The Commentariat -- January 25, 2016

Sorry for the delay in posting today. Comcast decided I needed a three-month vacation, so it cut off my phone, my teevee & my Internet service. I do need a vacation, but I wasn't planning on taking one. It took three hours to convince Comcast to reinstate by service. So I'm ba-a-a-ck. -- Constant Weader

Caitlin Yilek of the Hill: "Federal government offices in the Washington, D.C. area will be closed Monday due to the winter storm that hit the East Coast over the weekend." ...

... Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "The House will be out of session this week due to 'the severity of the winter storm in the D.C. area,' according to an email sent to lawmakers on Sunday.... The Senate will return for votes at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday." CW: Looks as if Speaker Ryan caught a few minutes of the view from his office's Webcam & decided to take the week off.'

Keith Laing of the Hill: "President Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday morning that his inability to reduce polarization between the political parties in Washington 'gnaws' on him as he settles into his final year in office."

** Sarah Ferris of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that North Dakota officials cannot enforce a controversial 'fetal heartbeat' law that would have banned abortions as early as six weeks. The justices upheld a lower court's ruling from July 2015, which struck down the measure. North Dakota's sole abortion clinic filed the lawsuit challenging the measure shortly after the law was approved in 2013. North Dakota's law -- one of the strictest in the country -- has been closely watched in the courts as many other GOP-led states look to tighten their abortion standards."

Amy Goodnough, et al., of the New York Times: "... interviews, documents and emails show that as every major decision was made [about Flint, Michigan's contaminated drinking water] over more than a year, officials at all levels of government acted in ways that contributed to the public health emergency and allowed it to persist for months. The government continued on its harmful course even after lead levels were found to be rising, and after pointed, detailed warnings came from a federal water expert, a Virginia Tech researcher and others." ...

... ** Paul Krugman: "... the nightmare in Flint reflects the resurgence in American politics of exactly the same [conservative] attitudes that led to London's Great Stink more than a century and a half ago.... What we see in Flint is an all too typically American situation of (literally) poisonous interaction between ideology and race, in which small-government extremists are empowered by the sense of too many voters that good government is simply a giveaway to Those People.... You can't understand what happened in Flint, and what will happen in many other places if current trends continue, without understanding the ideology that made the disaster possible."

Amanda Marcotte, in Salon, picks up on a theme we discussed here this past weekend: "Republicans like to think of themselves as the party of 'personal responsibility.'... But what's become quite clear in recent months is that, for conservatives, 'personal responsibility' is for other people. Conservatives love shaming genuinely responsible Americans because they occasionally need some help in hard times, but when asked to take responsibility for stuff that is actually their responsibility to take, conservatives will, more often than not, scream bloody murder."

Mark Mazzetti & Map Apuzzo of the New York Times: "... support for the Syrian rebels is only the latest chapter in the decadeslong relationship between the spy services of Saudi Arabia and the United States, an alliance that has endured through the Iran-contra scandal, support for the mujahedeen against the Soviets in Afghanistan and proxy fights in Africa.... The old ties of cheap oil and geopolitics that have long bound the countries together have loosened as America's dependence on foreign oil declines and the Obama administration tiptoes toward a diplomatic rapprochement with Iran.And yet the alliance persists, kept afloat on a sea of Saudi money and a recognition of mutual self-interest.... The long intelligence relationship helps explain why the United States has been reluctant to openly criticize Saudi Arabia for its human rights abuses, its treatment of women and its support for the extreme strain of Islam, Wahhabism, that has inspired many of the very terrorist groups the United States is fighting."

Charles Pierce (Jan. 22) on Debbie Wasserman Schultz & that guy at the National Review who thinks admirers of President Obama are just like Adolf Hitler & Juan Peron fans.

Presidential Race

Glenn Thrush of Politico interviewed President Obama about the 2016 presidential race: "Obama didn't utter an unkind word about Sanders, who has been respectfully critical of his administration's reluctance to prosecute Wall Street executives and his decision to abandon a single-payer health care system as politically impractical. But he was kinder to Clinton. When I asked Obama whether he thought Sanders needed to expand his horizons, if the Vermont senator was too much a one-issue candidate too narrowly focused on income inequality, the presidente didn't dispute the assertion." The transcript is here; audio below:

... Greg Sargent: "What this really represents, I think, is Obama essentially taking sides in one of the fundamental underlying arguments of the 2016 Democratic primary: the battle between Clinton's and Sanders' theories of change.... Obama is basically trying to pour cold water on the loftiness of Sanders' argument, by nodding to the 'appeal' of promising another transformative moment, while suggesting that Clinton's more constrained view of what can be 'delivered' is more realistic, and that this is actually an attribute that recommends her for the presidency." ...

