The Commentariat -- Feb. 14, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Janell Ross of the Washington Post explains why Marco Rubio (& Jeb!) often speak Spanish to constituents & why Ted Cruz does not. CW: Ross is a bit long-winded, but my own observations comport with her thesis: it's a cultural thing. There's no shame in speaking Spanish in Florida; in the Southwest, it still can be taboo.

*****

His hands were sort of almost folded on top of the sheets. The sheets weren't rumpled up at all. It was just like he was taking a nap. He just went to sleep and didn't wake up. -- Resort owner John Poindexter, who found Antonin Scalia's body

Gary Martin & Guillermo Contreras of the San Antonio (Texas) Express-News: "Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead of apparent natural causes Saturday on a luxury resort in West Texas, federal officials said. Scalia, 79, was a guest at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa.... A federal official who asked not to be named said there was no evidence of foul play and it appeared that Scalia died of natural causes." ...

... Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice Antonin Scalia, whose transformative legal theories, vivid writing and outsize personality made him a leader of a conservative intellectual renaissance in his three decades on the Supreme Court, was found dead on Saturday at a resort in West Texas, according to a statement from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. He was 79.... The cause of death was not immediately released." ...

... CW: My general policy, here & in life, is not to speak ill of the recently dead, out of respect for their families. I do not hold contributors to that standard. This courtesy does not extend to the deceased's philosophical allies, who even now must be conjuring conspiracy theories that place the cause of death upon a certain Kenyan-born emperor who should under no circumstances be allowed to appoint a successor. The San Antonio Express-News reports that Justice Scalia was with a party of about 40 people. It will be interesting to find out who-all was in that party, so we can develop risible conspiracy theories of our own. ...

... Mark Landler & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Within hours of Justice Scalia's death, both sides began laying the groundwork for what could be a titanic confirmation struggle fueled by ideological interest groups. The surprise opening also jolted the presidential campaign hours before a Republican debate in South Carolina, shifting the conversation toward the priorities each candidate would have in making such a selection." ...

... The New York Times is running "live updates" of developments related to Justice Scalia's death. They should have thunk up another headline for the page. @8:48 pm ET: "President Obama, in his first public comments after Justice Antonin Scalia's death, announced that he would nominate a replacement, overriding Republicans' contentions that any nomination should wait until after the next president takes office":

... Dylan Matthews of Vox names some likely candidates for nomination. ...

     @7:22 pm: "Ben Carson, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, joined other members of his party in arguing that President Obama should not nominate a successor to Justice Antonin Scalia."

     @ 7:11 pm: "The Thurmond Rule -- an unwritten rule, not legally binding -- holds that a judicial nominee should not be confirmed in the months leading up to an election. It has its origins in June 1968, when Senator Strom Thurmond, Republican of South Carolina, blocked President Lyndon B. Johnson's appointment of Justice Abe Fortas as chief justice." ...

     ...@ 7:03 pm: "Jeb Bush ... said on Saturday that Justice Antonin Scalia ... 'was my favorite justice'.... Mr. Bush declined to repeat calls made by other Republican candidates, including Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, for Justice Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court to remain vacant until a new president was sworn into office in 2017." ...

     ...@ 6:54 pm: "Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader and Democrat of Nevada, urged President Obama to nominate a successor to Justice Antonin Scalia as soon as possible. Mr. Reid released a statement that forcefully pushed back at Republican arguments that the Supreme Court seat should remain vacant until after a new president was elected." ...

     ... @ 6:40 pm: "Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the Senate majority leader, backing the sentiments of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, said in a statement that the next president, not President Obama, should appoint a successor to Justice Antonin Scalia." CW: I'd say we have a Constitutional crisis a'coming in our near future. ...

... Robert Barnes writes Justice Scalia's obituary for the Washington Post. ...

... The Washington Post also is running "live updates & reactions" to Justice Scalia's death. @ 8:15 pm ET: "... Hillary Clinton praised Scalia's service to his country in a statement posted on Twitter, criticizing Republicans who in the hours since Scalia's death have called for his replacement to be chosen by the next president." ...

     ... @ 8:12 pm: "'The president has said he will send a nominee to the Senate,' Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, told The Post a telephone interview Saturday night." ...

... Robert Barnes: "The death of Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday plunged the Supreme Court and the nation's politics into turmoil, and an immediate partisan battle began over whether President Obama should be allowed to nominate his successor. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement that the Senate controlled by his party should not confirm a replacement for Scalia until after the election.... Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, joined [Minority Leader Harry] Reid [D-Nev.] in saying that the court should not go a year without a full array of justices.... Scalia's shocking death also creates doubt about the outcome of a Supreme Court term that was filled with some of the most controversial issues facing the nation: abortion, affirmative action, the rights of religious objectors to the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act, and the president's powers on immigration and deportation.

[Justice Scalia] died while on a hunting trip in Texas. The Supreme Court did not reveal the cause of death. The Associated Press reported that Scalia died at a private residence in the Big Bend area of West Texas. The service's spokeswoman, Donna Sellers, says Scalia had retired for the evening and was found dead Saturday morning after he did not appear for breakfast. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. officially announced Scalia's death after it was reported by news outlets in Texas. ...

... Tom Goldstein of ScotusBlog has more on "what happens to this [Supreme Court] term's cases.... Votes that the Justice cast in cases that have not been publicly decided are void. Of course, if Justice Scalia's vote was not necessary to the outcome -- for example, if he was in the dissent or if the majority included more than five Justices -- then the case will still be decided, only by an eight-member Court." ...

... Ian Millhiser has more on the specific cases before the Court & how decisions could play out. ...

... Jonathan Chait: "The immediate and easily foreseeable impact [of Scalia's death] is staggering. Last week, the Supreme Court issued a stay delaying the implementation of Obama's Clean Power Plan. The stay indicated that a majority of the justices foresee a reasonably high likelihood that they would ultimately strike down Obama's plan, which could jeopardize the Paris climate agreement and leave greenhouse gasses unchecked. Without Scalia on the Court, the odds of this drop to virtually zero. The challenge is set to be decided by a D.C. Circuit panel composed of a majority of Democratic appointees, which will almost certainly uphold the regulations. If the plan is upheld, it would require a majority of the Court to strike it down. With the Court now tied 4-4, such a ruling now seems nearly impossible. Even if the Senate does not confirm any successor, then, Scalia's absence alone reshapes the Court." ...

