The Commentariat -- January 8, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Megan Wilson of the Hill: "The State Department has been providing 'inaccurate and incomplete' responses to requests for emails and other documents involving former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a watchdog says in a new report released Thursday. The 29-page IG report says the leadership of the State Department 'has not played a meaningful role in overseeing or reviewing the quality' of the responses to requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Fifteen years almost to the day since former President Bill Clinton left office, a newly released batch of documents from his library offers a fresh look at his later years in the White House.... The release of the transcripts also emphasized the complications for Mrs. Clinton in her second campaign.... Not only does she have her own record as senator and secretary of state to promote or defend, she is also campaigning against the backdrop of her husband's record -- often to her advantage but sometimes not, as in the last few days when Republicans focused attention on Mr. Clinton's sexual misconduct."

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Senator Richard C. Shelby, the veteran Republican from Alabama up for re-election in November [and] chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds the Justice Department, has summoned [Attorney General Loretta] Lynch for a Jan. 28 hearing to 'discuss the president's firearms proposals and any potential infringement on law-abiding Americans' Second Amendment rights,' he said in a letter to the attorney general."

Betsy Hammond of the Oregonian: Why does the federal government own so much land? Because that was the founders' intention: "A 1787 agreement among all 13 founding states -- that every bit of land added to the United States would be owned and controlled by a strong federal government -- was the linchpin needed before delegates went on to write the Constitution. That deal was known as the Northwest Ordinance.... Their determination that the federal government would own every shred of land brought into the new nation and dispose of or manage it as it wished was enshrined in the Constitution, in a short half-sentence in Article IV: 'The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States.'"

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Chris Mooney of the Washington Post: "A group of 24 geoscientists on Thursday released a bracing assessment, suggesting that humans have altered the Earth so extensively that the consequences will be detectable in current and future geological records. They therefore suggest that we should consider the Earth to have moved into a new geologic epoch, the 'Anthropocene,' sometime circa 1945-1964." A summary of the findings is here. The report itself is Science-subscriber firewalled.

Sarah Wheaton of Politico: "President Barack Obama confronted his critics -- both in the gun lobby and his own party -- on Thursday night as he made the case for stiffening some gun controls in a televised town hall. 'What I've said consistently throughout my presidency is I respect the Second Amendment, I respect the right to bear arms, I respect people who want to have guns for self-protection, for hunting.' Obama said. However, he added, 'everybody agrees that it makes sense to keep guns out of the hands of people who want to do others harm -- or do themselves harm.'" ...

... The New York Times story, by Michael Shear, is here. ...

... Barack Obama, in a New York Times op-ed: "I will not campaign for, vote for or support any candidate, even in my own party, who does not support common-sense gun reform. And if the 90 percent of Americans who do support common-sense gun reforms join me, we will elect the leadership we deserve." ...

     ... Callum Borchers of the Washington Post: President Obama's NYT op-ed was a message to Hillary Clinton. ...

... Gabrielle Giffords, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Today, five years after I was shot, we are making progress. While Congress refuses to act, many state leaders are embracing common-sense change that keeps guns out of the wrong hands. This week, we made even more progress when President Obama announced that his administration will significantly narrow the loopholes that let people buy guns without a background check. It is the right, responsible thing to do." ...

** New York Times Editors: "A president who spoke so movingly about the violent gun deaths of children here has taken on the job of sending mothers and children on one-way trips to the deadliest countries in our hemisphere. Mothers and children who pose no threat, actual or imaginable, to our security."

Frank Rich on Obama's push for small-bore gun control measures, Donald Trump's attacks on (and the press's questions about) Bill Clinton's sexual peccadilloes, & white rage.

Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: President Xi Jinping's efforts to manage China's economy have been haphazard & ineffective. ...

... Paul Krugman: "... while China itself is in big trouble, the consequences for the rest of us should be manageable.... Financial linkages may be part of the story, but one also suspects that there is psychological contagion: Good or bad news in one major economy affects animal spirits in others." ...

... CW: Worth noting, as Krugman does not: if we have another recession in 2016, or even a mini-recession, as a direct or indirect result of China's economic woes, welcome President Trump or Cruz or Rubio. One thing American voters are not: economists. They think if their cousin loses his job or WalMart raises the price on Tostitos, it's the president's fault.

Presidential Race

Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: "The political arm of Planned Parenthood will endorse Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire on Sunday, a Clinton campaign official confirmed. The endorsement marks the first time in the organization's 100-year history that Planned Parenthood Action Fund has endorsed a candidate in a primary."

... there is a big difference between me and everybody else running on both sides. I'm the only person running who says my goal and my pledge is to raise incomes, not raise middle-class taxes. I will not raise middle-class taxes. -- Hillary Clinton, in Des Moines, Iowa, Jan. 4, 2016

... it's absurd for Clinton to claim that she is the only candidate in either party to have a plan to both raise incomes and not raise middle class taxes. The Republicans all say they won't raise taxes -- and every candidate promises to raise incomes.... This is an example of actually believing your own spin, no matter how absurd. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post

I haven't been able to find a trustworthy comparative analysis of Clinton's plan v. other candidates' economic plans. But there is no question that Democrats' plans are friendlier to low- and middle-income Americans than are any of the Republicans' plans, no matter what the candidates claim. In addition, Sanders has said he would raise taxes -- mostly but not exclusively on the wealthy -- in order to provide services that would increase opportunities for low- and middle-class Americans. (His most substantial tax hike on the middle-class -- to pay for single-payer health insurance -- obviously has a huge offset: it eliminates the cost of private health insurance.) Kessler doesn't bother to analyze any of the candidates' plans; instead, he relies on talking points. To criticize Hillary for her talking point while relying on other candidates talking points doesn't make sense. I give him 4 Pinocchios. -- Constant Weader

Ali Vitali & Andrew Rafferty of NBC News: "After a day's worth of drama over the crowd size at Donald Trump's rally here Thursday, the Republican presidential front-runner's campaign attempted to bar anyone who did not pledge their support from attending his event. But that didn't stop a number of protesters from disrupting the event held just blocks from Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign headquarters. On multiple occasions, pro-Sanders or anti-Trump activists made themselves known to the auditorium, one group even moving towards the stage with a 'dump Trump' sign before being escorted out. Trump said those who made it into his rally at a 1,400-seat auditorium were 'very lucky' after his campaign distributed 20,000 free tickets." ...

