The Commentariat -- Dec. 30, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon Update:

Nick Corasaniti & Rachel Shorey of the New York Times: "First and last names. Recent addresses and phone numbers. Party affiliation. Voting history and demographics. A database containing this information from 191 million voter records was mysteriously published over the last week..., alarming privacy experts who say the information can be used for phishing attacks, identity theft and extortion. No one knows who built the database, or precisely where all the data came from, and whether its disclosure resulted from an inadvertent release or from hacks. The disclosure was discovered by an information technology specialist, Chris Vickery, who quickly alerted the authorities and published his findings on Databreaches.net."

Christine Hauser & Daniel Victor of the New York Times: "The authorities in Pennsylvania announced criminal charges on Wednesday against the entertainer Bill Cosby stemming from a woman's accusation that he drugged and sexually abused her at his home in a suburb north of Philadelphia, in 2004. Kevin Steele, Montgomery County's district attorney-elect, said that Mr. Cosby faces a felony charge of aggravated indecent assault. He said the investigation involved a 'relationship' between Mr. Cosby and the woman, Andrea Constand, that came about from her work with the basketball team at Temple University, Mr. Cosby’s alma mater."

Milan Schrueur of the New York Times: "In the six weeks since the Paris terrorist attacks, law enforcement agencies in Brussels, where most of the attackers lived or had ties, have been denounced as slow, unresponsive, disorganized and even incompetent. To this list of woes, another was added on Wednesday: Officials are investigating accounts of an alcohol-fueled 'orgy' at a police station one night last month while Brussels, the Belgian capital, was nearly shut down over fears of a copycat terrorist attack."

Ryan Felton of the Guardian: "Michigan governor Rick Snyder apologized on Tuesday for the debacle that caused the city of Flint's water supply to be poisoned by lead, while the top state environment official resigned in light of a report that chiefly placed the blame for the crisis on his department.... Flint has been embroiled in a never-ending stream of water quality issues that began in April 2014, when the city started pulling water from a local river as a cost-saving measure. The switch took place while Flint was operated by a state-appointed emergency manager...." Read the whole story.

*****

Noam Scheiber & Patricia Cohen of the New York Times: "With inequality at its highest levels in nearly a century and public debate rising over whether the government should respond to it through higher taxes on the wealthy, the very richest Americans have financed a sophisticated and astonishingly effective apparatus for shielding their fortunes. Some call it the 'income defense industry,' consisting of a high-priced phalanx of lawyers, estate planners, lobbyists and anti-tax activists who exploit and defend a dizzying array of tax maneuvers, virtually none of them available to taxpayers of more modest means. In recent years, this apparatus has become one of the most powerful avenues of influence for wealthy Americans of all political stripes.... All are among a small group providing much of the early cash for the 2016 presidential campaign."

Greg Miller of the Washington Post: "U.S. intelligence agencies recently fought off a move by Congress to require the CIA and other spy services to disclose more details about high-ranking employees who have been promoted or fired, despite pledges to be more open and accountable. The disputed measure was designed to increase scrutiny of cases in which senior officers ascend to high-level positions despite problems ranging from abusive treatment of subordinates to involvement in botched operations overseas." ...

... Ha Ha! Looks as if those reprobates at the NSA were spying on Bibi & his BFFs in the GOP. Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "The U.S. captured communications from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his aides and swept up the content of private conversations with U.S. lawmakers, giving the Obama administration insight into Israel's lobbying efforts against the international nuclear deal with Iran, according to a new report. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the National Security Agency (NSA) swept up information that White House officials considered valuable as it sought to counter Netanyahu's vocal opposition to the nuclear deal between Iran, the U.S. and other world leaders. Netanyahu reportedly remained a top priority for the snooping, according to the report, despite President Obama saying two years ago he would curb eavesdropping on allies." CW: Sorry about that ha ha. I'm shocked, shocked that we would spy on our good friend Bibi. ...

... Nolan McCaskill of Politico has more on the spy story. I was able to pick up the original Journal story, by Adam Entous & Danny Yadron, via Google. The lede is "President Barack Obama announced two years ago he would curtail eavesdropping on friendly heads of state after the world learned the reach of long-secret U.S. surveillance programs." (Of course if you have a WSJ subscription, you won't have to jump thru the Google hoops.) And there's this from the Journal story, which also is shock, shock, shocking:

Stepped-up NSA eavesdropping revealed to the White House how Mr. Netanyahu and his advisers had leaked details of the U.S.-Iran negotiations -- learned through Israeli spying operations -- to undermine the talks; coordinated talking points with Jewish-American groups against the deal; and asked undecided lawmakers what it would take to win their votes, according to current and former officials familiar with the intercepts.

Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "Congressional Republicans are planning to start the new year with another attempt to ban federal funds for Planned Parenthood. But after five years of fruitless legislative attacks, the House vote next week is likely to be the last, conservative activists say, until a Republican moves into the White House.... This month..., hard-line Republicans, including several who are running for president, were all but silent as Congress passed an annual government spending bill that would maintain about $500 million in Medicaid reimbursements for the network's health services to low-income people. (Federal law prohibits funds for most abortions.)"

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. AP: "Kalobios, the troubled drugmaker taken over by Martin Shkreli last month, is seeking bankruptcy protection less than two weeks after his arrest on securities fraud. The San Francisco company was recently informed by Nasdaq that it would be delisted because of Shkreli's indictment." CW: Boo-fucking-hoo. P.S. I hope I haven't unknowingly invested in Kalobios. If so, boo-fucking-hoo for me, too.