... Richard Mayhew, in Balloon Juice, also has a useful piece on the politics of upcoming (or already decided but not published Supreme) cases, an eight-person count & the nomination dynamic. ...

     ... CW: I'd like to remind readers that three of the best tactical politicians in Washington, D.C., are Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid & Barack Obama. If there is a way to effectively force a vote on a Supreme Court nominee, I think Reid & Obama can figure it out. Should it require the threat of publication of photos of McConnell & Chuck Grassley in flagrante with a distinct whiff of S&M, so be it. ...

... Rick Hasen: "... this is the moment. It is the beginning of the most important civil rights debate of our time." ...

... New York Times Editors: "The question now is whether the Senate will honor Justice Scalia's originalist view of the Constitution by allowing President Obama to appoint a successor, and providing its advice and consent in good faith. Or will the Republicans be willing to create a constitutional crisis and usurp the authority of the president to ensure that the Supreme Court functions as one branch of this government?" CW: I believe we know the answer. ...

... Libertarian Conor Friedersdorf of the Atlantic lays out why Constitutional scholar Ted Cruz's call to block any nominee is contrary to the Senate's Constitutional duties: "There is no agreed upon standard of what legitimate advice and consent entails. But any standard that rejects a nomination before it is even made fails the laugh test. Few truly believe that the Framers would regard 'I want to wait until the next president is chosen' as a legitimate reason to block a Supreme Court appointment." ...

... CW: Seems to me that Ted & Marco have already declared themselves ineligible to vote on any Senate business. Like Obama, Marco is an incontrivertible lame duck: both are leaving their jobs next January. Ted is a declared lame duck: he intends to take another job come late January. If the president is proscribed from doing his Constitutional duty under some theory of lame-duckiness, then so are senators who wish themselves out of the Senate. Pennsylvania Avenue is a two-way street.

... Steve M.: "... Republicans are largely going to have message discipline. Many of them are going to argue, in all seriousness, that Obama is a lame duck, and therefore not really president, so he should let the next president replace Scalia. They'll say that we're in the midst of a campaign to choose his successor, so even offering up a nominee would be the height of arrogance. The Constitution says nothing of the sort, but these self-styled worshipers of our founding documents will talk as if Obama is betraying American values just by doing his job."

... Benjamin Mullin of Poynter: "How the San Antonio Express-News broke news of Scalia's death." ...

... Alan Blinder & Manny Fernandez of the New York Times describe the luxury Cibolo Creek Ranch where Justice Scalia died.

Presidential Race

Kevin Drum: The death of Justice Scalia has created what now will be "the most important issue in the presidential campaign. Appointing Supreme Court justices has always been one of the biggest reasons to care about who wins in November, but it's stayed mostly under the radar until now. No longer. Both sides will go ballistic over this, and the Supreme Court will suddenly seem like the most vital presidential power ever. If you thought things were getting nasty before this, just wait. You ain't seen nothing yet."

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The Republican presidential candidates faced off Saturday night in a contentious final debate before next week's South Carolina primary, sparring about immigration and foreign policy and attacking one another personally in an affair that verged on mean-spirited." CW: Cruz, Trump & Rubio called each other (& George W. Bush) liars -- nice soundbytes for the general election. And of course, they're all right; they are liars. ...

... Dylan Matthews has quite a helpful summary/analysis of the debate. With clips (which don't seem to load). ...

... Ted Cruz is such a good debater, he can rebut Marco Rubio in a language Marco says Ted doesn't speak:

     ... Cruz has said his mastery of Spanish "is lousy."

... Philip Rucker & Jenna Johnson the Washington Post: "The six remaining Republican presidential candidates sparred with ferocity over U.S. foreign policy in a debate here Saturday night, with front-runner Donald Trump savaging former president George W. Bush's intervention in Iraq, which helped spawn more than a decade of instability in the Middle East." ...

... Matt Yglesias of Vox: "... after months of watching Trump say things that are racist, absurd, patently false, or all three at once the Republican Party establishment decided to stomp on him for saying things that are basically true.... It was a bizarre and telling moment, in which the battered forces of the Republican establishment finally picked themselves up off the floor specifically in order to defend some of its least-defensible conduct of the 21st Century."

Alan Rappeport: "The two-hour [Republican] debate airs live on CBS beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern time." Rappeport reports on other ways to see or hear the debate. CW: I'll be damned if I join the virtual audience. ...

     ... CW: Apparently there is so little interest in the debate that none of the major U.S. newspapers is liveblogging it. Here's the Guardian's liveblog.

New York Times: "The Republican presidential candidates face off Saturday in Greenville, S.C., at 9 p.m. Eastern time, one week before the state's primary. There will be one candidate fewer on stage because Gov. Chris Christie, whose debate performance one week ago blunted the momentum of Senator Marco Rubio, dropped out after the New Hampshire primary. We asked political reporters for The New York Times what they would be looking for in the debate...."

** Today's History Lesson. Ben Fountain of the Guardian on political hucksters Pappy O'Daniel & Joe McCarthy. For some strange reason, the Guardian also posts photos of Donald Trump & Ted Cruz within the text. (The Coen brothers moved O'Daniel to Mississippi & made O'Daniel's opponent the "broom-sweeping reformer"):

Oh, what the hell. Tim Blake Nelson & the Soggy Bottom Boys:

Nicholas Confessore & Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton set out on Saturday to blunt one of Bernie Sanders's most potent arguments against her, attacking the Vermont senator as a one-note rival whose relentless focus on Wall Street excess and exorbitant political spending would do little to improve the lives of Americans. The line of attack, laid out at a rally [in Henderson, Nevada,] with labor union members and amplified more pointedly by a video Mrs. Clinton's campaign released on Saturday morning, comes as she is seeking to sow doubts about Mr. Sanders's readiness for office and defend herself as a more reliable and proven fighter for Democratic interests." ...