... Margaret Hartmann: "Trump responded to the interruptions with his characteristic grace and generosity. He helpfully pointed out the unruly audience members, directed his security to move faster, and diagnosed one protester with a substance-abuse problem. He also had a great suggestion for deterring such goon-ish behavior. 'Throw him out into the cold,' Trump said. 'Don't give them their coat. No coats! Confiscate their coats!"' It's a pretty light sentence, compared to a Trump-endorsed beating." ...

... Dan Carter of the New York Times: "... there are striking similarities between [Donald] Trump and George C. Wallace.... What both share is the demagogue's instinctive ability to tap into the fear and anger that regularly erupts in American politics.... [Running for president in Northern-state primaries,] he was a pioneer in the use of code words to attack African-Americans while seldom mentioning race.... Attacks by the mainstream media only strengthened his support.... The Alabama governor's success in mobilizing white working-class voters forced other candidates -- particularly Nixon -- to adapt a housebroken version of his rhetoric and policies. Mr. Wallace may have begun his career as a New Deal Democrat, but the way he appealed to these predominantly Democratic voters by channeling their frustrations against the federal government did much to pave the way for Ronald Reagan's more genial anti-government ideology." ...

... ** Anne Pluta of 538: "One way to understand Trump's longevity is to look more closely at his supporters. Trump's backers tend to be whiter, slightly older and less educated than the average Republican voter. But perhaps more importantly, his supporters have shown signs of being misinformed. Political science research has shown that the behavior of misinformed citizens is different from those who are uninformed, and this difference may explain Trump's unusual staying power.... The difference between the [misinformed & the uninformed] is stark.... The most misinformed citizens tend to be the most confident in their views and are also the strongest partisans.... Attempts to present corrections and generate counterarguments to the group's beliefs only strengthened their opinions." ...

... Katie Glueck of Politico: "... there's little evidence that the Donald Trump-fueled tempest over Ted Cruz's eligibility to run for president is fading away, forcing the Texas senator to field questions about passports and his parents on national television, just three weeks before the Iowa caucuses." ...

... Nick Gass of Politico: "Ted Cruz fired back at John McCain on Thursday, a day after his Senate colleague had deemed valid questions about whether the Texas senator is eligible for the presidency because of his place of birth. McCain, he declared, is trying to help another senator's run -- Marco Rubio." ...

... About Those Cuban Heels. Jonathan Chait: Marco Rubio's opponents "are trying to make Rubio's boots imply something deeper about his character: that he is a lightweight, unmanly, lacking the angry urgency needed at the moment. The boots are a synecdoche. Sunny and optimistic can be turned into callow, naïve, and even effeminate." CW: The Rubio version of "mom jeans."

Jeb!'s Biggest Backer Thinks He's a Doofus. Jonathan Swan of the Hill: "Former AIG chairman Hank Greenberg is reportedly distancing himself from a $10 million donation made to Jeb Bush's super-PAC. Just hours after The Wall Street Journal reported the large donation from Greenberg -- which would have made him one of the most generous contributors in the 2016 race -- the businessman has reportedly backtracked, attributing the donation to his company and giving less than complimentary assessment of Bush's performance on the campaign trail. 'Listen, I like Jeb Bush. Sorry he's not living up to expectations but that's the reality of it.'" ...

... "Jeb Crow." Neely Tucker of the Washington Post writes an excellent piece on Governor Jeb!'s executive action to end affirmative action in Florida. If you want to know what kind of president Jeb! would be, here's your answer: cunning in his objectives, stupid & nasty in executing them. Why, it's as if he's Dick Cheney & Dubya in one.

Eliza Collins of Politico: "Responding to a question from Fox News' Sean Hannity Thursday night, Reince Priebus said he was confident he could pull his party together even if Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or real estate mogul Donald Trump win the nomination. 'One hundred percent. You know the unifying thing about what I have to do is no matter who you're for everyone can agree that we have to have a national party and infrastructure that has its act together ... everyone is gonna get behind whoever the winner is,' Priebus said.... Earlier Thursday, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush declined multiple times to commit to voting for Trump if he was his party's nominee."

Beyond the Beltway

Jenna Portnoy of the Washington Post: "A federal panel on Thursday imposed a new congressional map [on Virginia] that gives Democrats a chance to pick up a seat in the Richmond area in this year's election. The decision stems from the judges' ruling last year that Virginia's map illegally packed African American voters into the district of Rep. Robert C. 'Bobby' Scott (D) at the expense of their influence elsewhere."

Les Zaitz of the Oregonian: "Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward, backed up by two other sheriffs, met face-to-face Thursday with protest leader Ammon Bundy to try to bring a peaceful end to a weeklong occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. 'I'm here to offer safe escort out,' the sheriff told Bundy. 'Go back and kick it around with your folks.'... But later Bundy told reporters that the protesters won't leave until federal land in the county is turned over to residents to manage on their own." ...

... Denis Theriault of the Oregonian: Oregon "Gov. Kate Brown on Thursday offered her strongest remarks yet on armed militants' six-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, calling the action 'unlawful' and demanding the group 'decamp immediately.'" ...

... David Neiwert in a Washington Post op-ed: "Not punishing the Bundys for the Nevada standoff led to the occupation in Oregon.... If federal law enforcement authorities had taken their roles as stewards of the rule of law seriously, many of these players would be facing justice in federal courts right now, instead of opportunistically raising hell out in poverty-stricken rural areas. Certainly, there is no small irony in the fact that the tepid response from federal authorities demonstrates how little resemblance they have to the tyrannical thugs the Bundys say they are. But it also shows how just that accusation, when wielded by white conservatives, can cause federal law enforcement to back down." ...

... ** Tim Egan: Ammon "Bundy's not leaving, he says, until land that we own — that is, every American citizen -- is taken from us and given to some unnamed private entity. Yes, it's comical -- white privilege mixed with a 'Hee Haw' parody. The only thing Bundy and his fellow burglars have accomplished thus far is to leave behind enough evidence for prosecutors to file numerous criminal charges against them. But this Gang That Can't Protest Straight is not far removed from a better-dressed crowd in Congress pushing for radical change in the nation's public land endowment. Earlier this year a group led by Representative Rob Bishop, the Utah Republican who is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, announced plans to 'develop a legislative framework for transferring public land to local ownership and control.'" CW: Egan very neatly summarizes the real motivations behind the Bundy Rebellion 2.0.

