the right." ...

... Jake Sherman, et al.: "The simmering feud between House Republicans and movement conservatives is finally an all-out war. The tension exploded on Wednesday morning when Speaker John Boehner and outside conservative groups traded sharp barbs over the budget deal.... It only escalated later in the day when the leader of the right-wing Republican Study Committee forced out its long-time executive director...."

Rachel Maddow in the Washington Post: "The unpopular presidency of George W. Bush has proved to be a blackball on the résumés of a generation of Republican leaders. Maybe Cheney's daughter Liz will break the pattern next year with a successful Senate bid in Wyoming, but if you made it through that sentence without spitting coffee out your nose, you're in rare company.... Inside the White House, the task of growing one's own successors must seem like one of the less pressing items on the president's long daily to-do list. But the previous administration's trail of scorched earth and exiles ... is a cautionary tale that Democrats and the Obama White House should heed sooner rather than later. Grow your successors, nurture your legacy."

Ian Austen of the New York Times: "Canada's postal service said Wednesday that it would cease home delivery over the next five years, and substantially increase postal rates.... Canada would become the first Group of 7 country to end all residential mail delivery in cities and older suburbs...." CW: This seems like an omen for U.S. residents.

Philip Pullella of Reuters: "Pope Francis said in the first peace message of his pontificate that huge salaries and bonuses are symptoms of an economy based on greed and inequality and called again for nations to narrow the wealth gap. In his message for the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, marked around the world on January 1, he also called for sharing of wealth and for nations to shrink the gap between rich and poor, more of whom are getting only 'crumbs'." CW: Pope Francis: one conservative Rush Limbaugh can't intimidate.

Congressional Race

** Carl Campanile of the New York Post: "Republicans are so nervous about Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm's re-election chances that they've quietly reached out to former GOP Congressman Vito Fossella -- who quit five years ago after confessing to having a secret second family.... Grimm is currently the subject of an ongoing Justice Department probe that centers on whether his campaign solicited illegal donations from foreigners during his 2010 campaign. Fossella, who is married to childhood sweetheart Mary Pat and has three children, was engulfed in scandal after a DWI arrest in the D.C. area in May 2008." Fossella said he won't run. CW: So the GOP is trying to decide which would be the better candidate: the incumbent being investigated by the DOJ or the former rep who had a secret second family & a DWI arrest. How could Congress possibly be anything but a criminal enterprise with members like these?

Presidential Race 2016

Beth Reinhard of the National Journal: "Unlike some conservative voices, the potential Republican presidential contenders had the courtesy to wait until after the budget deal was unveiled to declare their opposition. But they didn't wait long. Swiftly came the denouncements from Sens. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul. Conservative groups piled on the agreement negotiated for their side by Paul Ryan, calling it 'a huge Republican cave-in' and 'surrender.' Ryan -- also a possible presidential candidate -- now finds himself in the awkward position of trying to sell an agreement blessed by President Obama to a conservative base that reflexively opposes anything with a whiff of bipartisanship. It's a spot Rubio knows all too well...."

Local News

Curt Anderson of the AP: "Prosecutors say they will not file domestic violence charges against George Zimmerman after his girlfriend said in a sworn statement she did not want to pursue the case. State Attorney Phil Archer in Seminole County said in a statement Wednesday that Samantha Scheibe's decision not to cooperate and the lack of other corroborating evidence made a successful prosecution unlikely." ...

... Rebecca Leber of Think Progress: "Because the charges were dropped, there are no legal barriers preventing Zimmerman from getting his firearms back. At the time of his arrest, Zimmerman had five guns and 100 rounds of ammunition. The guns included an AR-15 assault rifle, Keltec shotgun, and three handguns.... In addition, Zimmerman's aggravated assault charge, a felony, meant Florida was required by law to suspend his concealed carry license. If officials suspended his license, Zimmerman can petition for it back now that he does not carry a felony charge."

Sleazy News

Morgan Little of the Los Angeles Times: "A senior aide to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of possessing and distributing child pornography. Law enforcement officials took Ryan Loskarn, chief of staff in Alexander's Washington office, into custody after seizing evidence in his home. Loskarn was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday. Alexander said he was 'stunned, surprised and disappointed.' ... Loskarn was placed on leave without pay. Loskarn, 35, became Alexander's chief of staff last year. He previously had served as communications director for Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and a staff assistant for former Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.)." CW: Yeah, I'm stunned, surprised & disappointed, too. Hard to believe a nice conservative fellow could have a sideline trafficking in disgusting stuff which also happens to be illegal. Blackburn must be having the vapors. ...

