The Commentariat -- Dec. 29, 2018

Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Republicans are ending the 115th Congress in an all-too-familiar spot: standing on the sidelines while President Trump picks a fight they wanted to avoid as he ignores what they consider major conservative accomplishments. On back-to-back days last week, Trump hosted large bipartisan gatherings that were meant to be valedictory, year-end statements of success with an $867 billion farm bill and a sweeping overhaul of federal prison laws. For a Congress that struggled to find significant legislation with sweeping Democratic and Republican support, these bills provided a road map for how things might work in the next two years of divided government. Instead, Trump used each ceremony as an opportunity to denounce Democrats for opposing his multibillion-dollar demands for U.S. taxpayer money to fund a southern border wall, launching Washington into its third partial shutdown this year.... Neither GOP leader [-- McConnell or Ryan --] has tried to back up Trump with the sort of news conference or partisan vote that demonstrates commitment to the cause -- which has been the usual course of action for the president's Capitol Hill allies in the periodic shutdowns of the past 25 years.... It's an embarrassing end to a two-year run for McConnell and Ryan."

Carmin Chappell of CNBC: "... Donald Trump has cancelled his New Year's plans and will stay in Washington, D.C., as the government shutdown continues, incoming acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said in an interview with 'Fox & Friends' on Friday." Mrs. McC: I have a feeling there's more to this story than acting Mick is telling, & it's more significant than "Trump can't squeeze into last year's tux, decides to skip NYE festivities." ...

... Chris Rodrigo of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday threatened to 'close the Southern Border entirely' if Democrats do not agree to provide money to 'finish' building a wall on the Mexican border." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Ryan Bort of Rolling Stone: "Though Trump's decision to shut down the government may keep him in Washington for the holidays, it won't keep taxpayers from footing a heavy portion of the bill for Mar-a-Lago's New Year's Eve party. As was noted by Quartz this week, government spending data shows that the Secret Service paid Grimes Events & Party Tents Inc. of Delray Beach, Florida, $54,020 on December 19th for 'TENT RENTAL FOR MAL.' An employee of the company confirmed to Quartz that it is providing tents for the annual for-profit bash at Trump's 'Winter White House' in Palm Beach." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Jake Johnson of Common Dreams: "With his baseless claim that 'many' federal workers support the government shutdown quickly falling apart in the face of objections from public employees themselves..., Donald Trump suddenly shifted ground in a tweet Thursday morning, declaring -- also without any evidence -- that 'most of the people not getting paid are Democrats.'... 'At best, it looks like Trump is willing to keep the shutdown going because he believes it won't hurt the people who vote for him,' Rafi Schwartz of Splinter News wrote. 'At worst, it looks like the president of the United States -- who unambiguously declared that he would 100 percent own this shutdown -- is admitting that he's deliberately punishing "most of the people not getting paid" purely as an act of political retribution.' Trump's tweet came as federal workers who are already living paycheck to paycheck took to social media to share how the government shutdown has impacted them and their families, particularly during the holiday season." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Joel Shannon of USA Today: "The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has offered federal workers affected by the partial government shutdown a guide for negotiating with creditors, landlords and mortgage companies while their income is cut off. The Thursday tweet notes that workers should consult with a 'personal attorney' for advice but offers templates for how one might seek financial assistance for various financial obligations. Among the suggested strategies: A furloughed employee might offer to trade maintenance services such as painting or carpentry work in exchange for a reduction in rent." Mrs. McC: So these federal workers, more than half of whom are required to work without pay, should make ends meet by singing for their suppers? Or calling their personal attorneys? I wonder how many TSA bag checkers & federal jail guards have "personal attorneys." But, hey, according to Donald Trump, these guys are as happy as Santa's elves because they support his shutdown & border wall/fence/whatever. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Vanessa Romo of NPR: "As hope for a last-minute resolution to the political standoff that has triggered the government shutdown all but evaporates, Smithsonian officials announced Thursday that all of its museums, as well as the National Zoo, will be shuttered on Jan. 2 unless a deal is reached." Mrs. McC: You know, the shutdown could even cut down on Trump Hotel profits. Too bad. Seriously, the shutdown is a big hit on the District's economy, not to mention businesses around the country that depend on traffic generated by nearby federal government attractions. (Also linked yesterday.)

Patrick Keefe of the New Yorker has a long profile of Mark Burnett, "the TV producer [who with 'The Apprentice,'] mythologized Trump -- then a floundering D-lister — as the ultimate titan, paving his way to the Presidency.... His chief legacy is to have cast a serially bankrupt carnival barker in the role of a man who might plausibly become the leader of the free world." Mrs. McC: I didn't read it.

Shannon Pettypiece & Bill Faries of Bloomberg News: "Donald Trump hasn't ordered the Pentagon to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, a White House spokesman said, contradicting reports last week that he's directed the military to pull 7,000 soldiers out of a conflict he's long criticized.... The statement came more than a week after a U.S. defense official, who asked not to be identified discussing the troop plans, said the Pentagon will withdraw 7,000 of about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan. That decision was widely reported in media outlets, including by Bloomberg News. But the U.S. commander of international forces in Afghanistan, General Scott Miller, said Sunday he hadn't received any orders to change troop levels in the country, according to Voice of America -- a statement the NSC appeared to belatedly confirm on Friday."

The Fruits of His Carelessness. Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: "Syria's most powerful Kurdish militia has called on President Bashar al-Assad's government to send forces to protect it against an attack by Turkey, the first sign of shifting political alliances in eastern Syria since President Trump announced that he would withdraw American troops.... The call by the Syrian Kurdish militia was notable in that a United States ally was calling on an enemy of the United States to protect it against another American ally.... For the most part, the other powers in Syria's multisided war have avoided attacking the area for fear of provoking the United States. But Mr. Trump’s surprise announcement last week that he would pull American troops out of Syria cleared the way for a possible scramble by those competing forces to take advantage of the resulting vacuum." Mrs. McC: You can bet Jim Mattis & other advisors told Trump something like this would happen. (Also linked yesterday.)

... MEANWHILE, Back in the USSA: ...

... Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "The Trump administration announced on Friday a plan designed to make it easier for coal-fired power plants, after nearly a decade of restrictions, to release into the atmosphere more mercury and other pollutants linked to developmental disorders and respiratory illnesses. The limits on mercury, set in 2011, were the first federal standards to restrict some of the most hazardous pollutants emitted by coal plants and were considered one of former President Barack Obama's signature environmental achievements. Since then, scientists have said, mercury pollution from power plants has declined more than 80 percent nationwide. President Trump's new proposal does not repeal the regulation, known as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, but it would lay the groundwork for doing so by weakening a key legal justification for the measure. The long-term impact would be significant: It would weaken the ability of the E.P.A. to impose new regulations in the future by adjusting the way the agency measures the benefits of curbing pollutants, giving less weight to the potential health gains." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is the Fuck Everybody Administration. As Melanie might ask, "They really don't care; do you?"