... Scott Lemieux: Paul LePage, the man for people who feel that Donald Trump's race-baiting is too subtle and dignified:

... Randy Billings of the Portland Press Herald: Maine "Gov. Paul LePage made a racially charged comment in Bridgton on Wednesday night during one of his regular town hall meetings.... LePage responded to a question about how he was tackling substance abuse in Maine. He began talking about how much of the heroin is coming into Maine from out-of-state drug dealers. 'These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty -- these types of guys -- they come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, they go back home... Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young, white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue we have to deal with down the road.' LePage's comment drew widespread condemnation, including from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton." ...

... CW: As a white person, I feel much better knowing that when "my people" abuse drugs, it's the fault of badass black dudes, & when innocent white girls accidentally get pregnant, its because these same badass black dudes came up from the big city & knocked 'em up. Thanks, Maine, for bringing us this nostalgic return to classic, extreme early-20th-century racist stereotyping. I'll bet Shifty wears a zoot suit. ...

... Steve M.: At the same time LePage was explaining the "real reason" for his state's drug-abuse problem, "the RNC ... launched a new racial diversity initiative.... Sorry, Reince. You keep buying different brands of diversity lipstick and applying them to your pig of a party, but at the end of the day, your party is still a pig."

Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors in DeKalb County, Ga., will seek a criminal indictment of the police officer who in March 2015 fatally shot Anthony Hill, an Afghanistan war veteran who was naked and unarmed when he was killed."

Stephanie Gosk, et al., of NBC News: "Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder refused Thursday to say when he knew the Flint water crisis — children being poisoned by lead from their drinking taps -- was being mishandled.... But an internal email obtained by Virginia Tech researchers shows that the governor's office knew months ago that Flint's families had reason to be worried about the problem and the response." ...

... Ryan Cooper of the Week: "Flint started drinking water from the Flint River -- but ended up contaminating children with a poisonous heavy metal. Governor Rick Snyder has declared a state of emergency, and the federal government is investigating. Why on Earth did they do this? Austerity. Aside from the obvious humanitarian disaster, this is a stark demonstration of austerity's false economy.... Lead poisoning is one of the lesser-known great evils of the 20th century. Most notably it may have even caused a great crime wave, as basically the entire population was subjected to minor aerosol lead poisoning from leaded gasoline, resulting in lower IQs and poorer impulse control across the population -- and therefore higher crime."

News Ledes

Los Angeles Times: "Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, one of the world's most sought-after drug lords, has been captured, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announced Friday."

Reuters: "An Islamic State militant executed his mother in public in the Syrian city of Raqqa because she had encouraged him to leave the group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday. The woman in her 40s had warned her son that a U.S.-backed alliance would wipe out Islamic State and had encouraged him to leave the city with her."

New York Times: "In an impressive sprint at 2015's end, employers added 292,000 workers to their payrolls in December, the government said on Friday, punctuating a year of healthy growth. The unemployment rate stayed at 5 percent last month, the Labor Department said, but that was mostly because large numbers of people went looking for work."

The Commentariat -- January 7, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Matt Apuzzo & Al Baker of the New York Times: "The mayor will appoint an independent civilian to monitor the New York Police Department's counterterrorism activities, lawyers said in court documents Thursday as they moved to settle a pair of lawsuits over surveillance targeting Muslims in the decade after the Sept. 11 attacks. The agreement would restore some of the outside oversight that was eliminated after the attacks, when city leaders said they needed more flexibility in conducting investigations. In the years that followed, the Police Department secretly built files on Muslim neighborhoods, recorded sermons, collected license plates of worshipers, and documented the views of everyday people on topics such as drone strikes, politics and foreign policy."

Ross Douthat analyzes Donald Trump's chances of winning the GOP presidential nomination, & says it's not likely to happen. CW: His basic argument is not original, and it is, IMHO, plausible ONLY IF one assumes the party poo-bahs are disciplined enough to get together in a dark room & pick a nominee from among the so-called "moderates" left standing. This is not an assumption I would make inasmuch as the party does not have anything like a boss or even a central organization. (No, Prince Rebus, you are not the boss of them. And neither are you, Ayn Rand Paul Ryan.)

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Super Emergency! My mouse expired (nope, not the battery). I'll be back after a trip to BestBuy. I'm just no good at the keypad thing. -- Constant Weader ...

     ... Update: Got a new mouse just like the old mouse, who has been unceremoniously buried.

President Obama will conduct a townhall-style forum on "Guns in America," to air live tonight at 8:00 pm ET.

... Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "In an email..., Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough echoes [President] Obama's more-optimistic-than-ever theme and lists some of what's likely to be on Obama's brag list: December's budget agreement; the Iran nuclear deal; increased domestic oil production together with new environmental regulations; peaks in high school graduation rates and health insurance coverage; drops in unemployment, crime and incarceration rates." ...

... ** Michael Grunwald in Politico Magazine: President "Obama is often dinged for failing to deliver on the hope-and-change rhetoric that inspired so many voters.... But a review of his record shows that the Obama era has produced much more sweeping change than most of his supporters or detractors realize.... What he's done is changing the way we produce and consume energy, the way doctors and hospitals treat us, the academic standards in our schools and the long-term fiscal trajectory of the nation. Gays can now serve openly in the military, insurers can no longer deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions, credit card companies can no longer impose hidden fees and markets no longer believe the biggest banks are too big to fail. Solar energy installations are up nearly 2,000 percent, and carbon emissions have dropped even though the economy is growing." CW: Helpful essay; horrible artwork.

Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Congressional Republicans made good Wednesday on a central campaign pledge from the 2014 midterms, delivering a bill repealing the health care reform law they loathe to President Obama's desk, forcing a certain veto. The bill passed 240 to 181, with one House Democrat supporting the bill and three Republicans opposing it, after passing the Senate 52 to 47 last month. Neither margin is large enough to override a veto.... The bill also blocks Planned Parenthood from receiving federal health care funds.... Meanwhile, the bold agenda [Speaker Paul] Ryan has promised awaits."