... CW: From April 2012 through September 2013, Loskarn earned $84,500; from February 2012 thru February 2013, he received an additional $14,000 for work on a Senate Committee. This is quite modest pay for those working in the D.C. area. Maybe Loskarn needed the extra cash when the Committee gig ended & just couldn't think of a better line of moonlighting.

Tony Perry of the Los Angeles Times: "A second city employee has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against ex-Mayor Bob Filner. The allegations of Stacy McKenzie, 50, a manager in the Park and Recreation Department, are similar to those made by more than 20 women during the frenzied six weeks that led to Filner's Aug. 30 resignation.McKenzie accuses Filner of 'placing her in a headlock, rubbing his body against hers, rubbing his elbow against her breasts, [and] rubbing her arm' after asking for a date. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleges two other city employees witnessed the incident at a public event in April at the De Anza Cove on Mission Bay." ...

...Trent Siebert of the San Diego Union-Tribune: "With the lawsuit comes an animated reenactment of her version of events when Filner approached her in a city park and put her in the 'Filner headlock,' as it has come to be known. The video showing the alleged encounter between Filner and veteran park's employee Stacy McKenzie was commissioned by her attorney, Dan Gilleon." CW: Looks like those Taiwanese animated re-enactments of salacious U.S. news events:

Nonsense "News"

Jonathan Capehart explains to wingnuts the context of the "nontroversial" "selfie" photo: British PM David Cameron asked for the photo at the request of former British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. Kinnock is the father-in-law of selfie photographer/Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who took the three-shot. Roberto Schmidt, the professional photographer who took the AFP photo which Getty Images distributed, said, "In reality, just a few seconds earlier the first lady was herself joking with those around her, Cameron and Schmidt included. Her stern look was captured by chance.... I doubt anyone could have remained totally stony faced for the duration of the ceremony, while tens of thousands of people were celebrating in the stadium. For me, the behaviour of these leaders in snapping a selfie seems perfectly natural." ...

     ... Update. Here's Schmidt's full post on the photo. ...

     ... CW: In fairness, it ain't only the wingers who need a lesson about context. From Roxane Gay for Salon, who could use a lesson herself, BTW: "At the Washington Post: 'The first lady looks stern -- dare we say disapproving? -- throughout.' In the New York Daily News Michelle Obama 'sat at a distance, as if in disapproval of the digital display.' Someone at Business Insider quipped, 'That stare can kill.' The headline at The Huffington Post boldly declares 'Michelle Obama is having none of it.' Over at D.C. political blog Wonkette, 'Michelle Obama Pissed Y'all.'"

     ... A Gawker contributor writes, "I refuse to judge until we get the official sign language interpreter's account." See December 11 News Ledes for context.

Arlette Saenz of ABC News: "Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, walked out of former South African President Nelson Mandela's memorial service Tuesday when Cuban President Raul Castro gave a speech, a spokeswoman for Cruz said." ...

... CW: You might think this was an understandable, principled stand by a man whose father was tortured by the Castro regime, as Cruz often suggests in his claims about his heritage. In fact, Rafael Cruz -- who makes Ted look halfway sensible -- fought on Castro's side & fled Cuba after being "imprisoned & tortured" by the U.S.-backed Batista regime before Fidel Castro came to power, or so Ted tells it when pressed. So, principled? My ass. Ted's exit from the grandstands was just grandstanding, literally & figuratively.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "An American man who disappeared in Iran more than six years ago had been working for the CIA in what U.S. intelligence officials describe as a rogue operation that led to a major shake-up in the spy agency. Robert Levinson, a retired-FBI agent, traveled to the Iranian Island of Kish in March 2007 to investigate corruption at a time when he was discussing the renewal of a CIA contract he had held for several years. He also inquired about getting reimbursed for the Iran trip by the agency before he departed...."