The Rich Get Richer & the Poor Get Poorer. Bryce Covert, in the New Republic, explains Trump's favorite new federal scam: "opportunity zones." BTW, governors, both Democratic & Republican, are contributing to the scam. The losers? Local communities (especially ones that are actually poor), and you, the unlucky taxpayer. The winners? Big business (like say, Amazon, owned by multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos), real estate developers (like say, Jared Kushner) & hedge funds (like say, Anthony Scaramucci).

Nicholas Schmidle of the New Yorker on "how Patrick Shanahan, the new acting Secretary of Defense, won over the White House." Here's the nub of it: "... with Mattis often away, Shanahan would attend Cabinet meetings in his place. His strong business sense, and his lack of hardened foreign-policy views, endeared him to those at the White House. 'Because he doesn't understand national security, and doesn't have the moral and ethical constraints that Mattis has, he's made no enemies,' [a] former senior defense official said. 'He hasn't taken a position on anything.'"

Joyce Vance in a Slate opinion piece: "Last week we learned that Trump's acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker -- the man Trump bypassed Senate-confirmed officials like the deputy attorney general and solicitor general to put in place -- will not only ignore career ethics officials at DOJ who believe he should recuse from the Mueller investigation, but also had discussions with Trump about Michael Cohen's ongoing prosecution in the Southern District of New York.... The president told Whitaker he was angry with SDNY prosecutors and 'pressed Whitaker on why more wasn't being done to control' the prosecutors, who he suggested were 'going rogue,' according to CNN.... News that Trump's apparent pick for the job, Bill Barr, sent an unsolicited 20-page memo to DOJ clearing the president of obstruction of justice -- which also made its way to the White House -- is deeply troubling.... No matter what Barr's intentions, the appearance of impropriety -- of ingratiating himself with a president whose desire to install a wingman as attorney general -- means that the public perception will always equate Barr, if confirmed, with Trump's desire to hold himself above the law.... Recusal is not a sufficient remedy for a faulty choice for attorney general at this critical juncture. Congress has the responsibility to deny confirmation to an attorney general who is not suited for the job."

Isn't This Special? Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will head a U.S. delegation to Brazil seeking to foster closer ties with the far-right incoming president, Jair Bolsonaro, and discuss ways to counter the Venezuelan government." (Also linked yesterday.)

Kate Riga of TPM: "Douglas Letter, a 40-year veteran at the Department of Justice who left this spring, is now re-entering government life as general counsel for the House of Representatives, incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced Friday. When Letter left in March, he was restrained in his criticism of the administration, but hinted at the dysfunction that has come to dominate the DOJ under ... Donald Trump. 'One obviously has to be concerned about the Justice Department and the future of the Justice Department,' he said then per NPR. He first joined the department in 1978 and is considered a bastion of institutional knowledge."

Election 2018

Maine. Jamie Ehrlich of CNN: "Gov. Paul LePage [R-Nuts] certified the election results for Maine's 2nd Congressional District after a recount and legal battle dragged out the final result in the race for almost two months, cementing a Democratic victory. But, LePage ... made one last jab at the drawn-out process when certifying the election, writing the words 'stolen election' next to his signature.... November's congressional election in Maine marked the first time in US history the ranked-choice voting system determined the outcome of a congressional race." Mrs. McC: I doubt LePage would be governor if ranked-choice had been in effect during the elections in which he was a candidate. In fact, his elections over two strong opponents is what spurred many Mainers to approve ranked-choice voting. ...

I’ve signed off on the CD2 election result as it’s no longer in federal court. Ranked Choice Voting didn’t result in a true majority as promised-simply a plurality measured differently. It didn’t keep big money out of politics & didn’t result in a more civil election #mepolitics pic.twitter.com/0fEhD1dvAb

— Paul R. LePage (@Governor_LePage) December 28, 2018

North Carolina. What a Mess! Alan Blinder & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "A disputed congressional seat in North Carolina could remain vacant for months after incoming Democratic House leaders in Washington on Friday declared they would not seat the apparent Republican winner because of unresolved allegations of election fraud in that race. Even before Democrats made that fresh vow on Friday afternoon, the chaotic fight for the Ninth District's House seat had already plunged into deeper turmoil: North Carolina's state elections board dissolved at noon on Friday under a court order, two weeks before it was to hold a public hearing to consider evidence of the fraud allegations." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday.) ...

... Bruce Henderson, et al., of the Charlotte Observer: "A surprise court order triggered a last-minute move Friday by Gov. Roy Cooper to continue the state election board's probe of fraud allegations in the 9th District congressional race, even as Charlotte Republican Mark Harris demanded to be named its winner. With legal issues far from resolved, the skirmish could delay by weeks the final outcome of Harris' race with Democrat Dan McCready, who on election night appeared to have lost by 905 votes. Also Friday, the incoming House Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer, said the House won't seat Harris on Jan. 3 because of the allegations, The Washington Post reported.... Cooper announced he will name an elections board to serve until Jan. 31, when a new law takes effect restructuring North Carolina's elections and ethics boards."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 28, 2018

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Isn't This Special? Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will head a U.S. delegation to Brazil seeking to foster closer ties with the far-right incoming president, Jair Bolsonaro, and discuss ways to counter the Venezuelan government."

Ryan Bort of Rolling Stone: "Though Trump's decision to shut down the government may keep him in Washington for the holidays, it won't keep taxpayers from footing a heavy portion of the bill for Mar-a-Lago's New Year's Eve party. As was noted by Quartz this week, government spending data shows that the Secret Service paid Grimes Events & Party Tents Inc. of Delray Beach, Florida, $54,020 on December 19th for 'TENT RENTAL FOR MAL.' An employee of the company confirmed to Quartz that it is providing tents for the annual for-profit bash at Trump's 'Winter White House' in Palm Beach."

Vanessa Romo of NPR: "As hope for a last-minute resolution to the political standoff that has triggered the government shutdown all but evaporates, Smithsonian officials announced Thursday that all of its museums, as well as the National Zoo, will be shuttered on Jan. 2 unless a deal is reached." Mrs. McC: You know, the shutdown could even cut down on Trump Hotel profits. Too bad. Seriously, the shutdown is a big hit on the District's economy, not to mention businesses around the country that depend on traffic generated by nearby federal government attractions.

The Fruits of His Carelessness. Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: "Syria's most powerful Kurdish militia has called on President Bashar al-Assad's government to send forces to protect it against an attack by Turkey, the first sign of shifting political alliances in eastern Syria since President Trump announced that he would withdraw American troops.... The call by the Syrian Kurdish militia was notable in that a United States ally was calling on an enemy of the United States to protect it against another American ally.... For the most part, the other powers in Syria's multisided war have avoided attacking the area for fear of provoking the United States. But Mr. Trump's surprise announcement last week that he would pull American troops out of Syria cleared the way for a possible scramble by those competing forces to take advantage of the resulting vacuum." Mrs. McC: You can bet Jim Mattis & other advisors told Trump something like this would happen.