** Dana Milbank: "On Wednesday, the first legislative day of the year, House conservatives gathered with reporters for their monthly 'Conversations with Conservatives.' When the questioning turned to the armed rebellion in Oregon against the authority of the federal government, these representatives of the United States stood with the rebels.... Not one of the 10 or so Republican House members on the panel criticized the takeover.... The Republican majority began the year not by governing but with an ostentatious show of its hostility toward government." Read the whole post. As Milbank makes clear, House Republicans, including Speaker Paul Ryan, do not know the difference between civil disobedience & sedition. CW: This is shocking.

Greg Sargent: "With leading Republicans all condemning President Obama's new executive actions on guns, Democrats are gleefully pouncing on video of House Speaker Paul Ryan in 2013 saying that Congressional action to close the loophole in our background check system is 'reasonable' and 'obvious.' Ryan's statement yesterday about Obama's executive actions described them as an effort to 'trump the Second Amendment' and an affront to the nation's founding values.... If only Ryan were in a position where he might help make [a legislative fix] happen right now. Of course, Ryan would likely argue that, even if most House Republicans wanted to close the background check loophole -- which they almost certainly don't -- it would be an impossibility because they Can't Trust Obama." ...

... Nicholas Kristof: "President Obama shed tears on Tuesday as he called for new gun safety measures, and some critics perceived weakness or wimpishness. Really?.... We should all be in tears that 225,000 Americans have already died of gun violence in his seven years in office.... It's worth a cry that a 'peaceful' America during Obama's tenure has lost roughly as many lives to gunfire as Syria has in civil war.... The states with the most restrictive gun laws have the lowest gun death rates (including suicides).... Republican candidates are politicizing what should be a public health issue, and they are scaring Americans into buying more guns, which magnifies the problem and causes more carnage."

Linda Greenhouse on a 1989 Supreme Court decision that "continues to immunize government from the kind of accountability that common sense and justice would seem to require." The government is not responsible for its ineptitude or indifference to protecting citizens from each other, even if the unprotected citizens are children.

Somini Sengupta, et al., of the New York Times: "The United Nations Security Council condemned North Korea for its nuclear test on Wednesday, but there was no evidence yet that the North's most powerful backer, China, was willing to stiffen sanctions in a way that could push the unpredictable country to the point of collapse or slow its nuclear progress.... White House officials ... said that initial data from its monitoring stations in Asia were 'not consistent' with a test of a hydrogen bomb."

Presidential Race

Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "Using strikingly similar pitches, Hillary Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Martin O'Malley tried their best ... on Wednesday to persuade a room full of Nevada Democrats to support their bids to be the next Democratic presidential nominee. The sold-out event, the Battle Born Battleground First in the West Caucus Dinner, was hosted by the state Democratic Party and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the minority leader.... They each spent time trying to differentiate themselves, but saved their harshest criticism for Republicans."

** Karen Tumulty & Frances Sellers of the Washington Post: "The ghosts of the 1990s have returned to confront Hillary Clinton, released from the vault by Donald Trump and revved up by a 21st-century version of the scandal machine that almost destroyed her husband's presidency.... The fresher case being made is that Hillary Clinton has been, at a minimum, hypocritical about her husband's treatment of women, and possibly even complicit in discrediting his accusers. And it is being pressed at a time when there is a new sensitivity toward victims of unwanted sexual contact, and when one of the biggest news stories is the prosecution of once-beloved comedian Bill Cosby...." ...

... CW: If Hillary Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee, she -- and/or Bill -- will have to do better than ignore this matter. It will be difficult to get the women's vote while ignoring the serial sexual abuser in the room.

Hanna Trudo of Politico: "Vice President Joe Biden started off the first week of the New Year with a confession: He regrets not running for president. 'I regret it every day, but it was the right decision for my family and for me,' he told an NBC affiliate in Connecticut on Wednesday."

Sam Wang of Princeton: There are "suggestive implications about who is likely to be the eventual Republican nominee. (Spoiler: rhymes with Grump.)

"Yes, It Works in Practice, But Does It Work in Theory?" Steve Benen: The American auto industry had its best year ever last year -- after nearly tanking completely in 2008. In 2009, "President Obama took a gamble on an unpopular [auto industry bailout] plan, which fortunately worked beautifully.... In 2015, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump all voiced opposition to the White House's rescue policy from 2009. Yes, they know Obama's approach worked. No, they don't care."

... "Trump's Low-Energy Campaign." Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "Trump, who once derided Jeb Bush for lacking energy, has done fewer campaign swings than any of his top-tier rivals -- 100, versus, for example, Bush's 172 -- and while others have only increased the pace, Trump has barely expanded his schedule. Next week, he'll stage a rare Sunday rally." ...

... Birtherism, Ctd. Katie Zezima of the Washington Post: "Sen. John McCain questioned whether Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who was born in Canada, is eligible to be president. McCain, who has long clashed with Cruz in the Senate, said on KFYI Wednesday that 'it's worth looking into' whether Cruz is a natural born citizen, a requirement to be president. The assertion comes the day after Donald Trump, whom Cruz is leading in polls in Iowa, told The Washington Post that Cruz's birthplace could be 'very precarious' for the GOP.... McCain said Wednesday the issue is different [from his case -- he was born in the Panama Canal Zone --] because the Canal Zone was a territory and U.S. Military base and there was precedent set when Barry Goldwater, who was born in Arizona when it was a territory, ran for president.... Legal scholars have said Cruz meets the requirement of natural born citizenship, though it is untested in the courts. Sen. Rand Paul, who is also seeking the Republican nomination, also brought up the issue Wednesday, stating Cruz is eligible to be prime minister of Canada." ...

... Alex Griswold of Mediaite: Trump has flipflopped twice on Cruz's eligibility to be president. CW: Yeah, so what? As contributor Marvin S. has remarked, the only real true thing is what Donald says at the moment he says it. ...