Washington Post: "A senior law enforcement agent accused of taking bribes in a Navy corruption scandal has agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with investigators, a major break in a case that has ensnared half a dozen Navy officers and threatens to tar more. John B. Beliveau II, a supervisory special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is scheduled to enter a guilty plea Tuesday in federal court in San Diego.... Beliveau was arrested in September and charged with helping a Singapore-based Navy contractor ... dodge multiple criminal investigations by leaking inside information about NCIS probes in exchange for prostitutes, cash and other favors."

AP: "North Korea said Friday that it had executed Kim Jong Un's uncle as a traitor for trying to seize supreme power, a stunning end for the leader's former mentor, long considered the country's No. 2 official."

New York Times: "Chemical weapons were used repeatedly in the Syria conflict this year, not only in a well-documented Aug. 21 attack near Damascus but also in four other instances, including two subsequent attacks that targeted government soldiers, United Nations experts concluded in a report released Thursday."

New York Times: "JPMorgan Chase and federal authorities are nearing settlements over the bank's ties to Bernard L. Madoff, striking tentative deals that would involve roughly $2 billion in penalties and a rare criminal action. The government will use a sizable portion of the money to compensate Mr. Madoff's victims. The settlements, which are coming together on the anniversary of Mr. Madoff's arrest at his Manhattan penthouse five years ago on Wednesday, would fault the bank for turning a blind eye to his huge Ponzi scheme...."

AP: "Allen Nicklasson once recalled the 'euphoria' he felt after fatally shooting a kindly businessman who stopped to help when he saw Nicklasson's car stalled on Interstate 70 near Kingdom City, Mo., in 1994. Late Wednesday night, Nicklasson was put to death for Richard Drummond's killing -- nearly 23 hours after he was originally scheduled to die."

AP: "Australia's highest court struck down a landmark law on Thursday that had begun allowing the country's first gay marriages, shattering the dreams of more than two dozen same-sex newlyweds whose marriages will now be annulled less than a week after their weddings. The federal government had challenged the validity of the Australian Capital Territory's law that had allowed gay marriages in the nation's capital and its surrounding area starting last Saturday."

AFP: "The sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's funeral has said a schizophrenic episode was to blame for accusations that he was an imposter who gesticulated nonsense during the entire service.... The interview with The Star did not address the fact that[Thamsanqa] Jantjie's competence had been called into question before the memorial furore erupted."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 11, 2013

NEW. Robert Pear of the New York Times: "The number of people selecting health insurance plans in the federal and state marketplaces increased in November at a brisk pace, bringing the total to date to nearly 365,000, or more than triple the number who signed up in October, the Obama administration said on Wednesday.... The new data became available as Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, prepared for another confrontation with Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who called a hearing Wednesday to investigate the rollout of President Obama's health care law." ...

... Sebelius Shuts Barn Door; Horse Long-Gone. NEW. Sandhya Somashekhar of the Washington Post: "... Kathleen Sebelius has launched an internal review to determine what department policies and management failures might have contributed to the botched rollout of HealthCare.gov...."

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "House and Senate budget negotiators reached agreement Tuesday on a budget deal that would raise military and domestic spending over the next two years, shifting the pain of across-the-board cuts to other programs over the coming decade and raising fees on airline tickets to pay for airport security.... Democrats gave up their demand that the deal extend unemployment benefits that expire at the end of the month...." ...

It's a good sign that Democrats and Republicans in Congress were able to come together and break the cycle of short-sighted, crisis-driven decision-making to get this done. -- President Barack Obama, shortly after the agreement was announced

... Ezra Klein runs down the major provisions of the deal. ...

... Sarah Binder of the Monkey Cage in the Washington Post: "Breaking the cycle of budgetary brinkmanship does not yet seem to have resolved bicameral differences elsewhere on the Hill.... More likely, the mini-deal is emblematic of legislative battles in polarized times: Parties come to the table only when the costs of blocking an agreement are too great to shoulder. And even then, parties will give up as little as necessary to avoid the sometimes painful consequences of stalemate."

Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "The Senate slowly began working its way through a backlog of presidential nominees on Tuesday now that Republicans are virtually powerless to block confirmations, approving a once-stalled judge to a powerful appeals court and a new director for the agency that oversees federal home lending. But Republicans, still seething over a power play last month by Democrats to curtail the filibuster significantly, have settled on a strategy for retribution: Make the confirmation process as time-consuming and painful as possible for Democrats." ...