Presidential Race

Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "You have undoubtedly heard that primary polls aren't necessarily very predictive far from an election. With just a month to go until the Iowa caucuses, I'm writing to tell you that ... it's still true.... In 2004, John Edwards held 7 percent of the support in Iowa with a month to go; he won around 32 percent. In 2008, John McCain held 18 percent in New Hampshire; he won with 37 percent. In 2012 in Iowa, Rick Santorum held 5 percent; he won with 25 percent.... Last-minute swings ... often happen without anything huge triggering them."

Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "For years, President Bill Clinton was the best friend Donald J. Trump always hoped to have. When scandal engulfed Mr. Clinton's White House, Mr. Trump leapt to the president's defense.... In the past week, any semblance of a friendship between Mr. Trump and Bill Clinton came to an ugly end.... 'If Hillary thinks she can unleash her husband, with his terrible record of women abuse, while playing the women's card on me, she's wrong!' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.... Mr. Trump's tactics could backfire. Mrs. Clinton had some of her highest approval ratings ever after revelations that Mr. Clinton had a relationship with [Monica] Lewinsky, a 22-year-old White House intern." ...

... Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Less than a decade ago, Donald Trump could be spotted on TV or in print gushing over Hillary Clinton. He publicly praised her health care plan (it had an individual mandate). He said he liked Clinton and her husband 'very much.' He said she would do a good job negotiating with Iran. During the heat of the 2008 campaign, Trump took to his own blog to praise Clinton, writing that she'd make a great president."

Ed Kilgore of New York: "The four candidates who have already dropped out of the contest (Rick Perry, Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, and Lindsey Graham) have a combined résumé of 86 years in elected office. The four who lead most polls (Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Ben Carson) together have 16 years of experience in elected office, and 13 of those are possessed by the 'youth candidate,' Marco Rubio.... If, as many observers believe, the contest boils down to a Cruz-Rubio battle, it will involve two freshman members of the U.S. Senate, one of whom devotes most of his time to attacking that institution (Cruz), and another who is laboring to live down his only notable legislative accomplishment (Rubio and his comprehensive immigration-reform bill). And Beltway Republicans will feel fortunate to have that choice, instead of you-know-who." Also, too, Rubio never shows up for work, so that whittles his "years in the Senate" experience down to "months in the Senate."

Emma Roller of the New York Times: "2015 was the Year of Trump because he is the perfect candidate for our viral age. His success tells us a lot about the nature of what goes viral and how it reflects our beliefs and our fears.... That Mr. Trump is both volatile in nature and allergic to nuance is part of his viral success.... 'Conservatives tend to be a lot more reactive to negative information and they also tend to be a lot more insular in nature, and they also tend to have less tolerance for ambiguity,' Professor [Bradley] Okdie said.... Mr. Trump is an echo chamber for certain corners of the far right, as evinced by his popularity with white nationalists and the so-called alt-right movement of mostly online activists." Thanks to Victoria D. for the link.

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Another protester was violently ejected from a Donald Trump rally Monday night in New Hampshire -- this time by a self-described celebrity boxer.... A Trump supporter later identified as Todd 'The Punisher’ Poulton, pounced on [a] man [who had yelled 'fascist"], and witnesses said they knocked over an elderly man in the scuffle.... The boxer, whose face is partially covered by a tattoo, slammed the unidentified protester onto the bleachers, and a police officer came to break up the fight before Poulton could land a punch." Includes video, if you're into Jerry Springer-type campaign events.

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: If Ted Cruz, who opposes subsidizing renewable fuel, wins the Iowa caucuses in the state where corn is king, it may be the end of ethanol. CW: What a shame.

Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Ohio Gov. John Kasich has secured the support of Ron Burkle, a billionaire investor who has been a prominent supporter of Democrats over the years -- including the Clintons. Burkle is slated to host a Jan. 12 fundraiser for the Republican presidential candidate at the Soho House in Los Angeles...." CW: Burkle & Bill Clinton used to be close, until that whole "Air Fuck One" stuff -- and Burkle's shady business deals -- made news. BTW, John, when God told you to run for president, did he also tell you to make deals with the devil?

Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "George E. Pataki, the former three-term New York governor who undertook a long-shot presidential bid that failed to catch fire, withdrew from the presidential race on Tuesday, urging Republicans in a televised message to nominate another candidate who could bring the country together.... The next president must unite the country, Mr. Pataki said, 'If we're truly going to make America great again,' an allusion to the campaign slogan of Donald J. Trump, who Mr. Pataki has often criticized."

Beyond the Beltway

Jane Morice of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "Cleveland Councilman Jeff Johnson announced Tuesday night via Twitter that he plans to request the city law director to file negligent homicide charges against the officers involved in the Tamir Rice case." ...

... ** New York Times Editors: "Tamir Rice of Cleveland would be alive today had he been a white 12-year-old playing with a toy gun in just about any middle-class neighborhood in the country.... But Tamir, who was shot to death by a white police officer that day, had the misfortune of being black in a poor area of Cleveland, where the police have historically behaved as an occupying force that shoots first and asks questions later. To grow up black and male in such a place is to live a highly circumscribed life, hemmed in by forces that deny your humanity and conspire to kill you." ...