... CW: The trouble with the theory of competence is that the most competent administrators among a field of candidates seldom are the ones voters choose. Obama is the exception, not the rule -- someone who has Sanders' ability to inspire & Clinton's ability -- with the help of Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid -- to get stuff done. Mario Cuomo famously said, "You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose." But most candidates are better at one than the other. Certainly John Kasich, and even Jeb! (not to mention also-ran Scott Walker, now consigned to skillfully ruining Wisconsin) are better bureaucrats than Donald Trump & Ted Cruz. But check those poll numbers. Bernie Sanders has been in Congress for a quarter of a century. He knows how it works. Will he ram thru universal health care & Wall Street reform in his first 100 days? Nah. ...

... E.J. Dionne: "It's the Obama Paradox. The president has a 91 percent favorable rating among Iowa Democrats (which is why Clinton is hugging him so closely). But many Democrats who admire him still wish he had been more aggressive in sticking it to the GOP. They identify with the Sanders who told me (and anyone else who'd listen) back in 2010: 'While Obama and the Democrats have a large number of achievements, it was not enough. We needed to be bolder.' Most Democrats want to be bolder now." ...

... Steve M.: "... maybe raising unrealistic expectations is just how successful politicians motivate voters nowadays."

CW: If you're feeling upbeat about a Democratic blowout in November, read Alexrod & Blow. They will ruin your day. ...

... Why Trump? David Axelrod, in a New York Times op-ed: "It's far too early to picture the iconic Trump logo affixed to the White House portico. But as the most ardent and conspicuous counterpoint to the man in the White House today, the irrepressible Mr. Trump already has defied all expectations." ...

... Charles Blow: "If [Hillary] Clinton can't find a positive, energetic message to project, and soon, she is going to be swept away by [Bernie] Sanders. Some part of Sanders's proposals and even his vision for this country may indeed be a fairy tale. But in the 2008 race, Bill Clinton criticized Obama and his position on the Iraq war as a 'fairy tale.' Well fairy tales sometimes come true, particularly when Hillary Clinton stumbles." ...

AND now, for a couple of asides:

(1) Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The dead people of America really don't want Hillary Clinton to be president.... [A] trend of telling the world how to vote after you are dead appears to be fairly recent in provenance, but maybe it's just that the internet allows all of us to pass these things around more easily." Bump cites numerous obituaries that contained advice to voters.

(2) Annie Laurie of Balloon Juice has had enough of the First-in-the-Nation State of New Hampshire: "... it would be a net positive if a Trump win in the NH primary were to destroy the enfeebled 'tradition' where a small non-representative very-white state full of angry old tourist-milkers, Free State glibertarians, and social parasites commuting across the border every workday to use Massachusetts resources while avoiding Massachusetts taxes has entirely too much power to winnow presidential choices for the rest of us."

Boston Globe Editors: "This is Clinton's time, and the Globe enthusiastically endorses her in the Feb. 9 Democratic primary in New Hampshire." ...

... Concord Monitor Editors: "Only one Democratic candidate for president is truly qualified to hold the job: Hillary Clinton."

John Wagner & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "... with an upset over Hillary Clinton in next Monday's Iowa caucuses potentially within his grasp, [Bernie] Sanders has emerged as a more combative -- and in some ways, more conventionally political -- candidate.... He ... is attacking Clinton more directly..., demonstrating that he has both the stomach and the punch for a political brawl.... Over the course of The Post interview, Sanders said Clinton was running a 'desperate' campaign incapable of generating the kind of excitement his has. He raised questions about her motives and character. He said he expects Clinton and her campaign to 'throw the kitchen sink' at him in the coming week in what he described as a craven attempt to avoid an embarrassing loss in Iowa."

Nick Gass of Politico: "'It's time for Ted Cruz to either settle his problem with the FACT that he was born in Canada and was a citizen of Canada, or get out of race,' [Donald] Trump tweeted Monday morning, on the heels of Fox News polls released over the weekend that showed him with double-digit leads over Cruz in both Iowa and New Hampshire." ...

... Maggie Haberman & Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "... on Sunday, [Donald Trump] went to church in eastern Iowa, where he studied 'humility,' he later told attendees at a rally.... 'We talked about humility in church today,' Mr. Trump told the crowd. 'I don't know if that was aimed at me, perhaps,' he joked.... Backstage, he told a handful of reporters that he enjoyed the service. 'I have more humility than people think,' he said." ...

... Maggie Haberman: "Donald J. Trump spent the last seven months saying he wanted to win. Now he is really acting like it.... On Friday night, the candidate who almost always flies home in his private Boeing 757 to Trump Tower in New York or to his palatial Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., instead slept in a Holiday Inn Express in Sioux City, Iowa. ('Good mattress,' he said afterward. 'Clean.') And on Sunday, no doubt mindful that Mr. Cruz is counting on conservative Christians to carry him to victory in this state's caucuses, Mr. Trump showed up for church here in eastern Iowa, with photographers trailing, sat quietly through the 60-minute service, left two crisp $50 bills in the collection plate and shook hands all around, before resuming his attack on Mr. Cruz at a news conference and rally nearby." ...

... Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "With a week left until the Iowa caucuses, Trump is seeking to close the deal by portraying himself as a great uniter who can bring Washington together, healing ideological rifts with the sheer force of his personality. It's a branding effort that seems at odds with the often-angry tone of Trump's campaign, whose critics frequently carry signs that read, 'A vote for Trump is a vote for hate.'" ...