... Steven Myers of the New York Times: "The State Department released 551 more emails from the personal server of Hillary Clinton on Saturday, including 84 with some or all of the messages blocked out because they contained information that has now been deemed classified. Three of those are classified 'secret.'" ...

... ** Maureen Dowd: "The interesting thing about the spectacle of older women trying to shame younger ones on behalf of Hillary is that Hillary and Bill killed the integrity of institutional feminism back in the '90s -- with the help of Albright and Steinem.... Seeing Albright, the first female secretary of state, give cover to President Clinton was a low point in women's rights. As was the New York Times op-ed by Steinem, arguing that Lewinsky's will was not violated, so no feminist principles were violated. What about Clinton humiliating his wife and daughter and female cabinet members? What about a president taking advantage of a gargantuan power imbalance with a 22-year-old intern? What about imperiling his party with reckless behavior that put their feminist agenda at risk?... [Feminists have made an] ugly Faustian bargain with the Clintons, not only on the sex cover-ups but the money grabs: You can have our bright public service side as long as you accept our dark sketchy side. Young women today, though, are playing by a different set of rules. And they don't like the Clintons setting themselves above the rules." ...

... CW: As any math-challenged cynic might say, I agree with Dowd A THOUSAND PERCENT!!!! It was not only Bill Clinton who betrayed feminists in the Lewinsky affair; it was also the powerful women, including his wife, who defended him.

Politics Makes Asses of the Finest People. The Very Finest Apologize. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "John Lewis, the influential congressman who this week appeared to dismiss Bernie Sanders' credentials on civil rights issues, has sought to soften the ensuing controversy over his remarks.... On Saturday, he said he had not meant to express doubt 'that Senator Sanders participated in the civil rights movement, neither was I attempting to disparage his activism'.... As a student at the University of Chicago, Sanders was involved in the Congress on Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), of which Lewis was chairman. Sanders was also arrested while protesting.... Lewis also clarified a comment made on Thursday in which he said he had known Bill and Hillary Clinton in the civil rights era. Lewis said he 'did not say that I met Hillary and Bill Clinton when I was chairman of SNCC in the 1960s'."

... John Frank & Joey Bunch of the Denver Post: "Bernie Sanders galvanized a crowd of more than 18,000 with a populist message against inequality.... Hillary Clinton's campaign hosted a small event that featured party leaders and teary families affected by gun violence." Read on. Sanders will go to a party & criticize the hosts, to wit: at "the Colorado Democratic Party's annual fundraising dinner..., Sanders took the stage in front of a room of well-heeled Democrats and called for a more inclusive party not controlled by wealthy donors." Clinton, not so much: "Clinton struck an optimistic tone as she focused on raising incomes for the middle class, addressing student debt and continuing the fight toward universal health care." ...

... Yamiche Alcindor : "Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont pointedly criticized Republican officials for recommending that President Obama hold off on nominating a successor for Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court, who died Saturday. Speaking on Saturday at an annual fund-raising dinner hosted by the Colorado Democratic Party, Mr. Sanders said Republicans are overlooking the powers given to the president in the Constitution.... Hillary Clinton made similar remarks at the same dinner." ...

... Talia Lepson, chair of the College Democrats of Massachusetts Women's Caucus, in a Globalist essay: "I am voting for Bernie Sanders because I am a feminist." Thanks to D.C. Clark for the link.

News Ledes

AP: "Turkey shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in northern Syria for a second day on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the Syrian government, whose forces are advancing against insurgents in the same area under the cover of Russian airstrikes."

AP: "Pope Francis urged Mexicans to shun the devil and resist the temptations of wealth and corruption Sunday as he celebrated an open-air Mass for hundreds of thousands of people in this drug- and violence-riddled city [-- Ecatepec --] on the outskirts of Mexico's capital."

Weather Channel: "A blast of bitter cold arctic air has brought the coldest temperatures in decades to some Northeast cities Valentine's Day morning."

The Commentariat -- Feb. 13, 2016

Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "Despite big advances in medicine, technology and education, the longevity gap between high-income and low-income Americans has been widening sharply.... The causes are still being investigated, but public health researchers say that deep declines in smoking among the affluent and educated may partly explain the difference.... Limited access to health care accounts for surprisingly few premature deaths in America, researchers have found.... The growing longevity gap means that benefits like Social Security are paid out even more disproportionately to the better-off, because they are around for more years to collect them." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Hiroko Tabuchi & Danielle Ivory of the New York Times: "As the safety crisis surrounding Takata's airbags that are prone to rupture has mushroomed, the Japanese auto supplier has insisted that the propellant in its airbags is safe. But on Friday, testimony in a Florida court showed that Takata's own engineers discarded evidence that may have shown otherwise as long as 16 years ago. As early as 2000, around the time the propellant, which includes a compound called ammonium nitrate, was introduced into Takata models, failures occurred during internal testing. But Takata altered its test data to hide the failures from its biggest customer, Honda, and a senior Takata executive ordered some of the evidence be discarded, the testimony said."

Presidential Race

No More Mrs. Nice Clinton. Jonathan Martin & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: In South Carolina, "Hillary Clinton forcefully attacked Senator Bernie Sanders before a heavily black audience Friday, highlighting his criticism of President Obama, the Affordable Care Act and for what she suggested was a single-minded focus on economic fairness at the expense of racial justice.... Mrs. Clinton made clear that she intends to run in this state's primary by effectively seeking Mr. Obama's third term -- and claiming Mr. Sanders would be a threat to the first black president's accomplishments.... Separately, the 'super PAC' supporting her, Priorities USA, said it would begin running ads that Mrs. Clinton is the true heir to Mr. Obama's legacy when it comes to helping blacks." ...

... Matea Gold, et al., of the Washington Post: "Priorities USA Action, the main super PAC supporting [Hillary] Clinton, unleashed a $5 million infusion of spending on her behalf, upending plans to hold its fire until the general election. The move calls attention to growing concern within the party's leadership that her campaign may be in trouble, and it underscores how crucial several upcoming contests have become in Clinton's battle with [Bernie] Sanders.... In addition, the Democratic National Committee announced that it had rolled back restrictions introduced by presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008 that banned donations from federal lobbyists and political action committees. Both actions offer the potential for financial benefit for Clinton. But both also could backfire." ...