... MEANWHILE, Back in the USSA:

... Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "The Trump administration announced on Friday a plan designed to make it easier for coal-fired power plants, after nearly a decade of restrictions, to release into the atmosphere more mercury and other pollutants linked to developmental disorders and respiratory illnesses. The limits on mercury, set in 2011, were the first federal standards to restrict some of the most hazardous pollutants emitted by coal plants and were considered one of former President Barack Obama's signature environmental achievements. Since then, scientists have said, mercury pollution from power plants has declined more than 80 percent nationwide. President Trump's new proposal does not repeal the regulation, known as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, but it would lay the groundwork for doing so by weakening a key legal justification for the measure. The long-term impact would be significant: It would weaken the ability of the E.P.A. to impose new regulations in the future by adjusting the way the agency measures the benefits of curbing pollutants, giving less weight to the potential health gains." ...

... This is the Fuck Everybody Administration. As Melanie might ask, "They really don't care, do you?"

What a Mess! Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "The North Carolina state elections board dissolved on Friday under a court order, two weeks before its much-anticipated hearing to consider evidence of possible absentee ballot fraud in the disputed November election for the Ninth District's seat in Congress. The unwinding of the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement was a consequence of a long-running battle over partisan power in North Carolina and separate from the election fraud investigation. Yet the dissolution heightened the possibility that the Ninth District seat would remain empty for weeks or even months, and it plunged the chaotic fight for the House seat into deeper turmoil."

Chris Rodrigo of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday threatened to 'close the Southern Border entirely' if Democrats do not agree to provide money to 'finish' building a wall on the Mexican border."

Joel Shannon of USA Today: "The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has offered federal workers affected by the partial government shutdown a guide for negotiating with creditors, landlords and mortgage companies while their income is cut off. The Thursday tweet notes that workers should consult with a 'personal attorney' for advice but offers templates for how one might seek financial assistance for various financial obligations. Among the suggested strategies: A furloughed employee might offer to trade maintenance services such as painting or carpentry work in exchange for a reduction in rent." Mrs. McC: So these federal workers, more than half of whom are required to work without pay, should make ends meet by singing for their suppers? Or calling their personal attorneys? I wonder how many TSA bag checkers & federal jail guards have "personal attorneys." But, hey, according to Donald Trump, these guys are as happy as Santa's elves because they support his shutdown & border wall/fence/whatever. ...

... Jake Johnson of Common Dreams: "With his baseless claim that 'many' federal workers support the government shutdown quickly falling apart in the face of objections from public employees themselves..., Donald Trump suddenly shifted ground in a tweet Thursday morning, declaring -- also without any evidence -- that 'most of the people not getting paid are Democrats.'... 'At best, it looks like Trump is willing to keep the shutdown going because he believes it won't hurt the people who vote for him,' Rafi Schwartz of Splinter News wrote. 'At worst, it looks like the president of the United States -- who unambiguously declared that he would 100 percent own this shutdown -- is admitting that he's deliberately punishing "most of the people not getting paid" purely as an act of political retribution.' Trump's tweet came as federal workers who are already living paycheck to paycheck took to social media to share how the government shutdown has impacted them and their families...."

*****

Nicholas Fandos & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Republican leaders gave up hope on Thursday of reopening the government before the new year, leaving the border wall impasse to House Democrats as they assume the majority next week -- and presenting Representative Nancy Pelosi with her first major challenge as speaker. House Democrats, who take control on Wednesday, are weighing three approaches to getting funds flowing, none of which would include additional money for President Trump's proposed wall along the southwestern border. Whichever path they choose, party leaders said they would vote promptly on Jan. 3, hoping to project the image of Democrats as a steadying hand in Washington even as Republicans try to blame Ms. Pelosi and her party for the shutdown and lax border control." ...

... Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Washington all but gave up Thursday on resolving the partial government shutdown before the New Year, as lawmakers were told not to expect votes this week and signs of negotiations were nonexistent. On Capitol Hill, the hallways were quiet and leadership offices were shuttered. At the White House, President Trump retreated from public view and tweeted recriminations at Democrats for blocking funding for his border wall. Behind the scenes, Democratic aides were working to draft legislation to reopen the government once they take over the House on Jan. 3. It was day 6 of the third partial government shutdown of the year, and, barring a surprise resolution, it will become the second-longest of the decade when Congress convenes next week to open its 116th session in a new divided Washington." ...

... Sam Stein & Asawin Suebsaeng of The Daily Beast: "Days into a partial government shutdown that has left tens of thousands of federal workers furloughed, President Donald Trump and his close allies have begun feeling more confident about the political perch they occupy.... Increasingly, they see an upside in forcing likely incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi to have to spend the first days, if not weeks, of the next Congress engaged in an argument over border wall funding rather than her preferred agenda: a mix of sweeping ethics and election reforms and congressional oversight. And they continue to believe that a conversation around immigration and border security is in the president's best political interests." --s

This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.

** Peter Stone & Greg Gordon of McClatchy DC: "A mobile phone traced to President Donald Trump's former lawyer and 'fixer' Michael Cohen briefly sent signals ricocheting off cell towers in the Prague area in late summer 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, leaving an electronic record to support claims that Cohen met secretly there with Russian officials, four people with knowledge of the matter say. During the same period of late August or early September, electronic eavesdropping by an Eastern European intelligence agency picked up a conversation among Russians, one of whom remarked that Cohen was in Prague, two people familiar with the incident said. The phone and surveillance data, which have not previously been disclosed, lend new credence to a key part of a former British spy's dossier of Kremlin intelligence describing purported coordination between Trump's campaign and Russia's election meddling operation.... Both of the newly surfaced foreign electronic intelligence intercepts were shared with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, people familiar with the matter said." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sounds like a smoking phone to me. ...

     ... BUT. Rafi Schwartz of Splinter: "In response to McClatchy's report, Cohen has once again denied having been to Prague.... [Michael Cohen tweet Thursday afternoon:] 'I hear #Prague #CzechRepublic is beautiful in the summertime. I wouldn't know as I have never been. #Mueller knows everything!'" ...

     ... But BUT. Steve M." "The phone evidence doesn't say he was in Prague, just in the vicinity. Is that a non-denial denial? I dunno...." Mrs. McC: Steve has a point. I don't know if Michael Cohen is capable of subtle teasing, but if he is, this could be an example: "... as I have never been" has an implied predicate, not a stated one. Maybe the predicate is "impressed by it" or "to the famous historic center." And the next sentence, "#Mueller knows everything," rather than ruling out the possibility there is something to know, suggests that there is plenty of something, and that Cohen told Mueller "everything" about his mysterious European jaunt.