He has had a double passport. -- Donald Trump, on Ted Cruz's eligibility for the presidency

There's no such thing, far as we could tell, as a "double passport." We suspect Trump was suggesting Cruz had obtained both one U.S. and a Canadian one--though our requests for factual backup drew no replies from Trump representatives.... Trump didn't provide and we didn't find evidence that Cruz, who relinquished his dual citizenship in 2014, ever carried passports for the U.S. and Canada--nor, Cruz's camp advises, did he ever apply for a Canada passport. -- Gardner Selby of PolitiFact

... Dana Bash & Abigail Crutchfield of CNN: "Sen. Ted Cruz ... on Wednesday accused President Barack Obama of wanting to take Americans' guns away despite his assurances otherwise. 'He's not telling the truth,' Cruz said flatly during an interview with CNN aboard his campaign bus.... Cruz defended posting a picture of the President wearing military style garb on his campaign website, with the caption 'Obama wants your guns.' 'It is actually quite accurate. This is the most anti-gun president we've ever seen,' Cruz said." CW: Yeah, except, say, Ronald Ray-gun.

A Pretty Face. Jonathan Chait: Marco Rubio is no moderate Republican, no matter what his friends, his rivals & the press claim. He is a pragmatist (CW: I would say "opportunist") who toes the party line, whatever it may be at the moment. He "is the embodiment of the Republican donor class’s conviction that it needs to alter nothing more than its face." ...

... "Cuban Heels." Tina Nguyen of Vanity Fair: Marco Rubio looks pretty silly in his new boots, especially because he wore them with a Ralph Lauren pullover & black dress slacks, look ridiculous. ...

... Scott Bixby of the Guardian: "A chance tweet from a New York Times political reporter [Michael Barbaro] and former fashion correspondent spurred snark from Senator Ted Cruz's communications director ('A vote for Marco Rubio is a vote for men's high-heeled booties'), teasing from fellow Senator Rand Paul ('Cute new boots!')...."

Beyond the Beltway

David Montgomery of the New York Times: "The state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland, the Chicago-area woman who three days later was found hanged in her cell at the Waller County jail, has been indicted on a perjury charge, a special prosecutor here said Wednesday. Hours after the indictment was announced against the trooper, Brian T. Encinia, the Department of Public Safety said that the state police agency 'will begin termination proceedings to discharge him.' The charge against Trooper Encinia, a Class A misdemeanor, was announced at the end of a day of grand jury deliberations. It carries a possible penalty of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine, prosecutors said."

Tony Barboza of the Los Angeles Times: "Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday ordered new regulations, including stepped-up inspections and safety measures, for all natural gas storage facilities in California in response to the continuing leak that has displaced thousands of people in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles.... The requirements are part of a series of orders issued by Brown as he declared a state of emergency stemming from a leaking well at SoCal Gas' storage facility in Aliso Canyon. For more than 10 weeks a damaged well has released large amounts of planet-warming methane and emitted sulfur-like odors that have sickened residents with nosebleeds, headaches and other symptoms."

Claire Landsbaum of New York: "In a move that directly defies the Supreme Court's decision last June, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore issued a court order Wednesday that bans lower judges in Alabama from issuing same-sex marriage licenses.... Moore has a long and sordid history of putting his personal beliefs before the law."

Joanna Walters of the Guardian: "New York mayor Bill de Blasio announced an executive order on Wednesday to raise the minimum wage for city employees to $15 an hour in a move he labeled 'a milestone towards a fairer city'. His plan, which will involve a pay increase for 50,000 workers, will phase in the new pay level for the city's public employees and workers at contracted agencies by the end of 2018 and is a step towards the mayor's stated goal of a $15 minimum hourly wage for the whole city."

Paloma Esquivel of the Los Angeles Times: "The man accused of providing two rifles used in the Dec. 2 mass shooting in San Bernardino pleaded not guilty to charges against him in federal court Wednesday. Enrique Marquez Jr. was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, lying about the rifle purchases, marriage fraud and lying on a visa application."

Tom Hays of the AP: "A U.S. citizen already accused of going to Pakistan to train with al-Qaida was charged Wednesday with helping build explosives for a 2009 suicide attack on an American military base in Afghanistan. A revised indictment charges Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh with conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and other crimes. He is to appear Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn; there was no immediate comment by his lawyer. The charges stem from an attack on Jan. 19, 2009...."

Way Beyond

Keith Bradsher & Amy Tsang of the New York Times: "Trading was halted for the day on China's stock market for the second time this week, as stocks plummeted on Thursday over concerns about the country's currency and the health of the economy. Trading stopped after only 29 minutes and didn't reopen, with the main index in Shanghai down 7.3 percent. Other Asian markets slumped as well." ...

     ... New Lede: "The market turmoil in China spread around the world, as global investors grew more anxious about the country's currency and the health of its economy."

Kate Connolly of the Guardian: "Cologne's mayor has been widely criticised for suggesting that women 'keep at an arm's length' from strangers to avoid sexual harassment, after scores of women were sexually abused and mugged in the city during new year celebrations." CW: Because, yes, ladies, it's all your fault if you go out & about on New Year's Eve & a bunch of thugs rob, sexually assault & beat you.

News Ledes

CBS News: "Two Iraqi-born men were arrested Thursday in Houston and Sacramento in an ongoing terrorism investigation, according to prosecutors. In a statement late Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's office in Sacramento identified the suspect there as Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, 23, who faces a federal charge of making a false statement involving international terrorism."

AP: "13 miners are still stuck in an elevator 775 feet underground at a central New York salt mine near Ithaca and emergency crews are working on a rescue. Four have been rescued and are being evaluated by medical personnel. Emergency management officials say rescue equipment is on the scene and the miners aren't in danger." ...

... CW: Once a Great Nation. I had no idea there were actual salt mines in the Land of the Free. However, "trapped in a salt mine" seems like the proverbial canary in the mine announcing, in its final, weak Tweet, the coming Republican dystopia. ...

... AP Update: "All 17 miners who were stuck hundreds of feet below the surface in an elevator at the deepest salt mine in the western hemisphere have been rescued. Cargill Inc spokesman Mark Klein says the last two miners were raised to the surface by a crane around 8.30am Thursday at the mine in the central New York town of Lansing."

The Commentariat -- January 6, 2016

Anna Fifield of the Washington Post: "World leaders sternly criticized North Korea Wednesday for carrying out a fourth nuclear test, an explosion that Pyongyang claimed was a much more powerful hydrogen bomb test. The United Nations Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting in New York on Wednesday to discuss the international response to the test, which North Korea called an 'H-bomb of justice' that it needed for defense against the United States, labelling the U.S. 'the chieftain of aggression.'" ...