... Eric Levitz of New York: "Aside From Threatening to Shoot People and Mocking Minorities, Trump Is Now Acting Like Normal Candidate.... Granted, he has a little ways to go on the normalcy front: At a rally Sunday night, he mocked a protester in a turban for 'wearing a funny hat.' And he also boasted over the weekend that his supporters would stand by him even if he shot someone to death on Fifth Avenue." ...

... Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker contrasts the campaign styles & objectives of Donald Trump & Ted Cruz. "I had never previously been to a political event at which people cheered for the murder of women and children." CW: Entertaining, if you like scary movies. ...

... He's a Tenther! Katie Glueck of Politico: "Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is endorsing Ted Cruz in the Republican presidential primary, Perry told Politico in an interview Sunday night. Perry, who also sought the GOP nomination before dropping out in September, said he now sees the race as one that is between Cruz, a fellow Texan, and Donald Trump.... Perry said he found the senator to be a good listener who respects the Tenth Amendment, 'knows what he does not know' and is more conservative than Trump. 'Of those individuals who have a chance to win the Republican primary, at this juncture, from my perspective, Ted Cruz is by far the most consistent conservative in that crowd,' Perry said. 'And that appears to be down to two people.'" ...

... The Empty Cassock. Benjamin Wallace-Wells of the New Yorker: "The Cruz campaign has some of the tone of a social movement, and at times the paraphernalia.... And yet it is a very strange social movement, because it is so narrow: Morning in Washington, with almost no mention of America.... For Cruz, the fight for power in Washington is not only the orienting fight in American life but the only one.... Cruz has the partisan ferocity of the culture warrior -- the purist politics, the overriding will to power -- but he is a warrior without a war."

Nick Gass: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie strongly contested the notion that his state sustained residual flooding damage from the winter storm that slammed the East Coast over the weekend, accusing one reporter of 'making it up.' During an interview with MSNBC's 'Morning Joe,' senior Huffington Post politics editor Sam Stein asked the governor about 'critics in your state and elsewhere who do wonder why you're back up in New Hampshire so early.'... 'Oh yeah?' asked a resident of Cape May County, New Jersey, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer's report published Sunday evening. 'Gov. Christie should come down here and get in his fishing waders and live my life.' According to the same report, in which residents, local officials and business owners called the flooding worse than Sandy in 2012, Christie characterized coastal flooding as minor to moderate, and remarked at a Sunday news conference that there was no significant property damage." ...

... From Reuters, via the Washington Post. See the WashPo story, also linked in yesterday's News Ledes. The story includes photos residents took of severe flooding in Atlantic City, Ocean Beach & Wildwood, New Jersey. CW: I guess Christie figures this is some awesome Photoshopping -- New Jerseyites are really good at "making it up," too.

Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey angrily scolded Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on Sunday for his sarcastic remark about the blizzard that crippled much of the Northeast this weekend.... Mr. Rubio, campaigning in New Hampshire on Friday, joked that the storm is 'probably one of the best things to happen to the republic in quite a while' because it temporarily prevented the federal government from issuing new regulations and President Obama from signing executive orders. The remark left Mr. Christie furious on Sunday as he confronted dangerous coastal flooding across his home state of New Jersey. 'That's a difference,' Mr. Christie said on CNN, 'between a United States senator who has never been responsible for anything and a governor who is responsible for everything that goes on in your state.'"

Mary Jordan of the Washington Post: "At a time when most Americans support a landmark shift in U.S. policy on Cuba, [Marco] Rubio has positioned himself as that move's biggest foe. He champions a Cold War approach that many think is outdated, even as it runs counter to his image as the youthful leader of a new generation...." Meanwhile, he is enjoying his Senate power to hold hostage President Obama's nominees to Latin American diplomats, including the position of ambassador to Mexico. CW: Let's let Marco be President of the 1960s.

Tone Deaf. Bradford Richardson: "... Jeb Bush on Sunday praised Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) for the way he has handled the fallout from the water contamination crisis in the city of Flint. 'I admire Rick Snyder for stepping up right now. He's going to the challenge, and he's fired people and accepted responsibility to fix this,' Bush ... said on CNN's 'State of the Union.' Bush elaborated that he has been critical of Snyder for his negligence leading up to the crisis, but applauded the governor for the way he has taken responsibility to fix the problem." ...

... Yeah, Right. Timothy Cama of the Hill (January 22): "Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) laid the blame for the Flint drinking water crisis on employees at the state's environmental agency. 'The department people, the heads, were not being given the right information by the quote-unquote experts,' Snyder told host Joe Scarborough [of MSNBC]."

Beyond the Beltway

Aamer Madhani of USA Today: "Mayor Rahm Emanuel has hired one of America's high-profile, big-city law enforcement officers to advise the embattled Chicago Police Department on civil rights issues. Emanuel said Sunday he picked Charles Ramsey, who recently retired as the Philadelphia Police Department commissioner and previously led the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department."