     ... Kevin Drum: "There are two things that are interesting about this. First, if it's true, it’s a huge shot-in-the-arm for the credibility of the entire Steele dossier, where this allegation originated. Second, it means that special counsel Robert Mueller knows about all this and decided to keep it closely held instead of using it in the charge sheet against Cohen.... The alleged purpose of Cohen's trip to Prague was to visit with Russian intelligence folks in order to come up with a plan for making cash payments to the hackers who were working with Team Trump to take down Hillary Clinton. Even for Mitch McConnell, I assume this would be considered an impeachable offense, and it's the kind of thing you'd really want to nail down solidly before you make it public." ...

     ... Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "While there could have been innocent explanations why Cohen had traveled surreptitiously to Europe, those are no longer available because Cohen made the decision to deny that the trip ever took place. That there are reportedly intercepts that independently confirm his presence there is the exact kind of corroboration that is required to lock down that there has been a gigantic coverup.... Of course, this will be more assured if Cohen tells the full story under the glaring lights of a House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing. It's too early to say whether or not that will happen, but if it does there will not be a defense available for Trump. Cohen's trip would be sufficient evidence of the type of collusion and conspiracy that has been suspected all along."

Matt Miller & Mimi Rocah in The Daily Beast: "On Friday, CNN revealed [Trump's] most astonishing act yet [of obstruction of justice], one that in our view clearly violated the law. According to CNN's reporting, the president recently 'lashed out' at acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker over court documents referencing the president in the guilty plea by his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen. Worse, a week later Mr. Trump pushed Whitaker on 'why more wasn't being done to control' the Southern District of New York prosecutors.... In pressuring Whitaker, who as acting attorney general oversees the investigation, the president was unquestionably trying to coerce him into blocking prosecutors in New York from either looking at or implicating him or his family members in criminal conduct. In our view, that action clearly constituted a criminal attempt by the president to obstruct justice, one that is even more clear-cut than the president's prior attempts to thwart the federal investigation into Russia's 2016 election interference." --s

Elizabeth Drew in a New York Times op-ed: "An impeachment process against President Trump now seems inescapable.... His political status, weak for some time, is now hurtling downhill.... The odor of personal corruption on the president-s part -- perhaps affecting his foreign policy -- grew stronger. Then the events of the past several days ... instilled a new sense of alarm among many Republicans.... It always seemed to me that Mr. Trump's turbulent presidency was unsustainable and that key Republicans would eventually decide that he had become too great a burden to the party or too great a danger to the country. That time may have arrived.... But it may well not come to a vote in the Senate. Facing an assortment of unpalatable possibilities, including being indicted after he leaves office, Mr. Trump will be looking for a way out."

Paul Sonne & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "A day after President Trump's surprise visit to American forces in Iraq and Germany, questions persisted about whether he had jeopardized the political neutrality of the U.S. military by leveling partisan attacks and signing red 'Make America Great Again' hats for the troops.... While the president cheered troops with his visit to Iraq, thanking them for their sacrifices and wishing them a merry Christmas, he otherwise approached his appearance much as he would a political rally or event.... He even imported the traditional stagecraft of his political rallies to Iraq, entering to the tune of Lee Greenwood's 'God Bless the U.S.A.' and exiting to a rendition of the Rolling Stones' 'You Can't Always Get What You Want.'... One of the ways the military historically has earned [public] trust is by steering clear of politics and assuring Americans that uniformed officers will carry out the lawful orders of whatever civilian leadership the country elects without bias.... The reason for the norms [Trump broke], according to Rosa Brooks, a ... national security expert at Georgetown University, is to ensure that an institution endowed by the American public with tremendous power 'isn't being used for partisan ends.'" ...

... Bradley Moss in the Atlantic: Trump's visits to Iraq & Germany "... were marred ... by the president's overtly political rhetoric and by his encouragement of the small number of uniformed personnel who offered him their 'Make America Great Again' hats to sign, or who displayed campaign banners. It's the latest instance of the erosion of long-standing commitments to apolitical institutions -- and the comparative indifference with which these acts were greeted ought to worry all of us.... The presence of campaign paraphernalia at a presidential visit -- and the president's blithe disregard for protocol in choosing to sign some of that paraphernalia, to say nothing of his politically tinged speech to military personnel in a war zone -- runs afoul of at least the spirit, if not the letter, of written rules.... Democracy does not die in darkness -- it dies with indifference." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: There remains a great deal of controversy over that Trump campaign paraphernalia which magically appeared during Trump's visits to troops in Iraq & Germany. Here's a CNN report on it, which includes a video discussion, & here's a New York Times report that raises the issue. Sarah Sanders gave CNN what I would call a non-denial denial. She said the White House didn't distribute them. Well, no, but maybe the campaign or some other entity did. In a tweet, Trump wrote, "We brought or gave NO hats as the Fake News first reported!" If you believe that, then you believe Trump personally handed out 10 percent raises to the military. The Times report says the Defense Department is trying to figure out where the MAGA hats & banners came from. Contributor OGJerry links this critique by Jim Wright about the SEALs suiting up & posing for pictures with the Clown-in-Chief. ...

... Steve Benen on Trump's remarks to troops serving in Iraq: "About halfway through his remarks..., he told servicemen and women: 'I don't know if you folks are aware of what's happening. We want to have strong borders in the United States. The Democrats don't want to let us have strong borders -- only for one reason. You know why? Because I want it.... You know, when you think about it, you're fighting for borders in other countries, and they don't want to fight -- the Democrats -- for the border of our country. It doesn't make a lot of sense.... We have secured a record increase to our military budget, and we are purchasing all of this great equipment -- $700 billion last year; $716 billion.... We were fought very hard by the Democrats and others. But I said, "We have to take care of our military.'" The factual errors obviously matter -- there was no big partisan fight over military equipment, for example -- but of greater concern are the errors of judgment.... The sitting president traveled halfway around the world, arrived on foreign soil, and slandered his American political opponents back home in front of active-duty troops serving abroad. And while I realize Trump often benefits from low expectations, it's tough to make the argument that these antics are OK." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Philip Issa of the AP: "... Donald Trump's surprise trip to Iraq may have quieted criticism at home..., but it has infuriated Iraqi politicians who on Thursday demanded the withdrawal of U.S. forces. 'Arrogant' and 'violation of national sovereignty' were but a few examples of the disapproval emanating from Baghdad following Trump's meeting Wednesday with U.S. servicemen and women at the al-Asad Airbase.... This trip came as curbing foreign influence in Iraqi affairs has become a hot-button political issue in Baghdad, and Trump's perceived presidential faux-pas was failing to meet with the prime minister in a break with diplomatic custom for any visiting head of state.... The visit could have unintended consequences for American policy, with officials from both sides of Iraq's political divide calling for a vote in Parliament to expel U.S. forces from the country."