... David Sanger of the New York Times: "North Korea declared Tuesday night that it has detonated its first hydrogen bomb, a weapon far more powerful than it has set off previously, a claim that, if true, would dramatically escalate the nuclear challenge from one of the world's most isolated and dangerous states. In a brief announcement, about an hour after seismic detectors around the world picked up a 5.1 magnitude seismic event along the country's northeast cost, officials said that the test was a 'complete success.' But it is difficult to tell whether that boast is true, and it may be weeks or longer before detectors sent aloft by the United States and other powers can determine what kind of test was conducted."

Second Amendment rights are important, but there are other rights that we care about as well. And we have to be able to balance them. Because our right to worship freely and safely -- that right was denied to Christians in Charleston, South Carolina. And that was denied Jews in Kansas City. And that was denied Muslims in Chapel Hill, and Sikhs in Oak Creek. They had rights, too. Our right to peaceful assembly -- that right was robbed from moviegoers in Aurora and Lafayette. Our unalienable right to life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- those rights were stripped from college students in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara, and from high schoolers at Columbine, and from first-graders in Newtown. First-graders. And from every family who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun. -- President Obama, yesterday ...

... Michael Shear of the New York Times: "With tears streaming down his face, President Obama on Tuesday condemned the repeated spasms of gun violence across America as he announced new executive actions intended to reduce the number of mass shootings, suicides and killings that have become routine in the nation's communities." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... You'll tear up, too:

... Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post on President Obama's "substantive case for action." ...

... New York Times Editors: "The current fight over gun control ... is a howling storm of misrepresentation, sadly almost entirely from one side. This week's developments fit the pattern.... Given the situation, it's hard to imagine a serious conversation about guns as long as politicians in thrall to the gun lobby choose to misrepresent what supporters of gun safety laws are actually saying. Those supporters, by the way, include the 90 percent of Americans who favor universal background checks for gun buyers." ...

... CW: Sorry, NYT, those fearmongering GOP liars-for-hire are just doing the job the NRA paid them to do:

... Eric Levitz of New York: "... on Tuesday, Obama sent one more shiver down the spine of Red America, shooting Smith & Wesson stock to an all-time high in the process." CW: It isn't Obama's actions -- which if truth be known, are highly popular &/or noncontroversial -- that are spiking gun sales; it's the Fear of Obama promoted by the politicians who lie for the NRA. ...

... Ted is Cruzing for a bonus. This is a screenshot of an actual page on Ted's Website. You can sign up for fundraising letters here:

(... CW: I'm not sure if this is a first, but it may be, of a U.S. senator Photoshopping a U.S. president to put the president in a menacing (and ridiculously untrue) light. The Senate, which prides itself on its supposed dignity, should censure Ted. ...)

... Here's the Proof. Scott Wong & Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "Congressional Republicans are scrambling for a way to halt President strong> Obama's new unilateral actions on gun control.... 'We will be using every tool in the toolkit to stop him,' said one senior Republican lawmaker who is close to leadership. 'All options are on the table.'... Privately, some GOP lawmakers said they didn't think Obama's actions on guns amount to much. 'Frankly, our initial review of the president's orders is there is not a lot of substance there,' said one Republican who requested anonymity. But the lawmaker said party leaders are under enormous pressure from the National Rifle Association and other gun rights activists to take a stand against Obama. In a statement, [Speaker Paul] Ryan, a gun owner and avid deer hunter, blasted Obama's executive actions, calling them 'a form of intimidation that undermines liberty' and violates the Second Amendment. The Speaker vowed that Congress would 'conduct vigilant oversight' and predicted the actions would 'no doubt be challenged in the courts.'" ...

... OR, as Paul Waldman succinctly puts it, "If everyone screams 'He's coming for your guns!' then gullible rubes will flock to gun stores to buy more before the Great Confiscation takes place, which means more profits for the gun manufacturers who are the NRA's benefactors. Nice racket." ...

... Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post: "Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) said 'Obama is obsessed with undermining the Second Amendment,' while Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) averred, 'We don't beat the bad guys by taking away our guns. We beat the bad guys by using our guns.'... House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) criticized the president for a 'dangerous level of executive overreach' and for circumventing congressional opposition -- as though Congress has been working feverishly to reduce gun violence.... It is one thing to be in the pocket of the National Rifle Association. It is another to do nothing and then assume a superior posture of purposeful neglect, as though do-nothingness were a policy and smug intransigence a philosophy.... In a civilized society, more guns can't be better than fewer." ...

... AND not to distract you from the actual issue here ... but Steve M. has uncovered wingers' Conspiracy Theory of the Day: President Obama used some kind of device -- an onion, No More Tears, Ben-Gay, whatever -- to induce those tears he shed discussing murder victims. Because thinking about six-year-olds being gunned down by a madman could not possibly induce tears in a "fascist." Also, too, if you cannot be convinced that a product called "No More Tears" produces tears on demand, you're never going to make it in Right Wing World.

Jessica Taylor of NPR: "South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will deliver the GOP's response to President Obama's State of the Union address next Tuesday, feeding speculation that the Indian-American Republican could be a possible vice presidential pick."

Seung Min Kim of Politico: "Democrats and immigrant-rights groups have turned against the Obama administration in an uproar over recent deportation raids, likening the president to bombastic GOP front-runner Donald Trump and warning him that the controversial strategy will tarnish his legacy on immigration.... Still, aside from a small handful of comments, congressional Democrats have largely been quiet about the raids, which were disclosed shortly before Christmas but confirmed by administration officials only on Monday. Congressional aides blamed the holiday recess, and advocates said there will likely be increasing pressure on Democratic lawmakers to rebuke the Obama administration over the raids." ...

... David Leopold in a CNN opinion piece: "The administration's plan [to round up & deport recent undocumented immigrants] is shocking, outrageous and just plain wrong. This is something we would expect from a President Trump, not President Obama.... It's morally repugnant to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into local communities to arrest and detain vulnerable families, including women and children, and deport them to places where their lives will be threatened by unspeakable violence...."