     ... CW: Read the editorial. I have seldom, if ever, seen the Times editorial board so unequivocally condemnatory. Good for them. ...

... MEANWHILE, the Cleveland Plain Dealer editors/chickenshits call for demonstrators to be peaceful. ...

... Ari Melber of MSNBC in a Washington Post op-ed: Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim "McGinty used the grand jury as more of a sounding board for an exoneration of the potential defendants, rather than as a review of possible charges against them. His 70-page report reads like defense counsel brief, not a neutral assessment of potential charges.... This approach -- using the grand jury to review arguments on behalf of potential police defendants, not to prosecute them -- fits the model of several recent inquiries of police shootings.... Prosecutors in these cases hide behind the grand jury process.... Our founders put grand juries in the Constitution so that citizens could check overzealous prosecutors.... It is a historical oddity that today some prosecutors are using grand juries to present the defense's side and avoid any charges at all." ...

... CW: So what we're talking about here is prosecutorial nullification. ...

... Shaila Dewan & Timothy Williams of the New York Times: "Even as the number of police officers facing charges has notably risen, driven by video evidence and a national debate over law enforcement tactics, convictions have proved as elusive as ever." ...

... CW: I know black cops & Latino cops aren't any better or worse than white cops, on the whole, but I don't see why any two-person police team that patrols a primarily black or Hispanic neighborhood doesn't include at least one cop who shares the ethnicity of the community. This approach most certainly will not solve all problems (neighborhoods shouldn't be segregated in the first place), but I don't think a black cop would have been so ready to shoot Tamir Rice dead in two seconds.

Mireya Villarreal of CBS News (Dec. 28): "A torrent of methane gas has been spewing into the air for weeks in the small town of Porter Ranch north of Los Angeles, forcing thousands to evacuate. Infrared video shows gas rolling off the top of a nearby ridge, down into the community of Porter Ranch. It was shot by a law firm representing several homeowners who are now filing lawsuits against Southern California's gas utility company." Contributor Unwashed discussed this two days ago.

Manny Fernandez & others of the New York Times update the story on poor-little-rich killer Ethan Couch & his mother Tonya Couch, who have been arrested after fleeing from Texas to Mexico.

Way Beyond

Old Habits Die Hard? Pamela Constable of the Washington Post: "At a ceremony inaugurating the new 'Afghan Pentagon' [in Kabul] Monday, President Ashraf Ghani stressed the importance of building a modern military, subservient to the nation's constitution and laws rather than to powerful individuals. He portrayed the gleaming new facility, built with U.S. funds, as the central command for that mission.... But 150 miles east, in the embattled district of Achin, news was spreading of an atrocity committed by a private pro-government militia over the weekend. After Islamic State forces captured and beheaded four of its members, Afghan officials reported, the militia retaliated by decapitating four Islamic State prisoners, later placing their heads on piles of stones along a main road.

CW: I will now take a break to shovel some snow. It's 23 degrees out there. Yikes! ...

     ... Update: Aaah, 23 feel like 43 when you're shoveling snow.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Forecasts are calling for record or near-record crests of the Mississippi River and its tributaries as a week of torrential rainfall drains into the basin. More than 20 people have died in the floods, and the worst has yet to come. The disastrous river flooding is the result of a month's worth of excessive rainfall, most of which has fallen over the past week."

Washington Post: "A powerful winter cyclone -- the same storm that lead to two tornado outbreaks in the United States and disastrous river flooding -- has driven the North Pole to the freezing point this week, 50 degrees above average for this time of year."

AP: "Turkish police on Wednesday detained two suspected Islamic State militants who were believed to be planning suicide attacks during New Year celebrations in central Ankara, officials said. The two men were detained in a raid on a cell house in the low-income Mamak neighborhood of Ankara, where police also seized a suicide vest armed with a bomb, an explosive device that was fortified with ball bearings and metal sticks and placed inside a back-pack as well as bomb-making equipment, according to the Ankara Chief Prosecutor's office."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 29, 2015

Internal links removed.

Be sure to read today's Comments section. It's 5 am here, & the comments already are packed with wisdom (as they are most days). BTW, I may lose power today, so if Reality Chex looks stunted, it's only because I'm sitting in the dark. -- Marie

Paul Krugman: "Obama the Job Killer":

Walter Mondale, in a New York Times op-ed: "American diplomats have made remarkable progress across a number of fronts, from climate change to checking Iran's nuclear ambitions. Such success depends on making common cause with our allies, an effort led by America's ambassadors. And yet, thanks to Senate politics, dozens of ambassadorial nominations have been delayed unnecessarily.... When it comes to security, an ambassador acts as a sort of general, coordinating diplomatic and intelligence activities. Without someone in that post, lapses are likely.... Despite the vital national interest in working with Norway and Sweden, the Senate has failed to take a vote on nominees for the ambassadorships to either country, nominees who were unanimously approved by the Foreign Relations Committee this summer.... This is an unconscionable abuse of senatorial power...." Oh, and Marco Rubio is an idiot (paraphrase). CW: Mondale is, of course, a former senator, former vice president, & former ambassador to Japan & respected expert on international relations. No one is better qualified to speak out on this issue.

Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "The F.A.A. said it was in charge of anything in the air. The agency took the position as part of an introduction of new recreational drone rules, which included requiring users to register in a national database starting this month. The F.A.A.'s new stance sets up potential clashes across the country. Local and state lawmakers, concerned about the safety and privacy risks that drones pose, have been passing rules about the machines at a rapid pace."