... CW: But remember, Hillary Clinton is not part of the establishment, because she's a woman. ...

... Madeleine Albright, in a New York Times op-ed: Dear Ditzy Girls, I'm a little bit sorry I told you to go to hell for supporting Bernie Sanders or any other male candidate for president, but you don't know what I've been through. P.S. For you Hillary-loving ladies, "there will always be a special place of honor." ...

... CW: Sorry, Madame Secretary, as apologies go, that was not an apology anyone but Ted Cruz would recognize. ...

... By her own account, Hillary Clinton & Henry Kissinger were best buds, & she relied on him for policy advice. Amy Chosick of the New York Times reports. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... ** Dan Froomkin of the Intercept writes a shortcourse on the nefarious exploits of Henry Kissinger. Froomkin asserts that Hillary Clinton & the GOP candidates are "picking [foreign policy advisors] from essentially the same pool." ...

     ... CW: Froomkin writes one thing, to illustrate a point, that amused me: "Imagine two types of people: those who would schmooze with Kissinger at a cocktail party, and those who would spit in his eye. The elite Washington media is almost without exception in that first category." I once went to a small cocktail party where Kissinger was also a guest. Ergo, I can tell Froomkin from personal experience that there are at least three kinds of people at those cocktails parties: the ones like me who go out of their way to avoid Kissinger. But then at that particular party, which a European head-of-state also attended, I was on my good behavior. ...

... The Tampa Bay Times Editors endorse Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. ...

... Dana Milbank: "Much of Hillary Clinton's difficulty in this campaign stems from a single, unalterable fact: She is a woman." ...

... Yo, Dana, here's another example. Fashion Statement? Judy Kurtz of the Hill: "Hillary Clinton apparently sported the same mustard-colored yellow jacket to Thursday's Democratic presidential debate that she wore while photographed in 2014 next to the CEO of Goldman Sachs." CW: So how many times do you suppose a male politician has been criticized for wearing the same suit or tie to a lobbyist's event & a political event? Zero, you say?

... Charles Pierce: "The most heartbreaking part of the entire week was what happened when John Lewis, who happens to be the bravest living American, jumped into the increasingly pointless rhetorical slanging match that is the Democratic presidential nominating campaign. Lewis is a staunch supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton and good on him for that. In voicing that support, however, he seemed to cast doubt on the veracity of Bernie Sanders's claim to have been involved in the civil rights movement back in the day.... He 'didn't see' Sanders at events? So what? I don't think Dr. King ever met Viola Liuzzo or James Chaney either."

Eric Levitz of New York: "Black Lives Matter was once a 'problem' for Bernie Sanders. Now the movement is Sanders's strongest base of support in the African-American community.... [Hillary] Clinton has produced a series of endorsements from African-American leaders, including (most of) the Congressional Black Caucus. Sanders has gone virtually without endorsements from national Democrats of any color. But the protest candidate has fared far better among the leaders of the African-American community's most vital protest movement." Even as Erica Garner, Eric Garner's daughter endorsed Sanders, her grandmother endorsed Hillary Clinton. "The split in the Garner family is representative of the generational divide in many Democratic groups":

... OR NOT. Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "A warm, welcoming African-American crowd [in Minneapolis] grew increasingly frustrated with Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday evening, complaining that he's too scared to talk about specifically black issues.... The crowd and the panel grew lukewarm on Sanders, saying his focus on economic inequality looks past the entrenched problems they face as African-Americans." ...

... CW: By contrast, see Steven Shepard's Politico report on Hillary Clinton's speech to a largely-African-American audience in Denmark, South Carolina (an event also reported in the New York Times, linked above). It's pretty clear that Clinton knows how to tailor her speeches to her audience, while Sanders does not. Sanders' critics, including Clinton, are right. A rising tide does not lift all boats; women, minorities, the undereducated of all persuasions, get pushed into the leaky craft, where we must keep on bailing. Sanders says he knows that, & I believe he does, but he thinks he can get away with rushing through a few audience-friendly lines before launching into a standard stump speech that he feels covers all bases. It doesn't. The best way to deal with a hostile audience, BTW, is often to hear them out. Listening isn't Bernie's strong suit, either.

Gail Collins: "The run-up to this weekend's Republican debate was greatly enlivened by the news that Amy Lindsay, an alum of 'Animal Lust' and 'Whose Thong Is It Anyway?,' was starring in a Cruz campaign ad.... When the official action begins, Marco Rubio will be careful to avoid repeating himself. But maybe we could have a little chime that rings every time he mentions that his parents were hard-working immigrants.... Jeb ('I am my own man') Bush has been surrounding himself with so much family you'd think he was a von Trapp.... Donald Trump's son Eric recently defended his father's enthusiasm for waterboarding by saying it 'frankly is no different than what happens on college campuses in frat houses every day.'"

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The anti-tax group Club for Growth is beginning a $1.5 million advertising buy against Donald J. Trump in South Carolina, with a kitchen-sink-style spot that describes the real estate developer as a fake" (Also linked yesterday afternoon):

... Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "Donald Trump supporters have filed a lawsuit challenging the eligibility of ... Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to run for president. The lawsuit, filed Feb. 3 at a district court in Alabama, seeks a judgment 'declaring that Rafael Edward Cruz is ineligible to qualify/run/seek and be elected to the Office of the President of the United States of America' due to his Canadian birth." ...

... Eugene Scott of CNN: "Donald Trump on Friday threatened to sue Ted Cruz for 'not being a natural born citizen' if the Texas senator 'doesn't clean up his act' and stop running negative ads against him."