Regina Zilbermints of the (Biloxi) Sun Herald: "Authorities have released the names of all four people involved in a shooting at a Pearl River County[, Mississippi,] gun store that left two dead and two injured." The gun store owner & his son were killed. The parties were arguing over a $25 service fee.

Good Cops. Daniel Politi of Slate: A Gainsville policeman brings some back-up to a street basketball game. Watch the original video, too, of Officer White's response to a noise complaint, which is linked in the post.

Way Beyond

James Rothwell & Josie Ensor of the (U.K.) Telegraph: "The gunmen behind the Paris terror attacks have appeared in a newly released Isil video in which they behead several unidentified hostages. The footage was shot before the attacks took place in November 2015 but was published on Sunday evening. It is unclear when exactly the footage was filmed."

News Lede

New York: "British explorer Henry Worsley died this weekend, during his attempt to become the first person to ever cross Antarctica alone, only 30 miles from the end of his journey. He had already traveled more than 900 miles over 71 days. The 55-year-old died from 'complete organ failure' -- he appeared to have bacterial peritonitis, an infection on his abdomen, and was severely exhausted and dehydrated." Worsley's New York Times obituary is here.

The Commentariat -- January 24, 2016

Robert Burns of the AP: "In the spring of 2014, as a team of experts was examining what ailed the U.S. nuclear force, the Air Force withheld from them the fact that it was simultaneously investigating damage to a nuclear-armed missile in its launch silo caused by three airmen. The Air Force on Friday gave The Associated Press the first substantive description of the accident after being questioned about it by the AP for more than a year."

Maureen Dowd argues that Sarah Palin is boon to feminism because she proves "that a woman can stumble, babble incoherently on stage and spew snide garbage, and it isn't a blot on the female copybook."

Presidential Race

Des Moines Register Editors: "Democrats have one outstanding candidate deserving of their support: Hillary Clinton. No other candidate can match the depth or breadth of her knowledge and experience." ...

... Des Moines Register Editors: "Sen. Marco Rubio has the potential to chart a new direction for the party, and perhaps the nation, with his message of restoring the American dream. We endorse him because he represents his party's best hope." ...

... Amailie Nash of the Des Moines Register on how the paper went about evaluating the candidates. ...

... Harry Enten of 538 consults the historical record to examine the effects of Des Moines Register endorsements on the caucus results. "Even though Rubio probably won't receive enough of a boost to win the Republican caucuses in Iowa, the endorsement could help him finish higher there, in turn helping him in the fight to win the title of 'top establishment candidate' in the GOP race. Clinton could be put over the top...."

Oh, Great! Jonathan Lamire & Lisa Lerer of the AP: "Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is taking early steps toward launching an independent campaign for president, seeing a potential path to the White House amid the rise of Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders. Bloomberg has retained advisers and plans to conduct a poll after the Feb. 9 New Hampshire primary to assess the state of the race and judge whether there is an opening for him to mount an independent campaign...." ...

... The New York Times story, by Alexander Burns & Maggie Haberman is here. ...

... Steve M.: "That other egomaniac Manhattan billionaire with delusions of political grandeur, Mike Bloomberg, is talking seriously about running for president.... No, Bloomberg won't win. But he might gift-wrap the presidency for the GOP, with corporatist Democrats' help."

Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "As seven Republican candidates made their case at Saturday's First in the Nation Presidential Town Hall in Nashua, [New Hampshire,] much of the focus on stage and behind the scenes centered on the one who wasn't there. With 17 days until New Hampshire votes, Donald Trump skipped the state's final pre-primary cattle call to campaign in Iowa. But his rivals for the Republican nomination kept him in the spotlight, even as they ignored candidates closer at hand and in the polls."

Caitlin Yilek of the Hill: "Fox News is not bowing to ... Donald Trump's calls to remove Megyn Kelly as host of the next GOP debate. Trump tweeted Saturday that the Fox News host 'should not be allowed to be a moderator of the next debate' because of a 'conflict of interest.'... 'Megyn Kelly has no conflict of interest,' Fox said in the statement. 'Donald Trump is just trying to build up the audience for Thursday's debate, for which we thank him.'" ...

... Trump's Amateur Hour. Eliza Collins of Politico: "Donald Trump used footage of Russian soldiers in a video post on his Facebook page that was meant to convey his respect for America's veterans. The video -- which was later deleted -- contains images of soldiers with medals that have the hammer and sickle, the symbol for communism, and 'CCCP,' an abbreviation for the Soviet Union. The original footage is available on the stock footage site Shutterstock and is titled 'RUSSIA, TOGLIATTI, MAY 9, 2015, Victory Day: Veterans of World War II with red flowers in hand at the Military Parade, military medals.'" In Trump's video..., Trump speaks directly into the camera and says, 'Our great veterans are being treated terribly, the corruption in the Veterans Administration, the incompetence is beyond. We will stop them.'" CW: If not a clownish mistake, then Donald really, really identifies with his best bro Vladimir. ...