"Democracy" for the Few. Digby, in Salon, on the many ways Republicans are trying -- as they long have done -- to suppress the minority vote. ...

... THESE People Think That's a Right Good Idea. Rosie Gray of BuzzFeed: The success of Donald Trump's candidacy has encouraged a disparate group of white nationalists who call themselves the "alt right," an alternative to conservative (or "cuckservative," in their incarnation) policies. They're kind of confused about what their movement represents: secession, bashing Jews & other minorities, or just making what they think are clever or ironical derogatory comments on Websites they populate. While they claim not to be white supremacists (they say they don't care that Trump has a Jewish daughter), immediately after Gray interviewed a prominent alt right guy for this piece, "... a stream of anti-Semitic tweets came my way, without a word of this story having yet been written or published." CW: As far as I can tell, the main difference between the alt right & the Klan is that the alt right (a) doesn't have outfits, & (b) is less sociable, working mostly out of the isolated anonymity of their basements.

Ed Pilkington of the Guardian (Dec. 26): "Lawyers representing Guantánamo Bay detainees who have been held at the camp in Cuba for up to 14 years without charge or trial have accused President Obama of stalling on his promise to close the military prison."

David Sanger & Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "A Russian ship left Iran on Monday carrying almost all of Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium, fulfilling a major step in the nuclear deal struck last summer and, for the first time in nearly a decade, apparently leaving Iran with too little fuel to manufacture a nuclear weapon. The shipment was announced by Secretary of State John Kerry and confirmed by a spokesman for Russia's civilian nuclear company, Rosatom. Mr. Kerry called it 'one of the most significant steps Iran has taken toward fulfilling its commitment' and American officials say that it may now be only weeks before the deal reached in July will go into effect."

New York Times Editors: "... the [qualified] victory [of Iraqi forces in Ramadi] is the clearest sign yet that the Islamic State, after laying claim to huge parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014, is losing momentum and in retreat.... It is estimated that the group's control of Iraqi territory has shrunk by 40 percent since last year.... Iraq's leaders will need a political and military strategy for holding Ramadi permanently before they can move on to retake Mosul."

Brian Bennett of the Los Angeles Times: "Tashfeen Malik apparently claimed she was pregnant when she was interviewed by a visa officer after she had applied for permanent U.S. residence in the fall of 2014.... It appears that Malik, who was born in Pakistan, became pregnant shortly after she arrived in the U.S. on July 27, 2014, on a K-1 fiancee visa. The couple had previously married in Saudi Arabia, and then obtained a marriage license from Riverside County on Aug. 16, 2014.... Malik's pregnancy may have been noted as evidence to show her marriage was legitimate."

Jim Fallows: President "Obama doesn't watch TV news. Good."

Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "President Barack Obama will host Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March, the White House announced Monday. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will hold a state dinner with Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, on March 10."

Beyond the Beltway

Cory Shaffer of Cleveland.com: "A Cuyahoga County grand jury on Monday elected not to bring criminal charges against the two Cleveland police officers involved in last year's fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. The decision not to indict officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback brings to an end a months-long criminal investigation into the high-profile shooting. Monday's decision comes more than 13 months after the shooting, which catapulted Cleveland into the national debate about police use of force." ...

... Leilla Atassi of Cleveland.com: "On the heels of a grand jury's decision Monday not to indict the Cleveland police officers involved in the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, [Cleveland] Mayor Frank Jackson pledged a thorough administrative review of the events surrounding the shooting last November." ...

Tamir Rice's death was a heartbreaking tragedy and I understand how this decision will leave many people asking themselves if justice was served. We all lose, however, if we give in to anger and frustration and let it divide us. -- Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in a statement

... Sara Dorn of Cleveland.com: "Supporters of the 12-year-old boy shot to death by a Cleveland police officer gathered at the site of the shooting Monday afternoon after Cuyahoga County prosecutors announced the officers involved will not face criminal charges." ...

... The New York Times story, by Mitch Smith, is here. ...

... ** Leon Neyfakh of Slate: "The [grand jury's] decision was influenced by [prosecutor Timothy] McGinty's belief -- presented to the grand jury as a formal recommendation -- that there was no probable cause to conclude that [Tamir] Rice's shooting had been a crime, as well as by testimony from witnesses and experts who appeared before the jurors in closed-door hearings.... The central concept in the case ... is known in law enforcement circles as 'officer-created jeopardy': situations in which police officers are responsible for needlessly putting themselves in danger, committing an unforced tactical error that makes them vulnerable -- and then using deadly force to protect themselves.... Questions arise because of a 1989 Supreme Court ruling in Graham v. Connor, which established the constitutional test by which all use of force cases involving the police must be evaluated in court." ...

... Jamelle Bouie of Slate: "Strip away the rhetoric, and McGinty has made a clear statement about police conduct: If police perceive a threat to their lives then they've de facto justified their actions regardless of context, even if it ends with taking the life of a child. That includes situations like the Rice shooting, where police chose to create a confrontation, rather than manage an encounter.... What we see with Tamir Rice -- and what we've seen in shootings across the country -- is what happens when the officer's safety supercedes the obligation to accept risk."