Screenshot from the first "Dumb & Doofus" bro flick. Doofus, played to type by Jeb!, is pictured on the left."Dumb & Doofus, Together Again." Watch Another Side-Splitting Performance When the Prodigal Returns. Philip Rucker & Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "The 2016 campaign has bewildered and captivated George W. Bush.... In private and among friends, Bush and his wife, Laura, express amazement at an election season that has been hijacked by Donald Trump.... On Monday -- Presidents' Day -- Bush ... is stepping back into the arena for an evening rally in North Charleston with his brother.... Monday's rally will be [George] Bush's first public appearance of this campaign.... If past is prologue, Trump will use Bush's appearance as ammunition to torment Jeb. Last week in New Hampshire, Trump mocked Jeb for campaigning with his 90-year-old mother, Barbara Bush...."

Well, this is going to create unprecedented turmoil in the Republic presidential race: Jim Gilmore just suspended his campaign. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Senate Race

Lisa Hagen of the Hill: "Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Friday pressed Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) to drop his Senate bid amid scrutiny surrounding his hedge fund, according to a statement provided to The Hill. Reid challenged Grayson's progressive credentials and criticized the Florida congressman's 'moral compass' based on the recent reports about his fund." CW: I'm with Harry.

Beyond the Beltway

Maxine Bernstein of the Oregonian: "The final four holdouts in the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge appeared one by one in federal court Friday afternoon, a day after they surrendered to end a 41-day occupation of the federal bird sanctuary.... David Fry, 27, the last of the occupiers, was led into court wearing a thick full-length anti-suicide smock.... All pleaded not guilty to federal indictments charging each with one count of conspiring to impede federal officers from doing their work at the wildlife sanctuary."

Way Beyond

Nick Miroff & Brian Murphy of the Washington Post: "Pope Francis landed [in Havana, Cuba,] Friday for an unprecedented encounter with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, a meeting that bridged a nearly 1,000-year rift in Christianity but whose focus was expected to be the current turmoil in the Middle East. The brief talks between the pontiff and Patriarch Kirill -- as they crossed paths at Havana's airport -- marked the first meeting between the religious leaders of the Vatican and Moscow since an 11th century Christian schism over papal authority and other disputes." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Commentariat -- Feb. 12, 2016

Afternoon Update:

This is going to create unprecedented turmoil in the Republic presidential race: Jim Gilmore just suspended his campaign.

Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "Despite big advances in medicine, technology and education, the longevity gap between high-income and low-income Americans has been widening sharply.... The causes are still being investigated, but public health researchers say that deep declines in smoking among the affluent and educated may partly explain the difference.... Limited access to health care accounts for surprisingly few premature deaths in America, researchers have found.... The growing longevity gap means that benefits like Social Security are paid out even more disproportionately to the better-off, because they are around for more years to collect them."

By her own account, Hillary Clinton & Henry Kissinger were best buds, & she relied on him for policy advice. Amy Chosick of the New York Times reports.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The anti-tax group Club for Growth is beginning a $1.5 million advertising buy against Donald J. Trump in South Carolina, with a kitchen-sink-style spot that describes the real estate developer as a fake":

Nick Miroff & Brian Murphy of the Washington Post: "Pope Francis landed [in Havana, Cuba,] Friday for an unprecedented encounter with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, a meeting that bridged a nearly 1,000-year rift in Christianity but whose focus was expected to be the current turmoil in the Middle East. The brief talks between the pontiff and Patriarch Kirill -- as they crossed paths at Havana's airport -- marked the first meeting between the religious leaders of the Vatican and Moscow since an 11th century Christian schism over papal authority and other disputes."

Presidential Race

When Debbie Was Right & I Was Wrong. ...

... The Bickersons. Amy Chozick & Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton ... repeatedly challenged the trillion-dollar policy plans of Bernie Sanders at their presidential debate on Thursday night and portrayed him as a big talker who needed to 'level' with voters about the difficulty of accomplishing his agenda.... Mrs. Clinton pounced from the start, after Mr. Sanders demurred in saying how much his proposals would increase the size of the federal government." ...

... Obama Obama Obama. Evan Halper & Michael Memoli of the Los Angeles Times: "Hillary Clinton sought to reboot her candidacy in a nationally televised Democratic debate Thursday night by closely aligning herself with President Obama and charging that her opponent is running on a one-note agenda. A calm, measured Clinton mentioned Obama's name 21 times during the two-hour debate. She chastised Sen. Bernie Sanders for criticizing Obama in language she said a Republican might use. And she tried to move past the Wall Street ties that have become the albatross of her campaign by warning voters that cleaning up campaign finance alone won't fix the country." ...

... Brian Beutler: "... in the debate's closing moments, Hillary Clinton sharpened one of her most promising -- yet fraught -- appeals to the Democratic base. Clinton frequently portrays herself as President Obama's natural heir. On Thursday night, for the first time, she effectively portrayed Bernie Sanders as one of President Obama's most inconstant allies." ...

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "Time and again across a long, and occasionally tetchy, evening, Clinton sought to use the President as a shield to guard against Sanders's blows, and as a sword with which to try and wound her opponent. At one point, she even accused Sanders of echoing Republican attacks on Obama -- a claim that prompted Sanders to reply, Madame Secretary, that is a low blow.' Indeed it was. But these are low days for the Clinton campaign -- and the race is now headed to Nevada and South Carolina, two states with a lot of minority voters, a group that thinks very highly of Obama." ...

... Jim Newell of Slate: "I am right now listening to the CNN post-debate commentary, and analyst Gloria Borger is describing this tactic as one the Clinton campaign considers 'helpful for South Carolina.' Oh? What she's trying to say is: The Clinton campaign is talking so much about how great Obama is, and how mean Sanders is to Obama, because there are a lot of black voters in South Carolina. It is the most amusingly obvious campaign tactic since, say, Wednesday morning, when Sanders for whatever reason decided to meet with Al Sharpton in Harlem the day after the New Hampshire primary." ...

... David Graham of the Atlantic: "Henry Kissinger ... was the subject of the biggest fireworks of Thursday night's debate in Milwaukee, which came after some 75 minutes of a mostly earnest, dry debate.... 'I am proud to say that Henry Kissinger is not my friend,' Sanders declared, referring to Clinton's praise for the former secretary of state during the last debate. Suddenly, all hell broke loose. In a surreal spectacle, Clinton -- a child of the 1960s campus left and a leader of the nation's liberal party -- defended Kissinger, once a bogeyman to the Democratic Party. She tried to turn the argument back on Sanders, noting that he hadn’t managed to name who his own foreign-policy advisers are. He was ready: 'It ain't Henry Kissinger,' he replied." ...