Kristina Wong of the Hill: "House Republicans will start listening sessions Thursday to discuss a measure authorizing the use of military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.... The sessions will be held by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.), whose committee would have jurisdiction over the authorization, according to a committee aide on background.... The sessions will be among Republican members of the committee for now. They are intended to gauge what Republicans would like to see in a new AUMF, and not to produce a concrete proposal." CW: "Listening sessions"? When have House Republicans ever listened to anybody? ...

... CW: Well, maybe I'm wrong. To show they are progressive, innovative & open to new & different ideas House Republicans are, they're going to do something unprecedented today: vote to repeal ObamaCare!

Eduardo Porter of the New York Times: "White non-Hispanics are the only ethnic group that leans Republican, according to a study of party affiliation by the Pew center. White men who have not completed college favor the G.O.P. over the Democratic Party by 54 to 33 percent.... As Matthew Yglesias at Vox suggests, many white Americans are most likely drawn to Mr. Trump's xenophobic, anti-immigrant message because they agree with it.... Americans owe their unusually minimalist state in large measure to racial mistrust. As the economists Alberto Alesina and Edward Glaeser put it in an important paper, European countries are much more generous to the poor relative to the United States mainly because of American racial heterogeneity." ...

... CW: My favoritest part of Porter's column is his calling white non-Hispanics an "ethnic group." It's about time. My second favoritest part is the point that this group, to which I belong, is an outlier. I do get special interests, & I certainly have some special interests of my own. What I don't get is skin color, gender, religion or sexual orientation as a special interest, except insofar as these factors are treated to "special oppression." But for politicians & the legal system to privilege white Christian straight guys as they do has never made sense to me. And, BTW, the white Christian straight guys who get this are fairly heroic, in my view, given the cultural history & present condition of this country. So, thanks to all the white Christian straight guys who do not cling to an accident of birth as a special right to be preserved at the expense of other Americans. ...

... It's easier to understand why Republicans are always accusing Democrats of instigating "class warfare" when you realize, as Ed Kilgore points out, that the Republican party itself suffers from acute class warfare, the prominent result of which is the candidacy of Donald Trump whose popularity among the hoi polloi has torn the party asunder. ...

... CW: I do have some bad news for the suckers who have found their Pied Piper in the Donald: that tax plan of his really is a boon for him & his fellow billionaires, &, as he said (and later denied), he really does think wages are too damned high. Like the rats of Hamelin, you bigoted doofuses are about to be drowned in the river of doom & despair.

Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "At least 52 people in the United States were killed by domestic extremists in 2015, the highest number in two decades, according to a report released Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Sandhya Somashekhar & Steven Rich of the Washington Post: "On the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, Las Vegas police cornered Keith Childress Jr., who was wanted for a number of violent felonies. They opened fire on the 23-year-old after he refused to drop the object in his hands, which turned out not to be a gun but a cellphone. And with that, the nation logged what is likely its final police shooting death of 2015, a year that saw 984 such killings, well more than double the average number reported annually by the FBI over the past decade.... Police killed blacks at three times the rate of whites when adjusted for the population where these shootings occurred. And although unarmed black men represent percent of the U.S. population, they made up nearly 40 percent of those who were killed while unarmed. Regardless of race, about a quarter of those killed displayed signs of mental illness."

Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "U.S. Homeland Security and intelligence agencies are analyzing computer code from what appear to be one of the first known cyberattacks that resulted in an electrical power outage -- this one in Ukraine. The Dec. 23 incidents, which lasted several hours and affected tens of thousands of people, were reported by Ukraine power authorities in the capital region and in the western part of the country."

Presidential Race

Lauren Gambino of the Guardian: "Hillary Clinton urged moderate gun owners to band together against the National Rifle Association during an MSNBC interview [by Chris Matthews] on Tuesday after Barack Obama's morning statement on tighter gun control."

My opponent says that as a senator, she told bankers to 'cut it out' and end their destructive behavior. But, in my view, establishment politicians are the ones who need to cut it out. The reality is that Congress doesn't regulate Wall Street. Wall Street and their lobbyists regulate Congress. We must change that reality, and as president, I will. -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, in Manhattan, Tuesday ...

... Yamiche Alcindor & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in a fiery speech on Tuesday laid out his plan to break up 'too big to fail' commercial banks and pointedly attacked Hillary Clinton for taking speaking fees from the financial industry and, in his view, not going far enough in her plan to regulate Wall Street. The criticism of Mrs. Clinton was some of Mr. Sanders's strongest to date, and came after he had frequently refrained from such direct attacks."

Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "Most of the Republican presidential contenders and their allies are now waging campaigns focused on fear -- bombarding voters with ominous television spots that warn of national security threats and amping up their alarming rhetoric on the stump.... The candidates are scrambling to out-muscle one another, offering dark assessments of the Obama administration's fight against violent extremists and warning that their rivals are ill-equipped to take up the cause." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Siders of the Sacramento Bee: "Ted Cruz has surged to a statistical tie with Donald Trump among Republicans in California, while Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina have tumbled in this late-voting state, according to a new poll." ...

... digby: "California rarely matters in presidential primaries because it happens so late in the cycle but this year it might be different for Republicans. They could easily still be in the thick of it in June.... California wingnuts are among the wingnuttiest of all wingnuts. Luckily for those of us who live here they are in a minority and likely to stay that way as long as they remain so wingnutty. If Trump and Cruz are still sparring over who hates immigrants the most by the time they get here it should be a very good year for Democrats."

Ken Vogel & Daniel Samuelsohn of Politico: "Donald Trump's rivals cling to the hope that the surprise GOP presidential front-runner lacks the know-how to lure supporters to the polls, but Politico has learned that his campaign several months ago assembled an experienced data team to build sophisticated models to transform fervor into votes."

Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump described voter fraud as a rampant problem during a rally on Tuesday night, even though the number of proven cases is minuscule. 'Look, you've got to have real security with the voting system,' Trump said during a campaign event in western New Hampshire. 'This voting system is out of control. You have people, in my opinion, that are voting many, many times. They don't want security, they don't want cards.'" ...

Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Donald Trump says it would be 'very interesting' to ask Bill Clinton how he was different from Bill Cosby."