Danica Coto of the AP: "A Puerto Rico policeman fatally shot two high-ranking officers and a policewoman on Monday following an argument and hostage taking at work that temporarily shut down the station in the U.S. territory's second largest city, authorities said. The suspect was immediately placed under arrest. The suspect, Guarionex Candelario Rivera, held a female lieutenant, a male commander and a policewoman hostage in an office before he killed them, police spokeswoman Mayra Ayala told The Associated Press. She said authorities were about to start negotiations with the 50-year-old suspect when the victims were killed."

Natasha Korecki of Politico: "In the midst of a police crisis that has drawn national scrutiny and calls for his resignation, [Chicago] Mayor Rahm Emanuel is returning early from a Cuban vacation that was to span about 16 days, his office confirmed Monday." CW: Perhaps worth noting: it's illegal for U.S. citizens to vacation in Cuba; Rahm took his whole family on the unlawful jaunt.

** Chico Harlan of the Washington Post: "In the metropolitan areas of the Deep South, government policies and rising real estate prices have pushed the poor out of urban centers and farther from jobs. Low-income people have, in turn, grown more reliant on public transit networks that are among the weakest of quality in the country. When they search for work, they step into a region where pay tends to be low and unemployment tends to be high.... The safety net has expanded for those who can hold down jobs, but it has shrunk for those who cannot." ...

... Joe Mozingo of the Los Angeles Times: "With the lowest median income of any city its size in the state, San Bernardino has become one of the cheapest places to live in urban Southern California. That has given immigrant families ... an affordable place they hope will launch their children into America's middle class. The terror attack this month drew the president and throngs of national media to a city well known for its failings. Some residents took that tragedy as a cue to remind one another on social media that run-of-the-mill shootings and robberies continue at an alarming rate."

Our Ignorant, Violent Bigots. Peter Holley of the Washington Post: "White Americans continue to attack American Sikhs, often because the white ignoramuses think the Sikhs are Muslims. "'Over the last few weeks, the level of intimidation is worse than it was after Sept. 11th,' Harsimran Kaur, the Sikh Coalition's legal director, told The Post. 'Then, people were angry at the terrorists and now they're angry at Muslims, anyone who is seen as Muslim, or anyone who is perceived as being "other."'"

Stephanie Clifford of the New York Times: "... two private bankers who worked at a Bedford-Stuyvesant branch of JPMorgan Chase, Jonathan Francis and Dion Allison..., and their accomplices withdrew about $400,000 from the accounts [of elderly or dead bank clients] over two years, according to [a New York state] indictment.... JPMorgan Chase has already faced accusations of fraud among staff members this year. In April, an investment adviser, Michael Oppenheim, was charged in Federal District Court in Manhattan with stealing $20 million from seven of the bank's clients. Also in April, another employee, Peter Persaud, who worked at a Chase branch in Brooklyn, was accused of selling customer data ... to an informant and an undercover officer."

Evan Perez of CNN: "Mexican authorities have detained so-called 'affluenza' teen Ethan Couch and his mother near the popular Mexican Pacific beach resort town of Puerto Vallarta, officials briefed on the matter told CNN. Couch, 18, went missing earlier this month, two years after he made national news when he was sentenced to probation for a drunken driving crash that killed four people.... The case ... drew widespread attention after a psychologist testified that Couch, who was 16 at the time, suffered from 'affluenza,' describing him as a rich kid whose parents didn't set limits for him."

Presidential Race

Being called wacko by a pathological liar like Mr. Trump makes me think he is getting nervous that the American people are catching on to his pathetic policies, which include giving hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to billionaires like himself while refusing to raise the $7.25 an hour minimum wage. -- Bernie Sanders, in a statement ...

... Jana Kasperkevic & Edward Helmore of the Guardian: "Donald Trump ... has changed his mind about wages: Americans aren't earning enough.... 'Wages in are [sic] country are too low, good jobs are too few, and people have lost faith in our leaders. We need smart and strong leadership now!' Trump tweeted on Monday. The opinion appeared to reverse what [Trump] ... said in November during the fourth Republican debate.... '[T]axes too high, wages too high, we're not going to be able to compete against the world. I hate to say it, but we have to leave [the minimum wage] the way it is,' Trump said at the time.... [Sen. Bernie] Sanders ... [said] on CBS Face the Nation on Sunday, 'This is a guy who does not want to raise minimum wage,' he said of Trump. 'In fact, he has said that wages in America are too high.' Trump lashed back at Sanders, tweeting: '[Bernie Sanders] -- who blew his campaign when he gave Hillary a pass on her e-mail crime, said that I feel wages in America are too high. Lie!'" ...

... CW: It would appear that the guy who claims to have "the world's greatest memory" is suffering from senile dementia. Some may call his charge that Sanders lied to be clever obfuscation. I call it demented. ...

... Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump unleashed a torrent of criticism at the publisher of an influential New Hampshire newspaper on Monday and at the paper's preferred candidate, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey. The double-barreled attack came after the publisher, Joseph W. McQuaid of The Union Leader, wrote an editorial comparing Mr. Trump to 'Biff,' the egomaniacal entrepreneur in the 'Back to the Future' movies. Mr. Trump responded by giving an interview to WMUR, a local television station with a deep rivalry with The Union Leader, in which he called Mr. McQuaid 'a real lowlife' who had repeatedly asked him for personal favors." ...

     ... CW: You'll have to read Haberman's full post to get the gist of Trump's tirade. It would be difficult to write a daily feature called "Who Did Trump Insult Today?" because he insults so many people every day. He's a real sicko. ...