Josh Marshall of TPM: "The Saudis and the Israelis have been the pillars of a regional alliance that Trump has backed fulsomely. But reading the tea leaves here [as he minimized Israeli complaints about pulling out of Syria] strongly suggests it's the Saudis driving Trump's policies in the region, with the Turks and the Russians playing a more contingent second role. Trump's aggressive/defensive response to [a reporter's] question [about how Israel would be affected by pulling U.S. troops out of Syria], and implicitly to Netanyahu, is quite telling." --s

Emily Flitter of the New York Times: "Wall Street's roller-coaster ride extended into Thursday with stocks staging a late-day recovery as investors turned their attention to fresh data about the United States economy."

Jeffrey Jones of Gallup: "For the first time in 17 years, a woman other than Hillary Clinton has been named by Americans as the woman they admire most. Former first lady Michelle Obama, who finished second to Clinton three times and is currently touring to promote her recently released autobiography, won by a significant margin this year. Oprah Winfrey was second, with Clinton and Melania Trump next. Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama was the winner among men for the 11^th consecutive year.... Donald Trump ranks second for the fourth year in a row."

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Yesterday I mentioned that I doubted Matt Whitaker's victims saw his actions against them, in service of the fraudulent World Patent Marketing scam, as petty. Colin Kalmbacher of Law & Crime excerpts some of the FTC complaints against him & WPM.

Beyond the Beltway

North Carolina. Emery Dalesio of TPM: "With Republicans' veto-proof majority ending in days, the North Carolina legislature on Thursday overrode the Democratic governor's veto of legislation that would keep campaign finance investigations confidential and allow the GOP to possibly dump their nominee in a still-undecided U.S. House race marred with ballot fraud allegations. The override would require new primaries as well as a general election in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District if the ongoing state elections board investigation into suspected ballot fraud forces new voting.... Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said last week he vetoed the measure because it would also force the state elections board to keep its campaign finance investigations confidential and have a separate commission secretly review whether prosecutors are notified." --s ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: On the upside, at least North Carolina Republicans still have enough shame to try to hide some forms of their party's rampant election fraud.

Ohio. Olivia Exstrum of Mother Jones: "Despite efforts of conservative lawmakers and activists, the Ohio Legislature failed on Thursday to override a veto by Republican Gov. John Kasich on controversial abortion bill HB 258, also known as the 'fetal heartbeat ban,' after passing it earlier this month. The measure, considered one of the most restrictive in the country, would have banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat is heard, which can happen as early as six weeks into pregnancy.... When the measure passed, it was unclear if the Legislature could gather enough votes to cancel a veto by the governor. Although the House on Thursday had enough votes to nullify the veto, the Senate came up one vote short." --s

Way Beyond

Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: "King Salman of Saudi Arabia shook up the kingdom's cabinet on Thursday, naming new ministers and security chiefs but keeping the levers of power firmly in the hands of his son and designated heir, Prince Mohammed bin Salman."

News Lede

Haaretz: "Amos Oz, a giant of Israeli letters for his works that explore human nature and the Israeli experience, died Friday at 79 from cancer, his daughter wrote on Twitter." ...

... Oz's New York Times obituary is here.

The Commentariat -- Dec. 27, 2018

Late Morning Update:

Steve Benen on Trump's remarks to troops serving in Iraq yesterday: "About halfway through his remarks..., he told servicemen and women: 'I don't know if you folks are aware of what's happening. We want to have strong borders in the United States. The Democrats don't want to let us have strong borders -- only for one reason. You know why? Because I want it.... You know, when you think about it, you're fighting for borders in other countries, and they don't want to fight -- the Democrats -- for the border of our country. It doesn't make a lot of sense....We have secured a record increase to our military budget, and we are purchasing all of this great equipment -- $700 billion last year; $716 billion -- with a "b," with a "b." We were fought very hard by the Democrats and others. But I said, "We have to take care of our military.'" The factual errors obviously matter -- there was no big partisan fight over military equipment, for example -- but of greater concern are the errors of judgment.... The sitting president traveled halfway around the world, arrived on foreign soil, and slandered his American political opponents back home in front of active-duty troops serving abroad. And while I realize Trump often benefits from low expectations, it's tough to make the argument that these antics are OK."

Peter Stone & Greg Gordon of McClatchy DC: "A mobile phone traced to ... Donald Trump's former lawyer and 'fixer' Michael Cohen briefly sent signals ricocheting off cell towers in the Prague area in late summer 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, leaving an electronic record to support claims that Cohen met secretly there with Russian officials, four people with knowledge of the matter say. During the same period of late August or early September, electronic eavesdropping by an Eastern European intelligence agency picked up a conversation among Russians, one of whom remarked that Cohen was in Prague, two people familiar with the incident said. The phone and surveillance data, which have not previously been disclosed, lend new credence to a key part of a former British spy's dossier of Kremlin intelligence describing purported coordination between Trump's campaign and Russia's election meddling operation...Both of the newly surfaced foreign electronic intelligence intercepts were shared with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, [the] people ... said." --s

*****

Cadet Bone Spurs Goes to Iraq. Annie Karni, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump visited American military forces in Iraq on Wednesday, a surprise trip and the first visit to troops stationed abroad in a combat zone by a commander in chief who has made withdrawing the United States from foreign wars a signature issue. The trip, shrouded in secrecy, came in the midst of a partial government shutdown and less than a week after Mr. Trump disrupted America's military status quo and infuriated even some of his staunchest political allies by announcing plans to withdraw all troops from Syria and about half of those stationed in Afghanistan. The president's decision on Syria, made over the objections of American military generals and civilian advisers, led to the resignation of Mr. Trump's defense secretary, Jim Mattis, and fueled tensions within the national security establishment. The place Mr. Trump chose to visit is the one theater of war where he has not promised a rapid drawdown of forces -- and it is where he claims his greatest military victory, the defeat of the Islamic State in Mosul, the Iraqi city where the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the beginning of its self-proclaimed caliphate. The assault on Mosul by Iraqi forces, backed by Americans, began under President Barack Obama but culminated in the summer of 2017 under Mr. Trump." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Melanie visited Iraq with her husband, and the casual jacket she wore had no odd message scrawled on the back. But being with her husband, she must have been pretty sure he would screw things up without any help from her. And he didn't let her down. Trump's brief trip to Iraq & remarks were just another in the countless episodes in which we shake our heads and say, "If any other president had done this, it would have been news for weeks & Congress would investigate, etc. Instead, the media are giving Trump credit for finally making a minimal effort to do what is part of his Constitutional job description. ...