... Jeremy Herb of Politico: "The Republican defense establishment is terrified Donald Trump will fail the 'commander in chief test' with voters should he continue to defy all predictions and become the GOP nominee.... Trump has made a long list of curious statements on foreign policy. In a recent debate, he didn't seem to know about the 'nuclear triad' -- the nuclear-armed bombers, land-based missiles and submarines that make up the U.S. atomic arsenal. He has confused the F-35 fighter jet with the Long-Range Strike Bomber, and the Kurds with Iran's Quds Force. He's said he gets military advice watching television, has praised U.S. foes like Russian President Vladimir Putin and has shown no apparent interest in seeking the counsel of the party's national security sages." CW: AND he can't tell the difference between U.S. & Russian soldiers. ...

... Yeah but WTF? Ben Kamisar of the Hill: "... Donald Trump thinks there's not much he could possibly do to erode his support. Lauding his fans' loyalty at a campaign event in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Saturday, Trump said ... 'I have the most loyal people, did you ever see that? I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot people and I wouldn't lose voters.'..." ...

... Donald Finds a Friendly Senator. Anna Palmer of Politico: "Sen. Chuck Grassley gave a rousing introduction speech at a Donald Trump rally, but he didn't go so far as to endorse the 2016 Republican candidate." Well, a fair-weather friend. Grassley "He is also slated to appear at Marco Rubio's event in Iowa next Saturday." ...

... CW: Ross Douthat seems to have more of a sense of realpolitik than does his colleague David Brooks. Brooks suggested a week or so ago that Republican leaders across the country form a "collective" to "organize ... a grass roots movement" to defeat Trump. (Apparently Brooks is confused about the meaning of "grass roots," but what with the "grass-roots" Tea party being a Koch enterprise, one can understand Brooks' mistake.) Douthat recommends that Trump's opponents run a different kind of attack campaign -- one that destroys Trump's "brand" and "persuade[s] people that he's a con artist, and they're his marks." Here's what Douthat has in mind:

... Ben Kamisar: "...Donald Trump says he may file a lawsuit over rival Ted Cruz's eligibility for the White House.... [At the Sioux City event, he said,] 'The Democrats are going to sue if he ever got the nomination within two days. There have already been two lawsuits filed, but they don't have standing. I have standing to sue. Can you imagine if I did it? Should I do it just for fun?' Trump added that he believes that he will defeat Cruz without the need of a legal challenge to his candidacy, which is why he probably will not sue."

Portrait of the Megalomaniac as a Young Man. Shane Goldmacher of Politico: "A new video of a teenaged Ted Cruz, posted Saturday on YouTube, shows a lankier and younger version of the future Republican presidential candidate sarcastically talking about his life's goals -- and they're far more ambitious than the mere presidency. 'Take over the world, world domination, you know, rule everything. Rich, powerful, that sort of stuff,' Cruz says":

Beyond the Beltway

Mary Walsh of the New York Times: "Negotiations to restructure roughly $9 billion of the debt of Puerto Rico's power company collapsed late Friday, raising the prospect of the biggest default yet in Puerto Rico's deepening debt crisis. The creditors blamed the utility, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or Prepa, for scuttling the talks, saying Prepa officials had decided to let a critical expiration date pass without taking action. But Prepa said it was the creditors' fault for trying to impose a requirement that Prepa had already rejected."

The Frivolous Poor. Amy Davidson of the New Yorker: "It was as if [Michigan] state officials thought [the poisonous water they pumped into Flint] was all a cultural problem, poor people being frivolous instead of drinking water that had long been, as one memo put it, 'perfectly fine.'"

Les Zaitz of the Oregonian: "Occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for three weeks have made sweeping demands that local and federal authorities say are both brazen and unrealistic.... A bedrock claim of the small group led by Arizona businessman Ammon Bundy is that the Constitution limits federal ownership of land.... But scholars say Bundy and his followers are misreading the Constitution" on accounta that missed this part: "Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 -- known as the 'Property Clause': 'The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States.'" Also missed: all the case law that interprets that clause. CW: That is, the "occupiers" are pretty much just selfish, whiney, gun-totin' ignoramuses. But we knew that.

News Ledes

AP: "Seven people were taken to hospital after an American Airlines plane from Miami to Milan made an emergency landing in Newfoundland after the jet briefly encountered severe turbulence."

Washington Post: "... the winter snowstorm ... thrust a hurricane-like surge of water into the [East C]oast, producing historic flooding. At Cape May, N.J., the water level surged to 8.98 feet Saturday morning -- the highest on record there, and major flood state. It broke the previous record of 8.9 feet set in Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The story was the same on the Delaware coast, where Lewes reached a new record water level of 9.27 feet, breaking the previous record of 9.20 feet set in 1962."

Los Angeles Times: "Sheriff's investigators Sunday were continuing to search for three dangerous prisoners who escaped from the Orange County Men's Central Jail by cutting through half-inch steel bars, making their way through plumbing tunnels and then rappelling from the roof using a makeshift rope."

AP: "A magnitude-7.1 earthquake knocked items off shelves and walls in south-central Alaska and jolted the nerves of residents in this earthquake-prone region on Saturday night. But there were no immediate reports of injuries. One home was extensively damaged and an entire neighborhood was evacuated after a gas leak was reported, Kenai police chief Gus Sandahl said on Sunday morning."