... Katherine Krueger of TPM: "After months of free buzz around his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump is planning a substantial television advertising blitz that could cost upwards of $2 million a week ahead of the Iowa caucuses, according to a Fox News report."

Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: Rick Santorum wants you to know that it wasn't Donald Trump who has been featured in ISIS anti-American propaganda; it was he, "Catholic crusader and American politician" Rick Santorum. Kaczynski provides the proof.

Josh Barro of the New York Times explains Ted Cruz's "simple, radical tax plan," which consists primarily of a 10 percent flat tax & a 16 percent value-added tax (VAT). CW: Barro discusses the inflationary effect of the plan & how the Fed would likely try to control it, but he doesn't mention how Ted's retro plan to return to the gold standard (no, I'm not kidding) might constrain the Fed's ability to react to Ted's radical plan. Maybe Barro, like Wall Street, thinks Ted is kidding about the gold standard.

     ... CW: Nor does Barro, who is a conservative, note, as James Kwak does, that "60% of the tax cut goes to the top 1%.... The only policies we have that limit the transmission of wealth from generation to generation are the estate tax and taxes on investment income. Eliminating one and slashing the other, as Ted Cruz proposes, is the single biggest step we can take toward becoming an aristocracy of inherited wealth."

Jim Newell of Slate has a kind of funny post titled "Ben Carson needs to get over himself." It's accompanied by a funny video of Ben Carson closing his eyes.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Daniela Deane of the Washington Post: "Belgian police arrested two people over the weekend suspected of planning a New Year's Eve attack on 'symbolic places' in Brussels, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.... Islamic State propaganda, military-type clothing and computer material was also seized in the raids [in several cities], prosecutors announced, but no weapons or explosives."

Angus Hervey of Medium finds "11 reasons why 2015 was a great year for humanity."

News Ledes

Weather Channel: "... floods have already been responsible for at least 17 deaths in the Plains and Midwest. In Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon activated the National Guard to support emergency personnel and protect communities affected by the floods."

AP: "Israel's former prime minister Ehud Olmert is to go to prison in February for his role in a bribery scandal after the country's supreme court reduced his sentence from six years to 18 months. The court partially accepted his appeal and cleared the ex-premier of the main bribery charge but upheld part of his conviction for taking a lesser bribe."

NBC News: "Country singer Craig Strickland has been declared missing following a duck-hunting trip in stormy conditions with a friend who turned up dead. Officials began searching for Strickland -- lead singer of country-rock group Backroad Anthem -- and his 22-year-old friend Chase Morland on Sunday after they failed to return from duck-hunting on Kaw Lake, according to NBC affiliate KFOR. Morland's body was found in the lake on Monday, according to a statement from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 28, 2015

Internal links removed.

** Bryan Bender of Politico: "Fifty-four years ago, the brand-new Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara thought he could bring Pentagon spending on everyday items under control by applying efficiencies he had used to help turn around the Ford Motor Company. Instead, he created a monster. McNamara's creation, known as the Defense Logistics Agency, has grown into a global, $44-billion operation that, were it a private enterprise, would rank in the Fortune 50.... Led by military officials with little or no private sector experience, DLA lacks the redeeming features of the lean and efficient business McNamara envisioned. A trail of inspector general reports show how DLA is systemically overcharged for parts. It buys things the military doesn't need.... The Government Accountability Office ... has repeatedly flagged systemic management problems at the agency. The congressional watchdog found in 2010 that 'the average annual value of the inventory for the 3 years reviewed was about $13.7 billion. Of this total, about $7.1 billion (52 percent) was beyond the amount needed to meet the requirements objective.'"

Radley Balko of the Washington Post: "... over the past 12 months, we heard dire predictions of a 'nationwide crime wave,' complete with stats about soaring homicide rates. We've also heard incessant chatter this year about a 'war on cops' and how it's never been more dangerous to wear a police uniform. Inevitably, the same people making these claims have then cast blame on police critics, protest movements such as Black Lives Matter, viral videos of police abuse and efforts to hold bad cops accountable.... So how do all of those claims stack up? Not well."

To Deny or Not to Deny. Timothy Cama of the Hill: "Many of the most vocal Republicans say they have significant problems with the scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that greenhouse gas emissions from human activity is the main cause.... But others in the GOP aren't interested in litigating the science. They say it's more important -- and far easier -- to show that Democratic climate proposals would be disastrous to the economy and kill jobs. The split comes as more and more voters, particularly young people and minorities, say in opinion polls that they believe climate change is real and want action to fight it." CW: Of course nowhere in his story does Cama bother to mention that both positions are ridiculous: the effects of climate change obviously are "disastrous to the economy," although I suppose raising every building in Miami & other coastal cities five feet would create a lot of jobs. Idiots all.

American "Justice," Ctd. Terrence McCoy of the Washington Post: "Unlike traditional settlements, which are paid out in one sum, structured settlements dispense the payout in portions over a lifetime to protect vulnerable people from immediately spending it all. Since 1975, insurance firms have committed an estimated $350 billion to these agreements, spawning a secondary market in which companies compete to buy payments for a smaller amount of upfront cash. Such deals ... expose sellers to the risk that they will exchange lifetimes' worth of income for pittances." Although almost all states now require court approval of these deals, the laws have loopholes, & in Virginia, particularly, certain local courts rubberstamp egregious abuses.