... Cadet Bone Spurs Carelessly Outs Navy Seals Serving in Iraq. James Laporta of Newsweek: "... Donald Trump and the White House communications team revealed that a U.S. Navy SEAL team was deployed to Iraq after the president secretly traveled to the region to meet with American forces.... While the commander-in-chief can declassify information, usually the presence of a special operations unit, to include, showing their faces would not be revealed to the American public, especially while the U.S. service members were still deployed. Current and former Defense Department officials told Newsweek that the information is almost always classified and is a violation of operational security.... After Trump left Iraqi airspace, the president posted a video to his Twitter account ... [that] shows the president and the first lady posing for pictures with service members that appear to be from SEAL Team Five. The special warfare operators are dressed in full battle gear and wearing night vision goggles. The video cuts to team members shaking the president's hand.... The president's video did not blur the faces of special operation forces. 'I don't recall another time where special operation forces had to pose with their faces visible while serving in a war zone,' [a] Pentagon official said." ...

     ... Matt Stieb of New York: "Of course, this isn't Trump's first failure in operational security. In October, the New York Times reported that when Trump calls friends on his personal iPhone -- a device he was supposed to ditch for security measures -- Russian and Chinese spies eavesdrop to gauge the president's mood and who might have his ear on policy matters.... [And] last year, Trump left his cell behind in a golf cart at his course in New Jersey, causing 'a scramble' to find it. Nor is it Trump's first impromptu revelation of national security interests: in April 2017 phone call, Trump told Rodrigo Duterte, the authoritarian president of the Philippines, that the U.S. had sent two nuclear submarines to the waters off the coast of North Korea. And, in May 2017, hours after the dismissal of James Comey, Trump revealed Israeli intelligence assets to the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, jeopardizing the Israeli-American intelligence link and leaving Mossad 'boiling mad and demanding answers.'" ...

... THEN, of course, there was Trump's usual inability to rise to any occasion, turning what should have been remarks to honor men & women in service into a political speech honoring himself & dissing his predecessors & "our" generals. Lying all the while, of course:

... Ali Rogin of ABC News: "... Donald Trump struck overtly political chords as he addressed service members during a speech at the al-Asad Airbase in Iraq Wednesday -- his first visit to an overseas military installation. Abandoning, as he has before, the traditional maxim of politics ending at the water's edge, the president said his military strategy puts an end to the United States being 'suckers' and hammered Democrats for resisting his demands for border wall funding. The president appeared to lie to the assembled soldiers about their pay raise this year and re-enacted a conversation with his military advisers who he claimed had encouraged him not to remove American troops from Syria.... 'Is anybody here willing to give up the big pay raise you just got?' he surveyed the crowd. 'Raise your hand please. Oh, I don't see too many hands.' He continued, citing numbers that have since been debunked.... 'You haven't gotten [a raise] in more than ten years,' he said. 'And we got you a big one. I got you a big one.'... Trump also reenacted conversations he said he had had with 'our generals' over U.S. presence in Syria, [implying he had been exceptionally tolerant of their incompetence but he finally put his foot down and said, 'Now we're going a different way.']" ...

... THEN Trump indicated he was confused about the existence of ISIS. Brian Bennett of Time: "Trump's visit was colored by his unexpected and controversial decision last week to pull all 2,200 troops from neighboring Syria within 30 days. In announcing the order, Trump declared victory in the war against ISIS, or Islamic State.... Many of the service members stationed at Al Asad Air Base currently battling ISIS in the region will likely face additional challenges in the fight against the terrorist organization as a result of Trump's unilateral order.... Trump suggested [to reporters] that regional U.S. allies, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, would take up the fight against 'remnants of ISIS' in the U.S.'s absence from Syria, describing the ongoing civil war and humanitarian crisis as a regional problem. 'We are in their region,' he said of other Middle Eastern nations. 'They should be sharing the burden of costs and they're not.'... 'In Syria, Erdogan said he wants to knock out ISIS, whatever's left, the remnants of ISIS,' Trump said." ...

... He even encouraged the troops to get in trouble: ...

... Eli Watkins of CNN: "... Donald Trump made his first visit to a war zone on Wednesday, receiving an enthusiastic reception from many US troops there -- some of whom may have run afoul of military rules. Video footage and the written report of Trump's visit with service members in Iraq showed the President signing 'Make America Great Again' hats and an embroidered patch that read 'Trump 2020.' But troops' requests for the autographs could brush up against Department of Defense guidelines for political activities. Those guidelines say that 'active duty personnel may not engage in partisan political activities and all military personnel should avoid the inference that their political activities imply or appear to imply DoD sponsorship, approval, or endorsement of a political candidate, campaign, or cause.'" --s ...

... ALSO too, the trip was arduous and scary. Tamara Keith of NPR: "Trump was asked whether he had any concerns about the circumstances of the trip. He said this, according to the pool report: 'I had concerns about the institution of the presidency. Not for myself personally. I had concerns for the first lady, I will tell you. But if you would have seen what we had to go through in the darkened plane with all the windows closed with no light anywhere ... pitch-black.... So did I have a concern? Yes, I had a concern." Mrs. McC: Not even a night light & blanky. I have been watching a Netflix fictional series about the presidency, which featured a similar AF1 lights-out as the plane entered a combat zone. Apparently that's SOP. It did not cause the fictional president to freak out. ...

... AND Iraqi leaders are irate. Ahmed Rasheed, et al., of Reuters: "Iraqi political and militia leaders condemned ... Donald Trump's surprise visit to U.S. troops in Iraq on Wednesday as a violation of Iraq's sovereignty, and lawmakers said a meeting between Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi was canceled due to a disagreement over venue." ...

... Other than that, everything went very smoothly. ...

... Cadet Bone Spurs, Ctd. Paul Waldman in the Washington Post: "I suppose it's theoretically possible that there is someone in America who believes that Donald Trump avoided service in Vietnam through perfectly legitimate means, and his 'bone spurs' both existed and were so debilitating that the self-described star athlete could not have endured marches through the jungle on his tender heels. But really: We all understand that like so many young men at the time, Trump didn't want to go, and so he did what he could to get out of it.... One can't help but notice the sharp contrast with the experience of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both of whom also took steps to avoid going to Vietnam. In their presidential campaigns, those efforts were huge controversies, to which large numbers of journalists were assigned to investigate and write stories.... Another question is why Trump's draft avoidance didn't bother conservatives, especially when you combined it with the evident contempt he displayed for actual military service...." ...

... digby: "Of course, his father got him out of the draft. Of  COURSE he did. After all, his father got him out of every jam he ever got into for the next 30 years. And the list of jams is endless. It is the story of his life[.]... I don't hold it against people for not wanting to go, of course. It was a terrible war. People like Bill Clinton didn't have the money to buy off doctors but he worked the system furiously for years to get out of it, including calling on powerful local friends to help him out. But the rich kids like Trump and George W. Bush just had their daddies write a check or make a call even as they and their friends all supported the war.... Trump is even doing it today, going after Senator Richard Blumenthal who did join the military and made the mistake of calling himself a Vietnam vet instead of a Vietnam era vet.... Trump's voters, who spent their lives waving the flag and railing against anyone who didn't serve are now completely tolerant of their cult leader's privileged refusal to join." ...