... Fred Kaplan of Slate: "There is no question, Clinton jumps hoops over Sanders when it comes to foreign policy. Where he is eloquent on most other subjects, he's clearly sweating when the debates turn to the world outside our borders. Hence his constant retreat to the 2002 vote on Iraq and now her presumed guilt by association for secret decisions made between 1969 and 1972. Nonetheless, Clinton really should stop quoting the likes of Kissinger...." ...

... Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Facing off against Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday night, Hillary Clinton did not comport herself like someone who had just suffered a landslide loss in New Hampshire. She did not raise her voice or express anger. She did not demonize Mr. Sanders or suggest he would be a dangerous choice for Democrats. She remained calm as he pungently sought to highlight their differences." ...

     ... CW: I agree. I didn't watch much of the debate, but I did get the impression that in her delivery, Hillary followed the advice of Reality Chex contributors. Now let's see if we can get Bernie to modulate the volume. Drop the Howard Beale impression, Bernie. Remember, the Beale character was crazy. We've heard you speak in conversational tones. You can do it. And we can hear you when you do.

... Jim Newell: During the debate, Hillary Clinton claimed she had nothing to do with & no knowledge of the superPACs that support her, & she repeatedly mentioned that superPACs supported our beloved President Obama, too. "The idea that there was Hillary Clinton just settin' up the ol' presidential campaign when along came this super PAC, unbeknownst to her, that decided to collect money on her behalf just for its own sake is risible. Support from Priorities USA, among other super PACs, was very much an effort on behalf of Clinton's team to get her elected. Clinton has even helped solicit donations for Priorities." ...

... Greg Sargent: At last night's debate, Hillary Clinton opened a new front of sorts against Bernie Sanders when she made this closing argument." Sargent points to the strategic implications of Clinton's argument. CW: I don't think anyone, including Sanders, would disagree that many of the country's systemic problems have little or nothing to do with big banks & fatcats.

A Democratic presidential debate will begin at 9 pm ET Thursday. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times has details on where you can access it live on PBS, CNN & NPR. ...

... The New York Times liveblog is here.

Manu Raju & Ted Barrett of CNN: "Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that the Democratic race for president could drag on for months -- and possibly to the Democratic National Convention in July.... 'These races go on for a long long time,' Reid said. When asked if that included a brokered convention, he responded 'Sure, seriously some of the old conventions produced some good people.' Reid also said, 'It would be kind of fun.'" Raju's interview of Reid, which accompanies the story, is fun.

Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "Members of the Congressional Black Caucus launched a multi-pronged attack Thursday on Sen. Bernie Sanders as a false revolutionary who lacks strong ties to the black community. The influential African American elected officials are seeking to use their clout to boost Hillary Clinton.... They officially endorsed the former first lady inside the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington (though it was deemed an 'unofficial' event) and pledged to vigorously campaign for her in upcoming contests.... One key South Carolina Democrat did not attend the CBC PAC's news conference. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the No. 3 House Democrat, has not endorsed a candidate.... Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a member of the CBC, accused the group Thursday of excluding him from its endorsement process." ...

... Lee Fang of the Intercept: "... the Congressional Black Caucus PAC [which endorsed Clinton Thursday] is not the same thing as the Congressional Black Caucus, which is made up of 46 members of Congress.... Ben Branch, the executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, told The Intercept that his group made the decision after a vote from its 20-member board. The board includes 11 lobbyists, seven elected officials, and two officials who work for the PAC. Branch confirmed that the lobbyists were involved in the endorsement...." Read on.

... Hillary's War on Math: 80 = 60. John Ralston of the Ralston Report: "Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon told NBC's Chuck Todd..., 'There's an important Hispanic element to the Democratic caucus in Nevada. But it's still a state that is 80 percent white voters....' 80 percent white? What? This canard was later repeated Wednesday by Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook.... And it was then repeated on a conference call.... I understand the desire of Team Clinton to lower expectations in Nevada.... But both Mook and Fallon know that 80 percent figure is ludicrous, and the attempt to make Nevada seem like Iowa and New Hampshire is a spin too far.... Nevada's Hispanic population is about 27 percent. African-Americans and Asian/Pacific Islanders make up almost 10 percent each. That is, nearly half of the state's population is made up of minorities. The Democratic caucus population was 35 percent minority in 2008, according to exit polls, and is expected to be as high as 40 percent in 2016, according to local Democratic sources." ...

... Tom Hamburger & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Investigators with the State Department issued a subpoena to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation last fall seeking documents about the charity's projects that may have required approval from the federal government during Hillary Clinton's term as secretary of state, according to people familiar with the subpoena and written correspondence about it. The subpoena also asked for records related to Huma Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide who for six months in 2012 was employed simultaneously by the State Department, the foundation, Clinton's personal office, and a private consulting firm with ties to the Clintons." CW: The issuance of a subpoena suggests Hillary was not fully cooperating with investigators although it's possible the subpoena was a formality designed to absolve the Clintons of responsibility for turning over docs.

Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg: "Bernie Sanders' pitch to Democrats is that all the new voters he'll energize will compel Congress to support the transformative programs they want.... The first tests are in, and the signs of a revolution at the ballot box are scant. Rather than a surge of the previously disaffected, Democratic turnout was down in the first two states to hold contests in the nomination race -- by 28 percent in Iowa and 13 percent in New Hampshire."

... Driftglass says Bernie's ad producer "deserves a massive raise."

Steve M. learns that Confederate Democrat Jim Webb will not be running an independent race for the presidency. Steve thinks that's too bad, because Webb, although nominally a Democrat, would surely take more votes from the Republican candidate than from the Democratic nominee. CW: I don't know that Webb would have been a factor at all, tho as a former Virginia senator, he might have garnered enough votes in that important swing state to alter the outcome.