Alexander Mallin of ABC News: "In a rare sit-down interview with ABC News, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer said he doubts mass internment would happen again in the U.S. Even though the Supreme Court has never technically overturned its 1944 decision approving the Roosevelt Administration's decision to isolate thousands of American citizens of Japanese descent during the Second World War, the country's values have changed in the intervening 70 years, the justice explained, and courts are more likely now to step in to enforce them. The internment was recently invoked by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to support his proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country. Breyer refused to comment on Trump's proposed ban on Muslim immigration to the U.S., calling the issue 'highly political.'" Includes video.

Jad Mouawad of the New York Times: "As soon as next year, a driver's license may no longer be enough for airline passengers to clear security in some states, if the Department of Homeland Security has its way. Federal officials said they would soon determine whether Transportation Security Administration agents would start enforcing a 10-year-old law that requires states to comply with a set of federal standards when issuing driver's licenses."

Presidential Race

The End of the Interview: Steve Inskeep of NPR asks President Obama what question he would ask candidates for his job. Released this morning; recorded last week:

Hillary Clinton, Secret Agent. Amy Chozick of the New York Times: In the summer of 1972, when Hillary Clinton was a student at Yale Law & working for what would become the Children's Defense Fund, she travelled to Dothan, Alabama, & posed under an assumed name as a conservative Christian, to find out if the new private academy there was racially segregated & therefore ineligible for federal funds. Surprise! It was. But the Nixon administration did not rescind the school's (or other segregated white schools') federal funds.

** Bryce Covert of Think Progress in a New York Times op-ed: "Mrs. Clinton is using a definition of middle class that has long been popular among Democratic policy makers, from her husband to Barack Obama when he was a candidate: any household that makes $250,000 or less a year. Yet this definition is completely out of touch with reality. It also boxes her in. The most recent Census Bureau data showed that median household income -- what people in the exact middle of the American spectrum earn -- is $53,657." ...

,.. CW: Covert doesn't give a reason for Clinton's relying on that definition, except to suggest it's "historical." However, some commentators mentioned during the last hoo-hah over tax rates that the real reason the definition of middle-class is set at 250K is that many Congressional staffers -- the people who actually write tax law -- have family incomes that fall near the $250K range. Ergo, there's no use arguing what "makes sense" as a definition of middle-class; there's a mighty powerful lobbying group -- those staffers -- who don't give a whit.

Austin Wright of Politico: "... Bernie Sanders said Sunday he's in 'negotiations' with the Democratic National Committee following an ugly spat that led to the firing of a Sanders campaign staffer accused of accessing voter data belonging to the Hillary Clinton campaign.... Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who chairs the DNC, appeared on 'Meet the Press' after Sanders but wasn't asked about the data issue." CW: ... proving that Mrs. Alan Greenspan is an even worse newsperson than Mr. Chuck Todd. I suppose the Sanders' campaign's suggesting the DNC planted a hacker in Sanders' staff isn't newsworthy enough for Mrs. Greenspan to explore.

Amanda Holpuch of the Guardian: "... Bernie Sanders said Sunday that he believes he can boost his own standing in the race by swaying supporters of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump to back his campaign. Sanders told CBS's Face the Nation that many of Trump's supporters have legitimate fears stemming from income inequality that Sanders is best positioned to address."

Paul Krugman: "... while the mainstream contenders [for the GOP presidential nomination] may have better manners than Mr. Trump or the widely loathed Mr. Cruz, when you get to substance it becomes clear that all of them are frighteningly radical, and that none of them seem to have learned anything from past disasters.... There's still a substantial chance that the outsiders will falter and someone less obviously out there -- probably Mr. Rubio -- will end up on top. And if this happens, it will be important to realize that not being Donald Trump doesn't make someone a moderate, or even halfway reasonable."

Eli Stokols of Politico: "Welcome to New Hampshire, where the fight for the establishment lane of the GOP presidential primary is turning into a circular firing squad.... Forget Iowa, which Cruz appears to be locking up. It's New Hampshire that will cull this field. And with Christie, Bush and John Kasich making the Granite State the singular focus of their campaigns, and Rubio, should he lose Iowa, needing a top-tier finish, the fight to be the mainstream alternative to Cruz or Trump could end here.... If Trump wins the Feb. 9 primary a week after Cruz wins Iowa, only one or two candidates finishing behind him will likely have the momentum to carry on."

Austin Wright: "... Donald Trump on Sunday accused ... Hillary Clinton of 'playing the woman's card' -- continuing a war of words between the two campaigns that heated up when Trump said Clinton got 'schlonged' in the 2008 Democratic primary. 'She's playing that woman's card left and right, and women are more upset about it than anybody else, including most men,' Trump said on Fox News." CW: Do try to make sense of Donald's sentence. Maybe Donald is getting inclusive & thinking of hermaphrodites, who, I presume, are less upset than are women that Hillary is playing the woman's card, whatever that may be. ...

... Kyle Balluck of the Hill: "... Donald Trump late Saturday blasted the announcement that former President Bill Clinton will campaign for his wife, Hillary Clinton. The real estate mogul said the former president has a 'penchant for sexism' in a tweet.... [Hillary Clinton] said in an interview last week that Trump has 'a penchant for sexism' after the billionaire said she 'got schlonged' in losing to then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2008."