     ... AND digby sounds a ringing note of caution on Trump's "isolationism": "I wouldn't be too impressed with his abrupt withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan either. Keep in mind that those wars were begun under other presidents and his fundamental foreign policy, from the Paris accords to Russian sanctions to NAFTA is to simply reverse everything his predecessors did. That's all he knows. If he wants to start a new war, all his own, he will do it without a second thought."

Laura Kayali of Politico: "The President of the United States is the 'worst' perpetrator of misinformation on the internet, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion David Kaye said in an interview published today." --s

John Bresnahan & Rachel Bade of Politico: "The partial government shutdown entered its fifth day Wednesday with no signs of a breakthrough and hundreds of thousands of federal workers about to feel the pinch of a protracted standoff.... Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders aren't currently negotiating directly, according to GOP and Democratic aides. Staff-level discussions are continuing, but there's no indication that key players are ready to reach an accord. 'Whatever it takes. We need a wall,' Trump told reporters on Wednesday during a su[r]prise visit to U.S. troops in Iraq. 'We need safety for our country.... We have terrorists coming in through the southern border.'... There is no evidence terrorists are entering the United States via the southern border with Mexico.... [Mrs. McC: So yet another lie to the troops.] Trump on Christmas suggested that federal employees welcomed his fight for the wall.... Some 'said to me and communicated, "Stay out until you get the funding for the wall,"' Trump claimed.... But multiple unions representing federal workers have pushed back on that notion. The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents a swath of highly-skilled government workers, said in a statement that 'if the president wants to gamble, perhaps he should go back to running casinos.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I expect Trump's claim about federal workers is true. Remember that his staff & Cabinet members are "federal workers." And you can bet that if he asked them, they indeed said, "Fight for Great Wall, Dear Leader."

Trump Causes Shutdown, Then Uses It to Try to Delay Lawsuit Against Him. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Lawyers for ... Donald Trump are invoking the government shutdown to seek a delay in a court case over claims that Trump is illegally profiting from business his Washington hotel does with foreign countries. Justice Department attorneys representing Trump asked a federal appeals court on Wednesday to postpone indefinitely all further filings in an appeal related to a suit that the governments of Maryland and Washington, D.C., filed over Trump's alleged violation of the Constitution's ban on foreign emoluments." Mrs. McC: Kinda like the guy who kills his parents, then pleads for mercy on accounta his being an orphan.

Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: "In just two years, President Trump has unleashed a regulatory rollback, lobbied for and cheered on by industry, with little parallel in the past half-century.... The trade-offs, while often out of public view, are real -- frighteningly so, for some people -- imperiling progress in cleaning up the air we breathe and the water we drink, and in some cases upending the very relationship with the environment around us. Since Mr. Trump took office, his approach on the environment has been to neutralize the most rigorous Obama-era restrictions, nearly 80 of which have been blocked, delayed or targeted for repeal, according to an analysis of data by The New York Times. With this running start, Mr. Trump is already on track to leave an indelible mark on the American landscape, even with a decline in some major pollutants from the ever-shrinking coal industry." This is really four stories, each focusing on an environment hazard Trump & the boys have instigated.

Garrett Ross of Politico: "... Donald Trump dug in his heels Wednesday as the partial government shutdown drags on, telling reporters during a trip to Iraq that he would do "whatever it takes" to get a wall at the border with Mexico. 'Whatever it takes. We need a wall,' Trump said in response to questions about when the government would reopen, according to a pool report. 'We need safety for our country.'" ...

<... Niraj Chokshi of the New York Times: "The Department of Homeland Security said it has completed new medical screenings of almost all the children in its care, with a focus on those under the age of 10, after a second migrant child died in Customs and Border Protection custody. The agency announced the move on Tuesday night, less than a day after the death of an 8-year-old boy from Guatemala.... In addition to the medical checks, Customs and Border Protection said that it was reviewing its policies regarding children in its custody and exploring ways to 'relieve capacity' in New Mexico and part of Texas. Those options include supervised release and working with nonprofit groups to place children in temporary housing." ...

... Scott Bixby of the Daily Beast: "In the wake of a second child's death while in Border Patrol Patrol custody, a top House Democrat said on Wednesday that Congress will hold hearings 'to ask serious questions about what happened and who bears responsibility.' The announcement by Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat who is on deck to serve as House Majority Leader, came as the Department of Homeland Security placed blame for the tragedies on lawmakers, cartels and immigration advocates.... In a Wednesday morning telephone briefing, Department of Homeland Security officials said the latest death is under investigation." ...

... Ian Kullgren & David Beavers of Politico: "Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen sought to deflect blame Wednesday for the Christmas Eve death of an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy in the custody of U.S. Border Patrol agents, blaming 'a system that prevents parents who bring their children on a dangerous and illegal journey from facing consequences for their actions.'... '"Smugglers, traffickers, and their own parents put these minors at risk by embarking on the dangerous and arduous journey north.'" ...

... ** Spencer Ackerman & Adam Rawnsley of The Daily Beast: "A Daily Beast investigation found that in 2018 alone, for-profit immigration detention was a nearly $1 billion industry underwritten by taxpayers and beset by problems that include suicide, minimal oversight, and what immigration advocates say uncomfortably resembles slave labor.... Expanding the number of immigrants rounded up into jails isn't just policy; it's big business.... [T]he private prisons giant GEO Group, expects its earnings to grow to $2.3 billion this year. Like other private prison companies, it made large donations to President Trump's campaign and inaugural.... For 19 privately owned or operated detention centers for which The Daily Beast could find recent pricing data, ICE paid an estimated $807 million in fiscal year 2018. Those 19 prisons hold 18,000 people -- meaning that for-profit prisons currently lock up about 41 percent of the 44,000 people detained by ICE. But that's not a comprehensive total, and the true figures are likely significantly higher." --s

Josh Kovensky of TPM: "Acting Attorney General and former hot tub salesman Matthew Whitaker claimed he earned 'All-American' academic honors during his University of Iowa football days on his resume and on government applications, but there's no record of it being true, the Wall Street Journal found. Whitaker claimed to have achieved the status of 'Academic All-American' while he was a tight end at the University of Iowa in the early 1990s. The College Sports Information Directors of America told the Journal it had no record of bestowing the honor, which requires a 3.3 GPA, on Whitaker. Whitaker claimed to have been awarded the honor in a 2010 application for an Iowa judgeship and in a resume sent to the patent marketing firm that he twisted arms for." ...