New York Times: "A massive snowstorm that blanketed the East Coast moved out to sea on Sunday, leaving 28 people dead, near-record snowfall in some major cities and heavy flooding along the coast. Residents emerged with snowplows and shovels, and tens of thousands of stranded travelers were scrambling to get to their destinations or find alternate arrangements." ...

     ... As of 6 pm ET, the Times is still liveblogging storm-related events. ...

... Weather Channel: "Millions of Americans were preparing to dig themselves out Sunday after crippling Winter Storm Jonas brought not just big snow, but ice, high winds and flooding. At least 14 people have died in the storm, a quarter of a million customers have lost power and hundreds of crashes have been reported." ...

... New York Times: "The day after a blizzard covered New York City with more than 30 inches of snow in some parts, grappling with its sheer volume was the next order of business." ...

... Washington Post: "The Washington region awoke Sunday, battered by one of the biggest storms in local history, to face a monumental dig out that is likely to hobble the area well into the workweek." ...

... Snapshots from Space. USA Today: "NASA astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted pictures of view of the epic storm from the International Space Station on Saturday morning." Includes two of Kelly's photos.

The Commentariat -- January 23, 2016

Gloria has an excellent comment today noting how the Avatar of the Party of Personal Responsibility & Family Values rejects its phony catchphrases in practice. One can find other excellent examples, even in current news -- like Ted Cruz's forgetting -- purposefully or carelessly -- to obtain new health insurance coverage for his family. Or Carly Fiorina's corraling four-year-olds into an anti-abortion rally (without obtaining parental approval, natch). Would you up & tell a stranger's preschooler about abortion? No, I didn't think so. It's bizarre.

Barry Meier of the New York Times: "... newly disclosed documents suggest that Iranian officials knew far more about [Robert] Levinson[, a CIA consultant who disappeared in Iran in 2007]. In late 2011, a top Iranian diplomat acknowledged that his country was holding the American and would release him if the United States helped delay an assessment criticizing Iran's nuclear activities, the documents say."

Reuters: "Twelve US marines missing after two military helicopters collided last week off Hawaii's Oahu island have been listed as deceased, the military said on Thursday. The coast guard called off the search for the missing marines on Tuesday after five days of search and rescue efforts across some 40,000 square nautical miles of ocean, along with shorelines."

Michael Cieply of the New York Times: "Confronting a fierce protest over a second straight year of all-white Oscar acting nominations, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said on Friday that it would make radical changes to its voting requirements, recruiting process and governing structure, with an aim toward increasing the diversity of its membership.The changes were approved at an unusual special meeting of the group's 51-member governing board Thursday night." ...

... The Los Angeles Times story, by Rebecca Keegan, is here.

Brian Stelter of CNN: "In a statement Friday morning, [Washington Post reporter Jason] Rezaian said he and his family members were heading home to the states. They were traveling on a private jet with [WashPo/Amazon.com owner Jeff] Bezos, according to a person at the Post who asked not to be named."

Eliza Collins of Politico: "Bowe Bergdahl's defense lawyer on Friday said his client's right to a fair trial had been 'irreparably compromised' by Donald Trump, and said he might call the billionaire presidential candidate to the witness stand..... He said that Trump, who often calls Bergdahl a 'no-good traitor' during campaign events and has called for his execution, was allowed to say what he wanted under the First Amendment but that he could face a defamation case in the future."

Presidential Race

CW: It's telling that in none of the debates organized by either party has a reporter from Politifact or FactCheck.org been invited to participate in the moderators' panel. Of course it would be impolite to tell Hillary Clinton her pants were on fire, but it would be okay to flash a graphic, which would require minimal artwork, of Donald Trump's hair in flames. The public deserves more Candy Crowley "He did in fact,sir" moments.

Mark Landler, et al., of the New York Times: President "Obama has said he will not endorse a candidate during the primaries; his advisers are careful not to root publicly for anyone. But the White House is working with Mrs. Clinton's campaign in ways large and small. Their two staffs consult on issues ranging from the campaign's use of Mr. Obama's image in advertisements to the positions she takes on his policy priorities, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which she pushed as secretary of state and then came out against as a candidate." ...

... Philip Rucker & Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: "With another Iowa presidential contest at risk of slipping out of Hillary Clinton's reach, the Democratic Party is launching a massive effort this weekend to boost her candidacy. A crowd of well-known entertainment and political figures, including Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (Va.), a former party chairman, and Tony Goldwyn, star of the hit series 'Scandal,' is jetting to all corners of this state to help Clinton erase her enthusiasm deficit to Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.). And major progressive groups such as the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the National Education Association are firing up their political operations, including door-knocking teams and phone banks, to give her an outside push." ...