... Ramsey Cox of the Hill: "The Senate voted 56-38 Tuesday to confirm Patricia Millett to the D.C. Circuit Court, making her the first nominee of President Obama's to clear the Senate since Democrats unilaterally changed the rules in a vote last month. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) voted with Democrats." ...

... Ed O'Keefe & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Later, senators confirmed Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) 57 to 41 to serve as the next head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency,which regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and federal home loan banks."

Ben Protess & Peter Eavis of the New York Times: "Five federal agencies approved the final [Volcker] rule, bolstering some provisions but leaving others open to loopholes...." President Obama & Treasury Secretary Jack Lew pressed the agencies to finalize the regulatory framework.

Dana Milbank finds signs Republicans & other conservatives are the rejecting the Tea Party. Leading conservatives back Texas Sen. John Cornyn over Tea Party loon Steve Stockman who announced his challenge to Cornyn Monday night. Paul Ryan negotiated a budget deal which would permit increased spending. "Senate Republicans are stepping up their efforts to help each other beat back primary challenges." And John Boehner may bring an immigration bill to the floor after filing deadlines for primary challenges. ...

... Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post runs down Steve Stockman's "qualifications." This would be much funnier if Stockman weren't an elected official. ...

... Josh Barro of Business Insider on Stockman's derpitude. "I am guessing that Texas Republicans are not about to nominate a candidate whose sole 2011 and 2012 income came from a shady nonprofit and who has been refusing to make legally-required financial disclosures. Cornyn is safe, for now." ...

... Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "More than half of Senate Republicans facing reelection next year face potentially viable tea party challenges -- a historically large threat to the GOP establishment that could, once again, kill the party's chances of taking back control of the chamber."

Jeff Mason & Roberta Rampton of Reuters: "Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a new push to increase access to mental health services with $100 million in new government funding nearly a year after a school shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut. Biden, who spearheaded a failed Obama administration campaign for stronger gun control measures following the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, met with families of the victims and mental health advocates." ...

... New York Times: "In the 12 months since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., almost every state has enacted at least one new gun law. Nearly two-thirds of the new laws ease restrictions and expand the rights of gun owners. Most of those bills were approved in states controlled by Republicans. Those who support stricter regulations won some victories -- mostly in states where the legislature and governorship are controlled by Democrats -- to increase restrictions on gun use and ownership." Report consists of interactive graphs charting state legislation.

Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times: "A new congressional report criticizes the federal government for awarding tens of billions of dollars in contracts to companies even though they were found to have violated safety and wage laws and paid millions in penalties. Issued on behalf of the Democratic senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, the report cited examples over the past six years." CW: Report includes one reason I don't buy mass-produced chicken.

Independent researcher Ashkan Soltani, with Washington Post reporters Andrea Peterson & Barton Gelman: "The National Security Agency is secretly piggybacking on the tools that enable Internet advertisers to track consumers, using 'cookies' and location data to pinpoint targets for government hacking and to bolster surveillance.... The agency's internal presentation slides, provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, show that when companies follow consumers on the Internet to better serve them advertising, the technique opens the door for similar tracking by the government. The slides also suggest that the agency is using these tracking techniques to help identify targets for offensive hacking operations." CW: So if the gummit is looking for terrorists seeking out silverplated turkey domes, I am high on their watch list.

Mark Landler & Michael Gordon of the New York Times: "With Iran threatening that any new sanctions would scuttle its interim nuclear deal with the West, the Obama administration is fighting a fierce battle to convince skeptical Senate Democrats not to pass any new measures against Tehran." ...

... Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "Secretary of State John Kerry managed to convince the Senate. But he didn't have much success in pressing the case against new Iran sanctions in the House, where Republicans and Democrats alike made clear how deep the resistance to the Iran deal runs in Congress."

Fidel Castro & Richard Nixon, 1959.

Neville Chamberlain shook hands with Hitler. -- Sen. John McCain, expressing his disapproval of President Obama's shaking hands with Cuban President Raul Castro

Questions for Sen. McCain: Did you know that Obama & Castro met at Nelson Mandela's memorial service? Do you have any idea what Mandela stood for & why he is so beloved around the world? What did Obama mean when he said during his eulogy, "It took a man like Madiba to free not just the prisoner, but the jailer as well. While I will always fall short of Madiba's example, he makes me want to be a better man"? Can you be a "better man" & apologize for your asinine Chamberlain-Hitler analogy?