Tim Egan: "... the most likely Republican nominees have left a precise guide of what they would do on Day One in office. From violating the Geneva Convention on war crimes and torture, to becoming a renegade nation on climate change and trade, to kicking millions of people off health care, it's a hefty list of first-day promises."

Marco's "War on Math." Jonathan Chait: "The Tax Policy Center released on Thursday its analysis of Marco Rubio's ginormous-tax-cut plan. The figures are pretty staggering. Once fully in effect, Rubio's plan would increase the budget deficit by almost a trillion dollars a year. Rubio's tax cuts would overwhelmingly accrue to the rich. The highest-earning one percent would take home 40 percent of the benefit. The lowest-earning two-fifths of the country would see its income rise just over one percent from the Rubio tax cuts, while the richest one percent would see its income rise by almost 9 percent.... Naturally, Rubio's campaign is disputing the validity of these numbers.... In total, Rubio promises an enormous tax cut, higher defense spending, no changes to Medicare or Social Security over the next decade, and a balanced budget.... But because these promises are so impossible, he can't accept the legitimacy of standard budget accounting and must rely on fantasy promises of massive economic growth." ...

... Jordan Weissmann of Slate: "At this point, a Republican tax plan would not be a Republican tax plan if it weren't a morally and mathematically risible giveaway to America's wealthy. The latest reminder of this fact comes to us from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, which Thursday released an assessment of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's especially plutocrat-friendly proposal."

How to Get the Catholic Vote. Alan Rappeport: "Donald J. Trump has a message for Pope Francis ahead of the pope's trip to pray with migrants along the Mexican border: You don't get it.... In an interview with the Fox Business Network on Thursday, the Republican presidential candidate, who has proposed building a wall along the United States's southern border, suggested that Francis was serving as a pawn of the Mexican government. 'I think that the pope is a very political person,' Mr. Trump said.... 'I think Mexico got him to do it because they want to keep the border just the way it is. They're making a fortune, and we're losing.'"

It's $8 billion.... And of the 2,000 [miles], we don't need 2,000, we need 1,000 because we have natural barriers, et cetera, et cetera, and I'm taking it price per square foot and a price per square, you know, per mile, and it's a very simple calculation. I'm talking about precasts going up probably 35 to 40 feet up in the air. That's high; that's a real wall. -- Donald Trump, on the cost of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. Feb. 9

... based on the costs of the Israeli security barrier (which is mostly fence) and the cost of the relatively simple fence already along the U.S.-Mexico border, an $8 billion price tag is simply not credible. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post

Marc Fisher of the Washington Post: In 2002 (or thereabouts) Donald Trump "wanted to develop a weekly drama series based on his own life. The show, titled 'The Tower,' was to feature the adventures of a New York City developer who makes big deals, loves to win, and has set out to construct the tallest building in the world. Producers hired a Hollywood TV writer, Gay Walch, to create a pilot script for 'The Tower.'... Network executives said the script, like the overwhelming majority of pilots, never made it to TV because it wasn't a compelling story." Embedded with the story is "a scene from NBC's pilot script, read ... by actors." CW: So the nightmare thru which Trump is now putting the country is little more than material for a more "compelling" story about an egomaniacal sociopath who runs for president.

Nick Gass of Politico: "Ted Cruz's campaign pulled a recent ad after it was discovered that one of the actresses featured in it has also appeared in softcore porn films. The 30-second ad..., which launched Thursday, is set during a group therapy session in which conservative voters talk about being double-crossed by Marco Rubio. The video was pulled from YouTube on Thursday evening. 'Maybe you should vote for more than just a pretty face next time,' the woman played by Amy Lindsay tells another group member. Lindsay's filmography includes titles such as 'Animal Lust,' 'Co-Ed Confidential' and 'Carnal Wishes.'" CW: Probably Driftglass wouldn't give Ted's adman "a massive raise." ...

     ... Andrew Kaczynski & Christopher Massie of BuzzFeed have embedded the Cruz ad. ...

... MEANWHILE. M.J. Lee of CNN: "Ted Cruz will launch his most forceful attack yet against Donald Trump in a TV ad that accuses Trump of buying political influence 'in a pattern of sleaze stretching back decades.' The 60-second spot, shared first with CNN, is part of a six-figure ad buy that will hit voters' TV screens across South Carolina starting as early as Thursday":

... Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: Just before Cruz started airing negative ads against Trump in South Carolina, the Trump campaign "abruptly" pulled an attack ad against Cruz. "Mr. Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, had made the decision to go with all positive spots beginning on Thursday." ...

He's watching you.... Cruz Control. The Creepiness of Ted Will Go to Your Head. Michael Biesecker & Julie Bykowicz of the AP: "Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has campaigned against government spying on law-abiding citizens, but his campaign is testing the limits with personal data from his supporters. His 'Cruz Crew' mobile app is designed to gather detailed information from users' phones -- tracking their physical movements and mining contact information of friends. That information is fed into a database containing details about nearly every adult in the U.S. to build psychological profiles that target individual voters with uncanny accuracy. Data-mining to help candidates win elections has been increasingly used by both Republicans and Democrats. But The Associated Press found the Cruz campaign's app goes furthest to glean personal data."

Joanna Walters of the Guardian on John Kasich: "... behind the unassuming image is a track record in his home state of Ohio, where he is a second-term governor, that puts him a big step to the right of what many Americans would consider moderate. Within hours of his success in New Hampshire, fresh legislation was passed in Ohio that will further restrict access to abortion in a state where Kasich has signed every one of a series of href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/eb8b7ad955ce4544b36e169a94529946/apnewsbreak-kasich-aides-helped-craft-abortion-restrictions">anti-choice measures that has ever reached his desk. Across the state he has made an enemy of public sector unions, teachers and environmentalists with attacks on collective bargaining, cuts to funding of public schools alongside scandals in the charter school education sector, and enthusiastic support for oil and gas production via fracking -- even though that has not brought as much prosperity to the state as some think." CW: And this doesn't even speak to his ignorance of sound federal fiscal policy. ...