... Reuters: "The US State Department asked a judge on Friday for a one-month extension to finish publicly releasing thousands of emails sent by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state, in part because a winter storm closed government offices. The department said in a federal court filing it needed until 29 February after realizing this week that it had 'overlooked' emails amounting to 7,254 printed pages that it should have already shared with other agencies for them to review for sensitive information.... Whether Judge Rudolph Contreras will grant the extension is unclear...."

Kasie Hunt of MSNBC: "Planned Parenthood, the Human Rights Campaign and other progressive groups that have endorsed Hillary Clinton are not part of the political establishment, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Thursday, walking back comments he made earlier this week on MSNBC."

He Who Does Not Show Up. Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "As eight Republican candidates prepared to make their case at Saturday's First in the Nation Presidential Town Hall in Nashua, New Hampshire, much of the jockeying behind the scenes focused on the one who won't be there. With 17 days until the state's primary, Donald Trump is skipping the state's final pre-primary cattle call to campaign in Iowa. And the old guard of New Hampshire Republican politics is openly rooting for Trump's lead in the state to collapse." ...

... The Twittersphere of the Donald. Eliza Collins: "Donald Trump on Friday retweeted a message from a Twitter user with the handle @WhiteGenocideTM. The tweet features a photoshopped picture of Jeb Bush holding a 'vote for Trump' sign outside of Trump Tower. The user's profile has a black banner photo with red lettering that says 'Get the f--- out of my country.' The name attached to the profile is Donald Trumpovitz and the location is 'Jewmerica,' with a link to a page promoting a pro-Adolf Hitler documentary." ...

... (U.K.) Press Association: "US presidential hopeful Donald Trump is making it more difficult to confront and defeat extremists by making the 'fundamental mistake' of trying to blame all Muslims for the ideology of a minority, [British Prime Minister] David Cameron has said." ...

... The Monster Has Orange Hair. Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "... when National Review launched its special issue 'Against Trump' [Thursday] night, it was keeping to a venerable tradition of policing the right.... The special issue ... seems designed to be its definitive statement, a historical milestone on par with William F. Buckley's denunciation of the John Birch Society in 1965 or the magazine's rejection of Pat Buchanan's anti-Semitism in 1991. Yet ... too much time is spent trying to prove that Trump is not a real conservative, while ignoring the fact that the racist nationalism he is espousing has its origins on the right.... In truth, the relationship between National Review and Donald Trump is like that of Victor Frankenstein and his monster.... Without Frankenstein, there is no monster. And without a conservative movement that fostered and indulged white identity politics, there is no Donald Trump." ...

... Steve M. does an excellent job of tearing apart just one point the NR editors made: "... if you have no familiarity with the relevant details and the levers of power, and no clear principles to guide you, you will, like most tenderfeet, get rolled." Steve finds a number of instances where NR writers have applauded amateur politicians for being "outsiders" or CEOs who "knew how to meet a payroll." Echoing Heer, Steve says to NR, "You told us that America could be saved by CEOs who know squat about politics. You said political experience doesn't help, and is actually a liability. So reap what you've sown." ...

... ** More on how the National Review writers & other conservatives created Donald Trump. "Conservatives fear him not because he is an ignorant demagogue, but because he's not their ignorant demagogue.... Movement conservatism rejects the conclusions of wide swaths of economists, social scientists, the entire field of climate science ... of course it is liable to attract anti-intellectual candidates. A second problem is that conservative doctrine is unpopular with the public as well. The majority may often support generalized anti-government sentiment, but it does not follow those generalities through to their specific implications." So conservative candidates engage in doublespeak, where, for instance, they say they'll repeal ObamaCare & replace it with "their own vague alternative health-care plans.... The difference is that, when Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio promise to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something terrific, conservatives can trust that they're lying." ...

... The Trump Gazette. Jack Shafer of Politico on how Donald Trump resembles an 1890s tabloid.

CW: What I Said Yesterday. Dana Milbank: "That soft flapping sound you hear is the Grand Old Party waving the flag of surrender to Trump. Party elites -- what's left of the now-derided 'establishment' -- are acquiescing to the once inconceivable: that a xenophobic and bigoted showman is now the face of the Republican Party and of American conservatism." ...

... Gail Collins: "Under normal conditions, if a party was confronted with a candidate who had never held any public office, whose political activism consisted mainly of trying to prove Barack Obama was born in Africa, and whose platform consisted of whatever stuff was getting good crowd response at the last rally, everybody would race to get behind the alternative. So if Trump does win this thing, he'll owe it all to the terribleness of Ted Cruz." ...

CW: What I Said Yesterday. But Worse. Liar, Liar, Liar.

Blue Cross Blue Shield cancelled all their individual (health care) policies in the state of Texas, effective Dec. 31. -- Ted Cruz, January 21, in a New Hampshire appearance

Actually, the company continues to sell coverage all over Texas, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. The company also says individual customers like Cruz were notified [more than 5] months before 2016 changes -- including an end to individual PPO plans -- kicked in. So, Cruz was both incorrect about Blue Cross' offerings in Texas and evidently mischaracterized how his own coverage came to lapse. -- Gardner Selby of Politifact

Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times: "Cruz's problem has nothing to do with Obamacare and everything to do with his own sloth.... Ted also claimed his premiums -- and the voters' -- would go up 50 percent, "but average rate increases in the individual market in Texas aren't anywhere near 50%.... In New Hampshire, the biggest plans had increases in the single digits." But wait, there's more: "A campaign spokesman tol[d] the Wall Street Journal that the Cruz family had been automatically enrolled by BlueCross BlueShield in one of its HMOs..., as of Jan. 1, when their former PPO plan expired. The insurance carrier did this for all 2015 PPO enrollees who took no action before Dec. 31.... The insurance carrier informed all affected customers of the change."