Rule Sen. McCain Forgot: If you must invoke Hitler, you've already lost the argument.

Right Wing Rule No. 1. If Obama does it, it's wrong.

Corollary to RW Rule No. 1. If conservative Republicans do it, they're heroes spreading American democracy around the world. Media Meteor Blades of Daily Kos posts pix of Republican presidents & other GOP leaders shaking hands with ruthless dictators.

CW: I'd add this grainy snap to Media Meteor Blades' gallery:

John McCain shakes hands with Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2009. Gaddafi had accepted responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, in which 270 people -- many of them American students -- died over Lockerbie, Scotland. At the time McCain was bowing & scraping & promising Gaddafi military aid, Gaddafi successfully negotiated the release of the only convicted Lockerbie bomber.The RW parental units were probably too busy advising their litters on the fine points of spitting angrily while talking, keeping the race pure and most importantly lying as second nature. -- Contributor Diane, on why wingers don't understand international diplomacy & polite behavior

One more thing. While the U.S. backed the apartheid regime, Fidel Castro helped Mandela fight for racial equality. When you've come to a service to honor a man, you don't spit on his benefactors. -- Constant Weader

In Time's "Person of the Year" contest, Sen. Ted Cruz (RMegalomaniac-Texas) is Fourth Runner-Up. In his brief post, David Von Drehle suggests Cruz is insane, though of course he doesn't use that word & merely points out that Cruz is out of touch with reality. CW: Congratulations, Ted. You deserve it. ...

... Beating out Ted are, in ascending order, Syrian President Bashir Assad, DOMA litigant Edith Windsor, NSA leaker Edward Snowden, AND ...

... Time's Person of the Year -- Pope Francis.

CW: Maureen Dowd fancies herself a dime-novel writer. With a cast of character ripped from Capitol Hill! Awful stuff. There are just so many times I can write, "Her worst column yet," & maintain any credibility.

Congressional Race

Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Democratic state Sen. Katherine Clark won Tuesday's special election for a Massachusetts congressional seat, easily defeating Republican attorney Frank Addivinola. She will succeed Democrat Ed Markey, who vacated the suburban Boston-area 5th District seat earlier this year after he was elected to the U.S. Senate. Markey had held the seat since 1976."

November 2013 Election

Markus Scmidt of the Richmond Times-Dispatch: "The lawyer representing Republican Mark D. Obenshain in the pending statewide recount in the attorney general race on Monday for the first time openly raised the issue of contesting the election in the General Assembly if the tally does not sway the result in the Republican's favor." CW: That is, Obenshain could ask the Republic-led General Assembly to decide the election. Wonder how that would work out. Oh. Bush v. Gore.) ...

... As Charles Pierce wrote yesterday, "This could be one roaring, screaming debacle.... World's greatest democracy strikes again."

President Kennedy Assassination

Castro once told an Associated Press correspondent at the Brazilian Embassy in Havana that if you U.S. leaders didn't stop their attempts to kill Cuban leaders, they themselves will not be safe -- a threat of retaliation. Having followed the assassination of President Kennedy since 1963, I have come to a conclusion. Lee Harvey Oswald may have read the AP interview. And when he shot Kennedy, he may have done it as a self-appointed avenger of his hero, Fidel Castro. -- Daniel Schorr, on NPR, 2008

News Ledes

New York Times: "A day after the world's leaders, celebrities and royalty gathered ... to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela in a pomp-filled ceremony, Wednesday was the people's turn. They came by the thousands, black and white, frail and spry, from gated golf estates and tin-shack squatter camps, waiting to pay their final respects to the last and most beloved of a generation of leaders who liberated South Africa from apartheid. The lines, which snaked through the capital for miles, were reminiscent of the endless queues that South Africans endured in 1994 to vote for Mr. Mandela's African National Congress in the nation's first fully democratic elections." ...

... USA Today: "The sign language interpreter used at Tuesday's memorial service for Nelson Mandela, and whose image was broadcast around the world as he shared a stage with world leaders including President Obama, was being called a 'fake' by the Deaf Federation of South Africa." ...

     ... More from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

New York Times: "The United States has suspended the delivery of nonlethal aid to the Syrian opposition in northern Syria after concluding that some of it has fallen into the hands of extremist Islamic fighters, American officials said on Wednesday."