... Paul Krugman: "It looks ... as if we're still living in the economic era we entered in 2008 -- an era of persistent weakness, in which deflation and depression, not inflation and deficits, are the key challenges. So how well do we think the various presidential wannabes would deal with those challenges? Well, on the Republican side, the answer is basically, God help us. Economic views on that side of the aisle range from fairly crazy to utterly crazy."

Other News

** David Sanger of the New York Times: "Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, announced that they had agreed on the delivery over the next few days of desperately needed aid to besieged Syrian cities, to be followed by a cease-fire that is supposed to clear the way for renewed peace talks. 'We have agreed to implement a nationwide cessation of hostilities in one week’s time,' Mr. Kerry said. 'That is ambitious.'"

Louis Sahagun of the Los Angeles Times: "President Obama designated three new national monuments in the California desert Thursday, expanding federal protection to 1.8 million acres of landscapes that have retained their natural beauty despite decades of heavy mining, cattle ranching and off-roading. The designation was requested by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who for a decade has sought to protect land that wasn't included in the 1994 California Desert Protection Act. That measure covered nearly 7.6 million acres, elevated Death Valley and Joshua Tree to national park status and created the Mojave National Preserve."

Martha Mendoza of the AP: "A bill headed for President Barack Obama this week includes a provision that would ban U.S. imports of fish caught by slaves in Southeast Asia, gold mined by children in Africa and garments sewn by abused women in Bangladesh, closing a loophole in an 85-year-old tariff law that has failed to keep products of forced and child labor out of America. An expose by The Associated Press last year found Thai companies ship seafood to the U.S. that was caught and processed by trapped and enslaved workers. AP tracked fish and shrimp from people locked in cages and factories to supply chains of top retailers and restaurants, from supermarket chains like Wal-Mart and Whole Foods to restaurants including Red Lobster."

Les Zaitz of the Oregonian describes the end of the siege of the Malheur Refuge. ...

... Here's an account by Carissa Wolf & others of the Washington Post: "After repeatedly threatening to shoot himself, complaining that he couldn't get marijuana, and ranting about UFOs, drone strikes in Pakistan, leaking nuclear plants and the government 'chemically mutating people,' the last occupier, David Fry, 27, lit a cigarette, shouted 'Hallelujah' and walked out of his barricaded encampment into FBI custody." CW: Apparently there is a Constiutional right to free cannibis. ...

... The Oregonian is running a liveblog of developments at the Malheur Refuge stand-off. At 12:15 pm ET, it appears the married couple -- Sean & Sandy Anderson -- is surrendering; they have to walk about a half-mile from their hideyhole to the check-point. The page also has an embedded livefeed from KGW-TV. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Update: "The four remaining occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge surrendered Thursday morning, bringing an end to the standoff on its 41st day. Jeff Banta, Sean Anderson, Sandy Anderson and David Fry were taken into FBI custody. Fry was the last to surrender, finally emerging after an extended phone dialogue with supporters who tried for over an hour after the others left to get him to walk out." ...

... The New York Times story, by Dave Seminara & Richard Perez-Pena, is here.

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Matthew Lee of the AP: "The Obama administration opened a two-front campaign on Syria on Thursday with a push to end one war there and step up another. As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry scrambled in Germany to negotiate the timing and conditions for a cease-fire between the Syrian government and moderate rebels, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter was in Belgium trying to rally new support for the fight against the Islamic State group. Meanwhile, the United States and Russia traded allegations over the bombing of civilian areas around the besieged city of Aleppo as fighting there intensified, further fueling fears of a mass exodus of refugees." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Tierney Sneed of TPM: "An Iranian official said 'Republican rivals of the current US administration' attempted to stall last month's Iranian-U.S. prisoner swap until the eve of the U.S. presidential election, Tasnim News Agency reported.... The prisoner swap ... included Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and three other U.S. citizens imprisoned in Iran, who were freed in exchange for the release of seven Iranians." CW: That's a devastating charge.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. CW: I know many Reality Chex readers are fans of Charles Pierce, & I admire the way he can often bring snark to a high art form. Moreover, the points of the snark are usually well-taken. BUT. I objected when he laughed off sexual abuse, to no avail, & I don't like it when he uses ethnic slurs to characterize minorities. Last week I would have linked one of his posts deriding Marco Rubio but again Pierce called Rubio "greasy," so I took a pass. Yesterday he went over the top: "The Rubio people should be selling this from in front of an abandoned gas station, along with boiled peanuts and a picture of Elvis on velvet." I doubt Pierce would acknowledge his bigotry; he probably isn't aware of it. He's one more guy who came up in an age when white men thought demeaning everybody else was funny, & he never outgrew it.

Senate Race

Why Can't We Get Better Politicians? Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "... emails and marketing documents obtained by The New York Times show the extent to which [Rep. Alan] Grayson's [D.-Fla.] roles as a hedge fund manager and a member of Congress were intertwined, and how he promoted his international travels, some with congressional delegations, to solicit business." Grayson is running for the Senate seat Marco Rubio is vacating. The House Ethics Committee is investigating Grayson's shenanigans. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Roll Call lists Grayson as the 12th-wealthiest member of Congress. The list includes both senators & representatives. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Alice Walton, et al., of the Los Angeles Times: "Nearly four months of environmental contamination and civic disruption in Porter Ranch came close to an end Thursday when work crews pierced the underground casing of the damaged Aliso Canyon gas well and started injecting it with a mud-like compound. 'The well is no longer leaking,' said Jimmie Cho, senior vice president of gas operations and system integrity for Southern California Gas Co. The final step is for concrete to be pumped into the well, a process that could begin as soon as Friday, and for state regulatory officials to declare that the leak has ceased."

Sarah Nir of the New York Times: "A New York City police officer was convicted of manslaughter on Thursday in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn for killing an unarmed man who was hit by a ricocheting bullet fired from the officer's gun in the stairwell of a housing project. The officer, Peter Liang, and his partner were conducting a so-called vertical patrol on Nov. 20, 2014, inside the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York, Brooklyn. At one point, Officer Liang opened a door into an unlighted stairwell and his gun went off. The bullet glanced off a wall and hit Akai Gurley, 28, who was walking down the stairs with his girlfriend, piercing his heart."