... Kyle Mantyla of Right Wing Watch: "Ted Cruz says he is "grateful" to have the endorsement of Mike Bickle, a "prophet" who believes Oprah Winfrey is a forerunner to the antichrist. "Bickle is the founder of the International House of Prayer, a controversial missionary organization in Kansas City, Missouri, that some critics have labeled a cult and which is best known for engaging in nonstop 24-hour-a-day prayer in preparation for the End Times and for its anti-gay activism in Uganda. Bickle is just the latest in a long list of radical Religious Right activists who have publicly endorsed Cruz for president, many of whom Cruz's campaign has eagerly embraced.... Back in 2008, Republican presidential nominee John McCain was forced to reject the endorsement of John Hagee after it was revealed that Hagee had made comments similar to Bickle's about God having used Hitler as a 'hunter' to force the Jews return to Israel." ...

Young Ted (right) with friend David Panton. Even though it appears that Cruz is doing his "I have a black friend" thing, Panton really is Cruz's friend, & he isn't just Cruz's only black friend; he's probably Cruz's only friend.... Rosalind Helderman & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post report on the friendship between Ted Cruz & his college roommate David Panton, the son of prominent Jamaicans.

Beyond the Beltway

Mark Guarino of the Washington Post: "If a lead-laced water supply wasn't enough to deal with, many residents of Flint, Mich., face a new crisis: Replacing the water heaters, pipes and even the service lines to their homes that may have been damaged by the city's water. And for now, it's unclear whether they will receive any help in covering those costs."

Another Elected Official Goes to Jail. Christopher Goffard of the Los Angeles Times: "Former Santa Ana City Councilman Carlos Bustamante [R] was sentenced to a year in jail Friday on charges that included attempted sexual battery and grand theft. Bustamante, who also had served as an executive manager for Orange County, pleaded guilty in December to attempted sexual battery, stalking, assault and false imprisonment. Prosecutors had accused Bustamante of assaulting seven female county employees between 2003 and 2011 while working at the Orange County Public Works Department."

Jessica Lee of the Seattle Times: "Authorities have in custody a man who they believe accidentally shot and injured a woman in a Renton[, Washington,] movie theater Thursday night, Renton police Cmdr. David Liebman said. Investigators believe the 29-year-old man was intoxicated when he entered a showing of the film '13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi' at Regal Cinemas The Landing 14, 900 N. 10th Place, with a loaded gun before 8:15 p.m., he said." ...

     ... CW: A drunk with a gun -- sounds like your typical "13 Hours" fan.

Way Beyond

Joshua Partlow of the Washington Post: "The rapid spread of the Zika virus has prompted Latin American governments to urge women not to get pregnant for up to two years, an extraordinary precaution aimed at avoiding birth defects believed to be linked to the mosquito-borne illness." CW: That should upset all the anti-contraception freaks.

News Ledes

The Washington Post's liveblog of theEast Coast storm, continued from yesterday, is here. Access is free. ...

... The New York Times has a map, which it updates hourly, of actual recorded snowfall along the East Coast & inland. It's a slow-loader. The Times' liveblog is here. ...

... At 1:15 pm ET, the WashPo blog reports these highlights:

• Snow totals have mainly reached the 14-20 inch range with some 20+ inch totals north and west of the city; snow expected to continue through late tonight.
• Thundersnow has been reported. Extreme snowfall rates up to 2-3 inches per hour are possible into the early afternoon north and west of D.C., easing a bit thereafter.
• A lull or lighter snow is possible at times in the District and points south and east.
• Wind gusts of 40-50 mph cause whiteout conditions today with blowing and drifting snow. Winds are strongest east of the District toward the bay.
• Total snow accumulations of 16 to 30 inches are expected. Highest north and west of District, lowest southeast.

... Washington Post Update: "The storm pummeling the East Coast with snow and blustery winds continued to wreak havoc on air travel, canceling thousands of flights throughout the weekend." ...

... New York Times: "Making up for a remarkably mild winter, the first major snowstorm of the season barreled up the East Coast on Saturday, with accumulations of three inches an hour bringing a long stretch of the country from Tennessee to New York to a near-standstill.... [New York] Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declared a state of emergency and urged residents to stay home." ...

     ... New Lede: "... a blizzard propelled by tropical-storm-force winds that brought much of the Northeast to a standstill and left more than two feet of snow in New York City, where Mayor Bill de Blasio called it 'very likely one of the worst snowstorms in our history.' Officials imposed a travel ban in and around the city to keep drivers off streets."