... Trump Birthism, Redux. Robert Costa & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump said in an interview that rival Ted Cruz's Canadian birthplace was a 'very precarious' issue that could make the senator from Texas vulnerable if he became the Republican presidential nominee. 'Republicans are going to have to ask themselves the question: "Do we want a candidate who could be tied up in court for two years?" That'd be a big problem,' Trump said when asked about the topic. 'It'd be a very precarious one for Republicans because he'd be running and the courts may take a long time to make a decision.... A lot of people are talking about it and I know that even some states are looking at it very strongly, the fact that he was born in Canada and he has had a double passport.'" ...

Jim Newell of Slate: Ted Cruz thinks Donald Trump is too soft on immigration.... "'And in fact, look, there's a difference. He's advocated allowing folks to come back in and become citizens. I oppose that.' He then name-checks Congress's two most cherished anti-immigration conservatives, Rep. Steve King and Sen. Jeff Sessions, as collaborators on his immigration plan." ...

... Ted Cruz's weird anti-immigration ad, which is running in New Hampshire:

... Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Aside from the fact that most journalists are not normally dressed in wingtips and suits, the economic effect of illegal immigration cannot easily be summarized as a 'calamity.' Some studies have found immigrants who arrived illegally lowered the wages of American-born adults without a high school diploma. But other studies have concluded that immigration is often an overall boost to local economies, because the presence of new workers creates demand for housing, food and other essentials."

"Rubio Can't 'Slime His Way to the White House.'" Philip Rucker & Robert Costa: "As Chris Christie's establishment rivals seize on his blue-state governing record, the New Jersey governor punched back here Tuesday with the kind of bluntness that had been his trademark.... Sen. Marco Rubio charged that Christie has been too closely aligned with President Obama..., echoing twin attack ads aired here by his allied super PAC. Meanwhile, allies of Ohio Gov. John Kasich filled mailboxes in New Hampshire with a biting pamphlet that reads, 'Chris Christie: Tough talk. Weak record.' 'I just don't think Marco Rubio's going to be able to slime his way to the White House,' Christie said. 'He wants to put out a whole bunch of negative ads? Go ahead....'"

Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "Jeb Bush, who promised to run for president by showing voters his heart, is making an especially personal appeal in New Hampshire on Tuesday, where he plans to discuss his daughter's struggles with addiction. Speaking at a forum on addiction and the heroin epidemic at Southern New Hampshire University in the afternoon, Mr. Bush will not only unveil his drug control strategy but also talk about how his family has intimately experienced the ravages of addiction." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Update. Ashley Parker: "On Tuesday, Mr. Bush spoke of how his family dealt with his daughter's difficulties, which became uncomfortably public when he was governor of Florida.... Mr. Bush has said he first checked with his daughter, now 38 and in recovery, before sharing her story, which he did at a forum on heroin addiction." ...

... Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "... Jeb Bush apologized Tuesday night for conflating his gun rights record by suggesting that he received an award from the National Rifle Association that doesn't exist." CW: Jeb! is a jerk, but he's not a crazy jerk, like Republicans' favorite presidential candidate. ...

... Super Media Man. Mark Murray of NBC News: "Jeb Bush and his allies have now spent $49 million in advertisements, including $23 million in New Hampshire and another $10 million in Iowa, according to data from NBC News partner SMG Delta." CW: Congratulations to media outlets in New Hampshire & Iowa. They should get together & give Bush a nice consolation prize after he loses. He likes getting prizes & will brag about them even if he forgets what they were or who gave them to him.

Congressional Race

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Representative Steve Israel, a New York Democrat who led political messaging for his party in the House, will not run for re-election, he said Tuesday. Mr. Israel, a seven-term congressman from Long Island with centrist leanings, led the campaign effort for House Democrats in the 2012 and 2014 election cycles and was seen as one of his party's top strategists." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

We are doing the same thing as Rosa Parks did. We are standing up against bad laws which dehumanize us and destroy our freedom. -- Ammon Bundy (@Ammon_Bundy) tweet, January 6, 2016

... Justin Moyer of the Washington Post: "To be clear: Rosa Parks ... was protesting legally sanctioned discrimination. She was willing to be arrested -- to serve time and expose an unjust system. Bundy, armed and possibly dangerous, takes a quite different position. He says his protest won't 'end until we get our public lands back,' denying the federal government's role in land management -- a legally dubious position. And, crucially, he doesn't seem willing, as Parks did, to nobly march into a jail cell. Quite the opposite. As he put it: 'If force is used against us we will defend ourselves.'" ...

.... Les Zaitz of the Oregonian: "Steps are in motion to resolve militants' occupation of a federal compound outside of town, Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward said Tuesday. 'There are things being done,' Ward said. 'It's not visible to the public.' The sheriff sought to assure the community and the country that police aren't sitting back and leaving the group of about 20 militants with a free hand.... Police so far haven't cordoned off the refuge, about 30 miles southeast of Burns, or taken any other steps against the militants, such as cutting off electricity to the compound." ...

... Quoctrung Bui & Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times on why the federal government owns so much land in the Western states.

Kirkland An of the Washington Post: "Wheaton College, an evangelical college in Illinois, had placed associate professor of political science Larycia Hawkins on administrative leave after she made a controversial theological statement on Facebook that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. The school has now begun the process to fire her due to an 'impasse,' it said in a statement released on Tuesday." CW: Hawkins is a tenured professor at a school where the definition of "tenure" apparently means something different from what it does in the rest of academia.

Way Beyond

Ben Hubbard, et al., of the New York Times: "For Iraq, which barely survived years of sectarian civil war, the hostilities between Iran and Saudi Arabia could once again foil Sunni-Shiite cooperation -- and empower the Islamic State."

Melissa Eddy of the New York Times: "German authorities said on Tuesday that coordinated attacks in which young women were sexually harassed and robbed by hundreds of young men on New Year's Eve in the western city of Cologne were unprecedented in scale and nature. The assault, which went largely unreported for days, set off a national outcry after the Cologne police described the attackers as young men 'who appeared to have a North African or Arabic' background, based on testimony from victims and witnesses. More than 90 people have filed legal complaints, the police said on Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

Los Angeles Times: "Another El Niño-fueled storm -- the third this week -- moved into Southern California today, sending flood water and mud onto roadways." The page is a liveblog of storm-related events.