... Rafi Schwartz of Splinter goes into more detail on Whitaker's silly resume inflation and concludes, "This leaves us with two possibilities. One is that Whitaker simply did not understand that he was multiple steps away from actually getting the honor he repeatedly bragged that he'd received. If this is the case, the man currently serving as the nation's top legal official is at best easily confused by multi-tier organizational structure, and at worst, just hopelessly dumb. The second option, and frankly more believable one, is that Whitaker knew the wasn't actually an academic All-American, and lied about it anyway.... [He did] a lot of high profile bragging about what is essentially a 20-year-old embellishment that doesn't really matter at all.... Maybe it's the idealist in me, but if you're the sort of person who's gonna stumble ass backwards into the Attorney General's office, I'd hope you could be a little less used-car-salesmen and a little more Lex Luthor when it comes to your grift. I'm not mad -- I'm just disappointed." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Frankly, I think Whitaker is the perfect mini-Trump. Trump has repeatedly engaged in multi-million-dollar grifts, while Whitaker's grifts have been comparatively small potatoes (though you might not feel that way if you were one of Whitaker's marks). Phonies often inflate their college resumes. Trump has done that, too. Again and again. The main difference between them is that Trump was born with a silver-plated foot in his mouth. But he swears it was sterling.

"Profiles in Courage," Ctd. Nicole Lafond of TPM: "Outgoing Republican Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) on Wednesday warned of the dangers of accepting the term 'fake news' and suggested that Trump's presidency could eventually lead to the emergence of a 'Hitler-like character.' 'I want to be clear and explicit that I am not likening Trump to Hitler, but the forces at play could lead to a future Hitler-like character if we don't watch out,' he wrote on Facebook in a farewell statement." --s

Scott Shane of the New York Times: "Reid Hoffman, the tech billionaire whose money was spent on Russian-style social media deception in a Senate race last year, apologized on Wednesday, saying in a statement that he had not approved the operation and did not support such tactics in American politics. Mr. Hoffman said he had no idea that political operatives whose work he had financed had used fakery on Facebook and Twitter in the special Senate election a year ago in Alabama. But he had an obligation to track how his money was spent, he said, and he promised to exercise more care in the future.... He said he had financed 'organizations trying to re-establish civic, truth-focused discourse' and was 'embarrassed' to learn his money had been spent on disinformation. The New York Times and The Washington Post reported last week that $100,000 from Mr. Hoffman was spent on a deceptive social media campaign to aid Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate, who barely defeated the Republican, Roy Moore."

Emily Flitter of the New York Times: "Stocks broke their losing streak on Wednesday, posting their biggest single day of gains since 2009, as sales data showed spending by American consumers remains healthy and Russia signaled that it was willing to help keep oil prices higher. Investors were also reassured by a White House official's statement that Jerome H. Powell's job as Federal Reserve chairman was '100 percent' safe. The S & P 500 index rose 5 percent. The gains brought the index back from the brink of a bear market -- a decline of 20 percent from its peak -- though 2018 remains on track to be the benchmark's worst year since the global financial crisis a decade ago. The market's rally was broad." Mrs. McC: Besides, Trump is out of the country. What crazy thing could he possibly do to tank the markets? ...

... Thomas Heath of the Washington Post: "The Dow Jones industrial average roared 1,086 points, or 4.98 percent -- its biggest point gain in history -- as stocks snapped a four-day losing streak that had placed the 10-year bull market on the edge of death Monday."

The Daily Beast: "MSNBC ended the week of Dec. 21st with the No. 1 cable-news ratings on television, beating Fox News for the first time in 17 years.... It was also the fourth week in a row that MSNBC beat Fox News in the 8-11 p.m. prime-time hours in both total viewers and the 25-54 news demo. The Rachel Maddow Show was the most-watched cable news program of the week, with more than 3.2 million total viewers (compared to about 2.3 million for Sean Hannity). The victory comes amid a coordinated advertiser boycott of Tucker Carlson's prime-time Fox News show after the host claimed immigrants make America 'dirtier.'" --s

For those of you who read the New York Times' comments:

Margalit Fox of the New York Times:

Larry Eisenberg, whom we well know,
Has died (and his age is below).
He opined on the news
With limericks, whose
Delightfulness leavens our woe.

"Dr. Eisenberg, who died on Tuesday at 99, was for more than a decade one of the most prolific contributors of reader comments on nytimes.com -- and, by extension, on the internet as a whole. But what distinguished him even more than his prodigious output (more than 13,000 comments since 2008) was the form those comments took: verse -- mostly limericks -- perfectly rhymed, (usually) metrically impeccable and always germane to whatever recent news item had caught his eye. His daughter, Beth Eisenberg, announced the death. She said the cause was complications of acute myeloid leukemia. Dr. Eisenberg's verse made him a cult figure in the lively, atomized, fiercely opinionated parallel universe of The New York Times's online commenters. As Andrew Rosenthal, then the editorial page editor of The Times, wrote in 2012, Dr. Eisenberg was 'the closest thing this paper has to a poet in residence.'"

Beyond the Beltway

Tamar Hallerman & Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "State senator and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Michael Williams turned himself into Hall County jail Wednesday, days after news broke that he had been indicted on charges that included insurance fraud. Williams' attorney, A.J. Richman, said he negotiated bond with the district attorney and that his client will be 'out soon.'... The charges against the Forsyth County Republican, who will likely remain in office until mid-January, stem from a May incident in which Williams reported his Gainesville campaign office was burglarized. At the time, Williams' campaign manager said $300,000 worth of computer servers that were being used to mine cryptocurrency had been taken from the building. Williams is accused of lying to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent when he said he was at home in Forsyth County, not in the Gainesville area at the time of the purported burglary. The indictment, which doesn't say what allegedly actually happened to the servers, accuses Williams of making a false insurance claim related to the servers.... Williams came in fifth place out of five candidates in the Republican gubernatorial primary in May. He waged a controversial campaign that featured several attention-grabbing stunts, his final being a 'deportation bus.' He frequently highlighted his status as the first state official to endorse Donald Trump for president...."

News Lede

New York Times: "The final miles of a nearly two-month race across Antarctica -- a lonely effort marked by long days, short nights and stunning endurance -- ended Wednesday with a sprint to the finish. In what could go down as one of the great feats in polar history, the American Colin O'Brady, 33, covered the final 77.54 miles of the 921-mile journey across Antarctica in one final sleepless, 32-hour burst, becoming the first person ever to traverse Antarctica from coast to coast solo, unsupported and unaided by wind. O'Brady's transcontinental feat, which took him an actual total of 932 miles with some zigzags along the course, was remarkable enough; but to complete the final 77.54 miles in one shot -- essentially tacking an ultramarathon onto the 53rd day of an already unprecedented journey -- set an even higher bar for anyone who tries to surpass it."