Joseph Tanfani of the Los Angeles Times: "The real story of [Donald] Trump's rise and fall in Atlantic City is ... complicated. His casinos were profitable early. As he expanded, though, Trump's aggressive borrowing and go-go strategy left them laboring under high-interest debt. When he decided to leave, in 2009, the exit was far from smooth and graceful; he gave up after last-ditch battles with bondholders." ...

... Bradford Rochardson of the Hill: "Donald Trump says Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), who is expected to endorse Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for president this week, was a 'total disaster' as chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi." ...

... Paul Waldman: "... it's understandable that the Rubio campaign would try to make a big deal out of Gowdy's support, since Republican politicians have been stingy with endorsements this year and Gowdy is well-liked among his colleagues on Capitol Hill. But when Trump dismissed the endorsement by saying that Gowdy's Benghazi hearings were 'a total disaster,' you could almost hear Republican voters nodding in agreement.... It's hard to imagine that too many base voters, in Iowa or anywhere else, are going to say, 'Well, if Trey Gowdy likes Marco Rubio, that's good enough for me.'"

Jim Siegel of the Columbus Dispatch: "Gov. John Kasich says he wants to change the way Ohio draws congressional districts.... Ohio's congressional districts are currently drawn by the legislature, which can gerrymander districts to favor the party that controls the chambers. The process has led to a number of districts that make little geographic sense, allow for few competitive races and have given Republicans 12 of 16 seats. 'I support redistricting reform dramatically,' Kasich said last week. 'This will be something I'm going to do whether I'm elected president or whether I'm here. We carve these safe districts, and then when you're in a safe district you have to watch your extremes, and you keep moving to the extremes. Kasich's position matches that of Secretary of State Jon Husted, a fellow Republican who for years has advocated changing the process for drawing legislative and congressional districts." CW: Kasich is the last honest person standing for the GOP presidential nomination; of course, he also holds to the usual horrible, retrograde Republican economic ideas.

Beyond the Beltway

No Rejoicing for Emanuel. Monica Davey of the New York Times: "GQ, the men's magazine, just named Mayor Rahm Emanuel to its list of 'The Worst People of 2015.' In Springfield, the state capital, a fellow Democrat is pressing for a measure to permit Mr. Emanuel's recall from office. And [in Chicago], demonstrators bearing thousands of signatures last week demanded Mr. Emanuel's resignation, then blocked traffic on Christmas Eve along the city's glittering North Michigan Avenue shopping district, chanting, 'Rahm's got to go in 2016!'" Emanuel is responding by reaching out, awkwardly.

Natalie Pompilio of the Washington Post: "Over the past 15 months, beleaguered Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has released a steady stream of messages retrieved from a state email server that show state officials and employees trading pornographic, racist and misogynistic messages.... One complicating factor[:]... Kane, the first woman and first Democrat elected to that office, faces a criminal indictment for felony perjury and multiple misdemeanors in an unrelated case for allegedly leaking grand jury information to embarrass a political rival and then lying about it under oath. The odd result of those criminal charges is that the state's top law enforcement official has had her law license suspended and is fighting efforts in the state Senate to have her removed from office. Gov. Tom Wolf, also a Democrat, has asked her to resign." Read the whole story to grasp the magnitude of the mess.

Ray Sanchez of CNN: "An alleged ISIS supporter from Arizona, accused of arming and training the men who tried to attack a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest in Texas earlier this year, has been indicted on charges that he sought to use pipe bombs to target last season's Super Bowl, according to court documents. A new indictment against Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, also known as Decarus Thomas, further accuses him of proving material support to the global terror network by accessing -- with the help of a cohort -- an ISIS document listing the names and addresses of U.S. service members."

Way Beyond

Anna Fifield of the Washington Post: "Japan and South Korea said Monday they had 'finally and irreversibly' resolved a dispute over wartime sex slaves that has bedeviled relations between the two countries for decades. In something of a surprise development, the two countries' foreign ministers met in Seoul to finalize a deal that will see Japan put $8.3 million into a South Korean fund to support the 46 surviving so-called 'comfort women' and to help them recover their 'honor and dignity' and heal their 'psychological wounds.'"

News Ledes

Guardian: "A huge storm system coursing across much of the central and southern US has claimed at least 43 lives, including four foreign soldiers who were posted to a military base in central Missouri. The soldiers' nationalities were not immediately released. The extreme weather, which included deadly tornadoes in Texas, flash floods in Oklahoma and blizzards in New Mexico, was blamed on el Niño, with national weather agencies saying the weather system could continue to wreak havoc into midweek."

Guardian: "Three days of near-constant rain sent creeks pouring into St Louis-area homes over the weekend, and area rivers are expected to approach, or even surpass record levels set during 1993's massive flood as the rain continued into Monday."

New York Times: "Meadowlark Lemon, whose halfcourt hook shots, no-look behind-the-back passes and vivid clowning were marquee features of the feel-good traveling basketball show known as the Harlem Globetrotters for nearly a quarter-century, died on Sunday in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he lived. He was 83."

Washington Post: "Iraqi troops backed by U.S.-led air support moved Monday to consolidate gains against the Islamic State in Ramadi after reclaiming the main government compound from the militants in a critical test for government security forces."

New York Times: "Iraqi forces said on Monday they had seized a strategic government complex in the western city of Ramadi from the Islamic State after a fierce weeklong battle, putting them on the verge of a crucial victory following a brutal seven-month occupation of the city by the extremist group."